A Study on Analytical Approaches to Clarifying Management of Kaizen Activities

Through Comparison with Concepts of Innovation

Abstract

In general, the importance of Kaizen activities is recognized in many companies, and systematic accumulation of research on how to manage Kaizen activities are still at developing stage. This study has been started for the purpose of clarifying appropriate analytical approaches, for example, how to select cases for study and dimensions for analysis based on clarifying Kaizen activity traits. More concretely, this paper first makes clear the characteristic of Kaizen activities in comparison with innovation through review of innovation theory. This paper also proposes suitable cases and dimensions for study on clarifying Kaizen management