Laukika L. Bhaindarkar

Three important concepts - Kaizen (Change for Better), Kaikaku (Revolutionary Change), and Kakushin (Innovation). Kaizen: pointed out the fact that by elimination of non-value added work (Muda / 7+1 types of waste) in the work processes, companies will become more efficient and as a result be more profitable and competitive. Making small incremental improvement changes to better the production processes. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor Corporation, who made Kaizen philosophy famous, has also started questioning how Kaizen could be improved upon to address the requirement of being able to implement changes more rapidly. And to respond to it, the concept of Kaikaku was born. Kaikaku is Radical Change, where emphasis is on revolutionary change and big improvements. It allows organizations to reform and transform their culture and work habits into greatness via implementation of fundamental changes in the existing production systems. It is a large-scale and wide-ranging activity that is initiated and invested in by the executives and top management. However, there are times that new revolutionary and breakthrough ideas, products, or services are desired and needed and thus we have to renew our way of thinking and doing and become innovative. This innovation and renewal is called Kakushin. Kakushin :The concept of Kakushin was mentioned by former President of Toyota, Mr. Katsuaki Watanabe; during interviews with Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review in 2007 as a Radical Innovation. He elaborated this concept by saying that if we could make simplified cars by cutting the number of parts in half and design more flexible production lines to manufacture many different car models rapidly, then we had made a new revolutionary reform in our production system and that is Kakushin. Organizations do benefit from these three concepts through continual improvement of their processes, transformation of their organizational culture, and becoming an innovative entity.