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Limited use of Kaizen practices in police agencies, together with very few studies that investigated the link between it and police performance, gives a gap and good indication to conduct this study. Thus, this study seeks to explore and examine this relationship through the lens of innovation culture as a mediating factor.

This paper was based on a survey with 352 effective participants, including the head section officers of the Dubai Police in the UAE. A structural equation modelling technique was used for statistical analysis.

Results indicate that Kaizen was positively associated with police performance. Innovation culture also plays a mediating role in the relationship between Kaizen and police performance.

This paper has theoretical and practical contributions. It is one of the first studies to create and test the direct and indirect associations between Kaizen and police performance, providing evidence on the mediating role of innovation culture with regard to Kaizen and performance in the policing field.

The purpose of this research is to examine the effect of kaizen culture on innovation and operational performance of electrical and electronic manufacturing companies in Malaysia. A research framework, with underpinning theories of dynamic capabilities and socio-technical systems, was conceptualized to investigate the interplay of these relationships.

Data were collected from 123 manufacturing companies using an online survey and analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics version 24.0 and the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) (SmartPLS) version 3.2.8.

Ultimately, the findings proved that kaizen culture is crucial for organizations to optimize their operational performance and can be nurtured through the implementation of process innovation and organizational innovation.

Unlike past studies, this research examines the concepts of innovation, kaizen culture and operational performance in a single study; thus, provides further opportunities for new discoveries through such relationships. Also, the novelty is identifying that kaizen culture can be nurtured via innovation.

The literature on Kaizen transferability to non-Japanese culture is still evolving. The results suggest that the relevant research is still at a descriptive and explanatory stage. This study aims to identify and prioritize the importance of significant Kaizen transferability factors in a non-Japanese culture.

A decision theory-based prescriptive analysis methodology was used to analyze identified Kaizen transferability success factors. Firstly, a list of Kaizen transferability factors was devised from the literature using a systematic literature review. Secondly, an integrated interpretative structure modeling and analytic network process approach were applied to generate preference among factors.

A framework with a prioritized Kaizen transferability success factors included, in ascending order, organization culture, employee participation, employee discipline, employee personal initiative, top management commitment, management enforcement, employee eagerness, management support and national culture and traditions.

Managers and decision-makers would better understand where to direct their effort and attention to implement the Kaizen management philosophy to improve firm-level productivity. Although the factors studied in this research considered the Indonesian context, the proposed framework could be replicated and extended to include other cultures.

The present work contributes to the limited studies and documentation on Kaizen activities' transferability challenges and the Kaizen body of knowledge in developing countries. This study should help organizations in other developing countries, assimilate how to adopt and manage the Kaizen philosophy implementation by following the framework created in this research.

During crises, notably the recent COVID-19 pandemic, a heightened sense of urgency has manifested as a catalyst for improvement within organizations. The present study aims to explore the influence of a sense of urgency on individual kaizen performance. Additionally, the study delves into the potential moderating roles of organizational culture in this relationship.

Data samples include 481 employees who are working at Japanese manufacturing companies. SPSS software is used for data analysis, comprising measurement test, correlation and regression analysis.

A sense of urgency was found to predict a higher number of accepted suggestions. Moreover, there is a significant and positive interaction effect of adhocracy culture and a sense of urgency on writing and submitting ideas.

As an initial study that empirically tests the relationship between a sense of urgency and individual kaizen performance, this paper contributes to the literature on kaizen, change management and innovation. It also corroborates previous research on the Person-Organization fit framework.

Organization theory is becoming increasingly pluralistic, not only as continuous theoretical and methodological developments, but also in terms of facilitating a more polyvocal view on organizing and administrative practices. The suggested “postmodern turn” in organization theory and HRM theory has given voice to marginal or excluded minority groups in organization. Informed by post‐colonial theory, this article presents a study of the use of a Japanese management technique, kaizen, in an alien socio‐cultural and institutional context, Sweden. In order to mediate the differences between Japanese and Swedish culture, the image of the other, the generalized view of the unfamiliar subject, is constructed in order to de‐paradoxify and eliminate ambiguities in the culture of the other and to facilitate the adaptation of Japanese human resource management practices.

The aim of this study is to investigate and clarify how the triple helix actors can effectively implement the concepts of Kaizen to navigate and overcome the complex obstacles brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Through broad literature reviews, nine common parameters under triple helix actor have been recognized. A regression analysis has been done to study how the triple helix actors’ common parameters impact Kaizen implementation in business operations.

The results of this study revealed insightful patterns in the relationships between the common parameters of triple helix actor and the dependent variables. Notably, the results also showed that leadership commitment (LC) emerges as a very significant component, having a big impact on employee engagement as well as organizational performance.

In addition to offering valuable insights, this study has limitations including the potential for response bias in survey data and the focus on a specific set of common parameters, which may not encompass the entirety of factors influencing Kaizen implementation within the triple helix framework during the pandemic.

The originality of this study lies in its comprehensive exploration of the interplay between triple helix actors and Kaizen principles in addressing COVID-19 challenges. By identifying and analyzing nine specific common parameters, the study provides a novel framework for understanding how triple helix actors collaboratively enhance organizational performance and employee engagement during challenging times.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of how Sino-Japanese joint ventures implemented the three Japanese improvement methods, i.e. Kaizen, Kaikaku and Kaizen Blitz. The specific objectives of this study are to identify the key enablers for the three improvement methods; and to identify the most selected improvement method.

This study employs a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process to pairwise-compare the three improvement methods. Data are collected from 28 industry experts from Sino-Japanese joint ventures. The study then adopts extent analysis approach for pairwise comparisons and extent analysis to obtain synthetic extent values for priority weights.

The results of the study indicate that personnel (humanware) factor enablers are the most important factor for Kaizen, whilst software factor enablers (essential rules, policies and institutional arrangements) weight second and hardware factor enablers (physical, measurable hard facts or resources) weight last. The study also reviews that Kaizen is the most selected improvement method among the three.

The sample of this study is limited to Sino-Japanese ventures in Guangzhou, China. This study only identifies the key improvement enablers based on interviews with shop floor managers and improvement experts.

Practical implications are threefold: the improvement implementations should be based on factors such as regular training, incentives for motivations and shop floor management; improvement methods are transferable and standard operations may only have small effects on collecting improvement ideas; and Kaizen is the appropriate method to support long-term and process-oriented improvements.

This study is the first to specifically pairwise-compare the three Japanese improvement methods and to identify priorities of their key enablers in Sino-Japanese joint ventures.

Literature has shown that many companies fail lean implementation or is not able to sustain lean for a long time. Researchers have found that lean failures are associated with leadership, which is a key factor. However, it is not easy and a long time is needed to change the leadership, behaviour and traits. This study aims to introduce the Blue Ocean Leadership concept to address this issue.

A literature review is carried for articles related to critical success factors for Lean and Lean Six Sigma with a focus on leadership factors.

The Blue Ocean Leadership concept focuses on leaders’ acts and activities which can be changed with less effort and time. Seven categories of lean activities for leaders are identified.

Leadership is one of the many factors for the success of lean implementation. This conceptual study focuses only on leadership and it needs further field study for validation.

Blue Ocean Leadership provides lean practitioners and academicians with a new perspective for successful lean implementation.

To the best knowledge of the researcher, there is no similar study in this area. Thus, the finding can form the basis for further research for the benefit of lean communities, especially the small- or medium-sized enterprises with less cost and time.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the level of pragmatic ambiguity (PA) lean culture has currently in the manufacturing and service literature.

A comprehensive systematic review of academic (journals, books and theses) and commercial literature was undertaken drawn from a six databases search of two keywords (“lean” and “culture”) and related citations.

A total sample of 1,066 references (678 academic papers, 121 books, 103 theses and 164 commercial documents) were analyzed. The authors found contributions from 67 countries but oddly, only two came from Japan. In total, 89 percent of citations were directly about lean culture. However, for 86 percent of them, lean culture was only discussed superficially. All four literature segments show an over 85 percent agreement on lean culture being an organizational aim. The authors encountered 103 definitions of organizational culture and found 13 definitions of lean culture. Issues of culture gap, leadership, human resource management, sustainability and innovation are found to amplify lean culture’s already high PA level.

Further research and development are needed to decrease lean culture’s PA level and improve understanding of lean from a cultural perspective.

Current lean culture’s high PA level has positive and negative effects on lean implementation. Taking lean implementation from a cultural perspective may facilitate an organization’s lean transformation journey.

This is the first systematic literature review on lean culture using a broad and inductive approach. An original evidence-based definition of organizational culture is proposed.

The purpose of this research paper is to evaluate the contributions of 5S implementation in the Indian manufacturing industries and its impact on the enhancement of their business performance.

The research study has been accomplished in the large number of manufacturing organizations that have successfully imbibed the 5S technique or are in the process of implementing 5S initiatives alone or along with other lean manufacturing practices. An elaborated “5S Questionnaire” has been designed to determine the contextual factors and their impact on the enhancement of business performance.

The results reveal that the majority of organizations have shown total commitment toward the implementation and objective realization of 5S quality policy at all levels in the organizations. The implementation of 5S has facilitated manufacturing organizations to accrue significant benefits such as improvement in overall organizational, productivity, quality, safety, employee morale values, effective workspace utilization, and cost optimizations. The results also show the elimination of serious chronic manufacturing system problems such as delays, breakdown, demoralized employees, declining profits, and dissatisfied customers through holistic 5S implementation.

The limitation of the study is that it encompasses only the manufacturing organizations, while a similar study can also be conducted in services sector also.

The study highlights the detailed contributions of 5S principles in the development of manufacturing organizations and its impact on the enhancement of business performance for remaining competitive in global market world.