Continuous Improvement Firms (CIF) - definition, Kaizen, Japanese production system, productivity, competitive advantage

Improving on Customer Value Due to Improvements in Productivity and Quality

Everything can and should be improved ‒ look for opportunities.

Continuous Improvement Firm (CIF) Defined

CIF is a firm continuously improving on customer value due to improvements in productivity initiated by the members of the general work force. Productivity in CIF is broadly defined to include all facets of product quality as well as output per worker. A basic operating principle of the CIF is that improvements in product quality often produce simultaneous reductions in costs.

The key success factor in this endogenous, incremental and continuous technological and operational change is the organization and management of the firm in such a way that all members are → motivated to promote change and are supported in their effort to do so. What is remarkable about the CIF is its ability to operate simultaneously in all innovation areas: new products, new technology, new organizational forms, and new customer relationship management.

→ Winning Corporate Culture

→ Areas Targeted by TQM in Japan

→ Kaizen Culture: 8 Key Elements

→ Implementing Kaizen: 7 Conditions

3 Basic Principles of Continuous Improvement

❶ Challenge
❷ Kaizen
❸ Go and See >>>

Kaizen

Kaizen means → "improvement".

Kaizen strategy calls for never-ending efforts for improvement involving everyone in the organization – managers and workers alike... More

→ 5 Principles of Kaizen

Use 80/20 Analysis to Pinpoint Improvement Areas

Business is wasteful. → 80/20 Principle asserts that 80% of what is important is supported by 20% of effort. You can eliminate 80% of waste by spending only 20% of what it would cost you to get rid of 100% of the waste... More

KAIZEN and KAIKAKU - Yin and Yang - Continuous Improvement Synergy

→ Continuous Improvement Mindset

→ Radical Improvement: 10 Tips

A Source of Growth

Continuous improvement is the main source of → growth for:

Industries that reached the market and technological maturity; low rates of market expansion or only replacement demand encourages these firms to restrict → innovation to → incremental improvements in the same core technology.
Organizations that cannot pursue more aggressive venture strategies as they have to follow some restricting bureaucratic rules and regulations.

Arguments for Adopting the Incrementalist Perspective

The future is unknown and unknowable
External forces are too powerful to be controlled by organizations or their managers
Managers cannot enforce adherence to their plans

Key Features of the CIF

compared with Mass Production (MP) firms

Uses → flexibility as a major → competitive strategy
Achieves flexibility through generalization of the work force

Utilizes human resources to produce a constant stream of improvements in all aspects of → customer value, including quality, design, and timely delivery at reduced costs

CIF and Total Quality Management (→ TQM)

two different perspectives of the same phenomenon

The CIF Perspective – the organization itself in all its integrity, full-blown, operating and practicing the total quality management (TQM) approaches
The TQM Perspective – the beliefs and practices required of management to bring about and perpetuate a continuous improvement firm (CIF)

8 Best Practices of Successful Companies

Manage processes, not people. Focus not on what they do, but on how they do it.

Use techniques (like "process mapping" and "benchmarking") to achieve continuous improvement.

Value incremental gains.... More

Kaizen and Kaikaku

Kaizen is evolutionary, focused on incremental improvements.

Kaikaku is revolutionary, focused on → radical improvements >>>

Assess Your Organization's Progress Toward Excelling in

Business Process Management¹¹

The entire set of enterprise business processes are being managed for improved performance.
The full set of customer-touching processes is being managed for continuous improvement... More

CIF versus Mass Production (MP) Firms

The ultimate → competitive goal of the CIF is the ability to produce consumer goods on a custom basis for immediate delivery at costs lower than those featured by standard MP firms. The key to achieving this → flexibility and lower costs lies in the generalization of the work force... More

5Ss

The 5S Program defines the steps that are used to make all work spaces efficient and productive, help people share work stations, reduce time looking for needed tools and improve the work environment... More

Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma

→ Lean Enterprise: 10 Tips

Lean manufacturing, supplemented by Six Sigma principles, can help your company attain the goal of continuous improvement – but only when embraced as a core corporate philosophy and rooted in the → corporate culture. Management slogans often boil down to little more than platitudes in slick consultancy packaging. But some corporate lingo stands for more than a passing fad.¹⁰ "Lean manufacturing", a shorthand for a commitment to eliminating waste, simplifying procedures and speeding up production, is one such concept. Six Sigma, the quality-assurance principles that are often integrated with lean production and enterprise-wide process management efforts, is another. The principles and techniques that the two terms encompass deliver impressive bottom-line results in industrial manufacturing.

Example of a Truly Lean Value Chain

Dell Inc.

"Constantly question – even the good stuff," advises Michael Dell, Founder of Dell Inc.. "There's no better way to improve. And don't try to cover up bad news or deny difficult problems. Time is everything – the sooner you deal with an issue, the sooner it's resolved."... More

→ 4 WHYs of True Success

Fun4Biz Suggestion System

Innovative IT-powered Fun4Biz suggestion system focuses on improving people. It’s all about attitude motivation, → achievement, continuous growth, transparency, recognition and involvement... More

AVIS

In 1963, Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. debuted a new advertising campaign that featured a brand-new tagline – "We Try Harder." For Avis, the tagline is more than a → slogan – it has become part of the fabric of the company that both reflects and influences corporate values → values and business → decisions... More

GE Work-Out

Ultimately, the goal of the Work-Out program was to "clean up" GE, to make workers more productive and processes simpler and more clear-cut. Work-Out was also designed to reduce, and ultimately eliminate all of the waste hours and energy that large organizations typically expend in performing day-to-day operations... More