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The purpose of this study is to investigate how Toyota Kata can be effectively applied in the engineer-to-order (ETO) manufacturing within the construction industry. The objective is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) for the Toyota Kata implementation in this environment and to develop a continuous improvement (CI) method – based on Toyota Kata and adapted to the ETO manufacturing within the construction industry.

An action research (AR) approach was applied, which includes a participatory form of inquiry and learning from both intended and unintended outcomes, while simultaneously building up scientific knowledge about successful implementation of Toyota Kata.

All the CSFs in the AR project are addressed by the earlier literature, thus confirming the existing body of knowledge. Moreover, the existing knowledge was arguably extended through the modified Toyota Kata as an approach for CI. New elements regarding how to run the small experiments by extending the core team with personnel who work with the problem on a daily basis.

This research addresses a gap identified in the literature regarding how Toyota Kata can be adapted to the ETO manufacturing within the construction industry. It also presents an overview of CSFs for the Toyota Kata implementation in this environment.

Upcoming as well as mature industries are facing pressure as regards successfully managing operational excellence, and, at the same time, driving and managing innovation. Quality management concepts and practices’ ability to tackle this challenge have been questioned. It has even been suggested that there is a need to provide and promote an updated/changed, and even re-branded, version of Total Quality Management, merging quality management (QM) and innovation management (IM). Can such a shift then actually be spotted? The purpose of this paper is to explore and see if there are any signs suggesting that QM and IM actually are about to merge.

The study is based on literature reviews, document studies and interviews.

The paper highlights three signs indicating that QM and IM indeed are approaching each other, and that it is a movement driven from both sectors, e.g., in the work with new ISO-standards and the Toyota Kata framework.

The indicated development has fundamental and extensive practical implications. It will for example have to be followed by a similar merging of the two fields in the educational system, and in the competences of future managers.

Investigating the beginning of project management (app. 30 BC) with a focus on business models similar to the “PDCA” cycle, the purpose of this paper is to find an approach which could be used as a new standard procedure for the eradication of projects in Lean project management.

Based on literature research of models similar to Walter A. Shehwart’s three-step and Edward W. Deming’s four-step (PDC(A)) wheel, the investigated models are interconnected to form a new concept which represents an innovative cycle logic proposed to be applied in Lean project management. This new cycle logic is rolled out on three different levels, which are transferred from the Lean management hoshin kanri model to Lean project management. In addition to literature research, semi-structured interviews were performed to get an indication as to the integration of Lean management (with a focus on PDCA) in project management today.

It was found that the “Check Plan Do” cycle is a Lean variant of the “Plan Do Check Act” model that is already used in consulting projects in practice, partially appears in project management standards, in governance models of ambulance, fire services, human aid and military forces and in quality management models of Six Sigma, design for Six Sigma and an excellence model of the European Foundation for Quality Management. To ensure continuous improvement it was found that the new CPD cycle can be used on different “planning” levels in analogy to the hoshin kanri logic.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, a discussion as to how the PDCA cycle can be adapted to Lean project management, considering the implication of business models similar to the PDCA wheel, has not yet been conducted within the field of project management.

This paper aims to resolve the inhibitors of lean service using knowledge management (KM) concepts through the use of Toyota Kata. To achieve this, the authors updated the research on lean supportive practices and inhibitors of lean technical practices presented by Hadid and Afshin Mansouri (2014) through a systematic literature review (SLR). The SLR focused on empirical studies/cases from the past 15 years and confirmed the inhibitors of lean technical practices. As a result, Toyota Kata is proposed as a KM solution to the inhibitors of lean service implementation in service companies.

The authors carried out an SLR to identify inhibitors of lean service in real case applications and analyzed the resulting bibliographic portfolio using KM as a lens, along with three theories: universal theory, socio-technical systems theory and contingency theory, which assist in highlighting and clarifying the potential impact of using Toyota Kata as a solution to the inhibitors of lean technical practices.

When the authors analyzed the inhibitors of lean technical practices, they discovered that there is a strong relationship between the inhibitors and the individual (staff) personal characteristics regarding commitment, involvement, communication and preparation. These inhibitors and characteristics should work as a system, and Toyota Kata improves people’s skills and process performance by connecting people, processes and technology. Also, the authors noted that the Toyota Kata concept used can provide benefits in the implementation of lean service for companies, such as the internalization of continuous improvement, this becoming part of the company culture. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that Toyota Kata provides an effective way to achieve KM.

This study may not have enabled a complete coverage of all existing peer-reviewed articles in the field of practices and inhibitors presented by Hadid and Afshin Mansouri (2014). However, it seems reasonable to assume that in this review, a large proportion of the studies available was included.

This paper opens a new perspective on the use of Toyota Kata by managers as a solution to implement KM, spinning the spiral of knowledge.

This is the first study that seeks empirical evidence of inhibitors of lean technical practices and proposes Toyota Kata as a KM Solution for these issues. As a result, this study advances the facility to overcome these inhibitors, opening a new perspective for management to lead in achieving operational excellence.

The purpose of this paper is to explore, study, analyze and implement Kaizen–Kata methodology in a service food organization (first-level restaurant), facing challenges in different operational processes that affect and influence the case company performance and customer satisfaction.

The service organization implemented Kaizen–Kata methodology to improve one operational problem process. A case-study approach was used in this research to understand the effects of the Kaizen–Kata methodology in solving problems in their operational service process. Different Kaizen–Kata techniques and tools (histograms, Pareto chart and Ishikawa diagram) using the Plan, Do, Check, Act improvement cycle framework were used.

Successful implementation of the proposed methodology reduced the main impact of the problem’s effects (customer’s complaints, process reworking, extra-cost, delays, among others). The effects of the problem were reduced on average by 70%. Some Kaizen–Kata routines were identified in a service process environment.

The main limitation of the research is that this work is a just one-case study. A main generalization is not possible, because it involves a company within a company.

Some other service companies can use the Kaizen–Kata methodology to solve any kind of operational problem within their processes. Service managers can learn about the methodology to apply and improve their operational performance and handle customer’s complaints.

A continuous improvement manufacturing methodology was imported to apply in an operational service process. The Kaizen–Kata methodology contributed significantly to reduce delays, handle customer’s complaints, process reworking and deal with extra costs, among other operational problems’ effects. In addition to that, in the literature, most of the Kaizen applications are in manufacturing companies. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this was the first study of applied Kaizen–Kata in a service organization (a fast-food restaurant).

Building on the routine dynamics literature, this paper aims to expand our philosophical, practical and infrastructural understanding of implementing lean production. The authors provide a process view on the interplay between lean operating routines and continuous improvement (CI) routines and the roles of different actors in initiating and establishing these routines.

Using data from interviews, observations and document analysis, retrospective comparative analyses of three embedded case studies on lean implementations provide a process understanding of enacting and patterning lean operating and CI routines in manufacturing SMEs.

Incorporating the “who” and “how” next to the “what” of practices and routines helps explain that rather than being implemented in isolation or even in conjunction with each other, sustainable lean practices and routines come about through team leader and employee enactment of the CI practices and routines. Neglecting these patterns aligned with unsustainable implementations.

The proposed process model provides a valuable way to integrate variance and process streams of literature to better understand lean production implementations.

The process model helps manufacturing managers, policy makers, consultants and educators to reconsider their approach to implementing lean production or teaching how to do so.

Nuancing the existing lean implementation literature, the proposed process model shows that CI routines do not stem from implementing lean operating routines. Rather, the model highlights the importance of active engagement of actors at multiple organizational levels and strong connections between and across levels to change routines and work practices for implementing lean production.

This study empirically tests a model of human capital (HC) factors affecting the organisational competitiveness (OC) of automotive parts suppliers in the Industry 4.0 framework, including concepts such as Toyota Kata (TK), Kaizen and Quality 4.0, during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

An instrument was created to measure emotional intelligence (EI) and analytical skill (AS) as input variables and OC as the output variable. The instrument was distributed electronically to Tier 1 non-technical employees in Nuevo León and Querétaro, México. A total of 195 surveys were obtained. The instrument used stepwise multiple linear regression.

This study proposes a model to strengthen the OC of Tier 1 automotive parts supply industry from the perspective of HC factors. Furthermore, it is shown that EI and AS have a positive and significant impact on OC.

From an HC perspective, this study provides a useful basis to improve OC for researchers, industry experts and managers at different levels of the automotive industry, including the triple helix (academia, industry and the government).

No studies simultaneously test the relationship of EI and AS to OC; therefore, this study fills a gap in the literature. Furthermore, the study explored the literature on individual Kaizen (IK) and TK, leading to a contrast between the definitions of EI and AS. Finally, for EI, a reference to motivation was found in the IK. In the case of AS, an orientation to ability of problem solving was found in TK.

The purpose of this paper is to reach a deeper understanding of the Lean principle of respect for people (RFP to facilitate Lean implementation in Western organizations outside Toyota.

This study uses an interpretative, hermeneutic approach to understand the RFP concept through a literature study of existing research about Lean implementation, and an inquiry into the underlying meaning of the RFP principle, by studying sources from Toyota and discussions about the RFP principle in Japan.

RFP is seen as a central principle in Lean implementations, but the failure of RFP is believed to cause Lean implementations to fail. The literature about Lean discusses the RFP principle both as a general positive atmosphere and as focused on developing the work capacity of employees. By studying the sources from Toyota, it could be understood that RFP is based on ought-respect. The authors also find that RFP is related to takumi, a perfected form of craftsmanship. The authors translate the concept to English by tying it to the recent literature about craft to develop RFP as RFC – respect for craftsmanship.

As this is a conceptual paper, it is difficult to translate the findings into a tool for companies and organizations to use. However, that is the point of the paper: that the most important ideas are not translatable into tools.

It is necessary in Lean implementations to connect people’s work to craftsmanship. Through a discussion of craftsmanship before Lean implementations, it might be possible to nurture an understanding of the underlying values of Lean.

The authors have not found any papers that propose takumi as the base of the RFP principle, nor as a foundational concept at Toyota. It is necessary to understand the concept of takumi, as perfection in craft, to understand the RFP principle.

The purpose of this paper is to address the organizational implications of transformative Lean Deployment initiatives, leveraging the Viable System Model to understand what is needed organizationally so these initiatives can succeed and take root.

The paper starts by pointing out how Lean practices presuppose and demand empowered, autonomous organizational units at all levels. It then highlights how Lean manages the resulting Recursive Organization of “autonomous units within autonomous units” through powerful cohesion mechanisms addressing the negotiation of goals and resources, unit-to-unit coordination and process monitoring – with tools such as Pull, Kanban, Hoshin Kanri, A3 and the Toyota Kata, supported by operational practices such as Visual Controls, Standard Work, etc.

The Viable System Model was found to provide a valuable guide for articulating the organizational underpinnings of Lean deployments, including the effective, recursive distribution of deployment responsibility and authority at all levels, the identification of the right composition and reporting structure of implementation teams, and the role to be attributed to support organizations.

The approach provides a framework for understanding the organizational implications and possible resistance to comprehensive Lean deployments, and for appropriately including the all-important organizational dimension in order to promote the success of these deployments. It is also hoped that the paper can contribute to a more holistic, integrative understanding of what it means for an organization to embark on its Lean journey.