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Master-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2008.

This graduation thesis' aim is to help reader realize and understand what makes Japanese companies, especially Japanese management style, so successful and competitive and what problems (challenges) may occur while applying the Japanese managerial techniques in the Czech Republic. Companies teaching and implementing Japanese managerial style were found and evaluated. While giving background information on Japanese economy and manners, basic description of chosen Japanese managerial techniques as well as examples of their usage in companies, the main idea is to find out what the prerequisites of successful implementation of Japanese managerial techniques are, how techniques can be implemented and consecutively describe possible obstacles at the application of the Japanese management in the companies outside Japan. The reason for looking for the prerequisites of successful implementation is the thought that not only managerial techniques themselves (their "technical side") are the key for success. It is also, and very importantly, the way how they are used. It is knowledge what "forces" are driving the success of the techniques. Therefore, in order to understand what the Japanese managerial techniques are and who the people developing and using them are about, I step by step gathered related information and in a summarized form wrote them in this thesis. Analyzing the information I was able to conclude that there are three prerequisites for successful implementation of Japanese managerial techniques. It is firstly a technical side of managerial techniques itself, secondly it is a psychological aspect (learning Japanese management also means learning pieces of Japanese culture and manners and only if that culture is understood and applied, techniques can show they full potential) and thirdly it is hard working.

This research presents results from a multi-site field study of 51 Kaizen event teams in six manufacturing organizations. Although Kaizen events have been growing in popularity since the mid 1990s, to date, there has been no systematic empirical research on the determinants of Kaizen event effectiveness. To address this need, a theory-driven model of event effectiveness is developed, drawn from extant Kaizen event practitioner articles and related literature on projects and teams. This model relates Kaizen event outcomes to hypothesized key input factors and hypothesized key process factors. In addition, process factors are hypothesized to partially mediate the relationship between input factors and outcomes. Following sociotechnical systems (STS) theory, both technical and social (human resource) aspects of Kaizen event performance are measured. Relationships between outcomes, process factors and input factors are analyzed through regression, using generalized estimating equations (GEE) to account for potential correlation in residuals within organizations. The research found a significant positive correlation between the two social system outcomes (attitude toward Kaizen events and employee gains in problem-solving knowledge, skills and attitudes). In addition, the research found significant positive correlations between the social system outcomes and one technical system outcome (team member perceptions of the impact of the Kaizen event on the target work area). However, none of the three technical system outcomes (employee perceptions of event impact, facilitator ratings of event success and actual percentage of team goals achieved) were significantly correlated. In addition, the research found that each outcome variable had a unique set of input and process predictors. However, management support and goal difficulty were a common predictors of three out of five outcomes. Unexpected findings include negative relationships between functional diversity, team and team leader Kaizen event experience, and action orientation and one or more outcomes. However, many of the findings confirmed recommendations in Kaizen event practitioner articles and the project and team literature. Furthermore, support for the mediation hypothesis was found for most outcome measures. These findings will be useful both for informing Kaizen event design in practicing organizations and for informing future Kaizen event research. / Ph. D.

I en värld där organisationer fokuserar allt mer på att vårda kunden blir kundservice allt viktigare för organisationer. För att säkerställa att organisationen inte förbrukar onödiga resurser på aktiviteter som inte tillför värde för kunden är lean och kaizen värdefulla filosofier. Lean samt kaizen härstammar från den japanska bilproduktionen och har utvecklats till värdefulla verktyg för att effektivisera organisationer. Slöserier bland annat i form av väntan, onödiga förflyttningar, omarbete och transporter finns definierade som inte värdeadderande för kund. Syftet med examensarbetet har varit att studera ett försäkringsbolag arbete med att leverera mesta värde för kunden och hur slöseri kan identifieras och elimineras. Försäkringsbolaget erbjuder ett flertal olika privatförsäkringar och företagsförsäkringar. Examensarbetet har avgränsats till att inkludera sex avdelningar vid ett kontor och nio system. Den metod som har använts är en kvalitativ fallstudie med intervjuer och observationer men även en kvantitativ enkätundersökning har genomförts för att identifiera problemområden. Resultatet är i form av dokumenterade intervjuer, observationer och svar från enkätundersökningen men också i processbeskrivningar som visade på ett flertal områden för förbättring. Försäkringsbolaget arbetar redan med flera av dessa. Försäkringsbolaget har redan en klar plan för förbättringsarbetet och en samstämmig syn på vad som inte är värdeadderande för kund, definierat som tid skadereglerare lägger på att utföra onödigt arbete. Försäkringsbolaget har också en strategi för att standardisera till ett system. Slöserier som kan minimeras identifierades i form av onödigt arbete vid skapandet av brev, osynliga köer, avsaknad av statusuppdateringar, informationsutbyte med kunder. En allmän negativ attityd mot det nya skadestödssystemet uppdagades i examensarbetet. Slutsatser återges via förbättringar som kan komma till nytta för försäkringsbolaget i form av automatisering av inkommande kommunikation och bekräftelse- samt avböjandebrev, tydliggörande av osynliga köer och förslag på förbättringsåtgärder för kommunikationen mellan skadeavdelningen och IT-avdelningen.

Nürtingen, FH, Diplomarb., 2005. / Betreuer: Gunda Neubauer.

Zugl.: Kaiserslautern, Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2008. / Zsfassung in engl. Sprache.

El presente trabajo de investigación tiene como objetivo Determinar la influencia de la aplicación de la teoría Kaizen en el control de logística en el área de logística de la empresa Sogu constructora y consultora E.I.R.L. Huancayo – periodo 2017. Para un mejor mecanismo de organización logística, la empresa en cuestión hizo uso de la teoría Kaizen sobre el control logístico. La metodología que se usó fue el método científico, comparativo y de medición estadística, con un nivel descriptivo correlacional, de tipo aplicado; con una totalidad de 457 registros de salidas en la empresa, se elige una muestra no probabilística de 161 registros, de los cuales se obtiene que la teoría Kaizen y el control de logística tienen una relación positiva y estadísticamente significativa; mientras que lo mismo sucede tanto con el control de materiales y el control de costos de la empresa; demostrando la efectividad del planteamiento de la teoría Kaizen en esta empresa de construcción.

The goal of the thesis is to analyze continuous improvement (Kaizen) activities in companies, which operates in the Czech Rep. Based on this analysis, defining criteria for optimal selection of forms of continuous improvement activities, and aplling suitable tools and methods of continuous process improvement will follow.

Lean manufacturing is the method to drive the costs down. Thesis concerns historic development of lean manufacturing methods giving special attention to Taylor's scientific management, husbands Gilbreth motion studies and Ford's production schema for "T" model. From today praxis the thesis is considering TPS (Toyota Production System) developed by Toyota Motor Corporation as an application of lean manufacturing. It was further developed by James Womack and Daniel Jones in their lean manufacturing theory analysis. The thesis introduces the example about fictitious HAD Corporation that is constructed on the bases of three real IT global companies. Analysis applies Womack's and Jones theory of lean manufacturing including five steps: value, value stream, flow, pull, perfection. The thesis can serve as an overview of lean manufacturing history, current methods and case study.