Kaizen
A management philosophy built on continuous, incremental improvement — making small, frequent adjustments across every aspect of an operation to steadily raise efficiency, quality, and morale.
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Origin
The word combines the Japanese characters for "change" (kai, 改) and "good" (zen, 善). American quality experts, especially W. Edwards Deming and his Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, introduced these principles to Japanese manufacturers during post-World War II reconstruction. Taiichi Ohno at Toyota wove them into the Toyota Production System, and Masaaki Imai brought the concept to a global audience with his 1986 book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success.
Updated February 22, 2026