The relationship between kaizen implementation and operations performance improvement:The case of Kenyan manufacturing firms
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to establish the relationship between implementation of kaizen and
operations performance improvement in Kenyan manufacturing firms. It sought to find out the
extent of kaizen practices implementation in these firms as well as the challenges faced by these
firms in implementing kaizen.
A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from operations managers or their equivalents in
13 Kenyan manufacturing firms that have implemented kaizen. Descriptive statistics was used to
evaluate the extent of implementation of kaizen practices and the challenges in kaizen
implementation. Individual operations performance measures were regressed against the set of
kaizen practices to evaluate the relationship between the two. A regression model was used to
evaluate the overall relationship between kaizen implementation and operations performance
improvement.
The results from the study show that kaizen practices have varying degrees of implementation in
Kenyan manufacturing firms; with 5S having the greatest extent of implementation and
suggestion system and TPS having the least extent of implementation. On challenges faced in
kaizen implementation, employee attitudes and misconceptions about kaizen posed the greatest
challenge whereas lack of management support and economic constraints posed the least
challenge. Results from the regression analysis show that implementation of kaizen practices in
Kenyan manufacturing firms is significantly related to operations performance improvement This study has provided insights into the extent of adoption of kaizen in Kenyan manufacturing firms, and provides further evidence that kaizen implementation is significant in enhancing
operations performance improvement
Citation
MBA Thesis 2012Sponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
School of business