Relationship between Kaizen Events and Perceived Quality Performance in Indian Automobile Industry

Kaizen events are focused on improving the project, using a dedicated cross-functional team to a targeted work area, with specific goals, in an accelerated time frame. Kaizen events have been widely reported to produce positive change in business results and human resource outcomes. However, it can be difficult for many organizations to sustain or improve upon the results of a Kaizen event after it concludes. Furthermore, the sustainability of Kaizen event outcomes has received limited research attention to date. This research paper is based on a field study of six Kaizen events across five large scale automobile manufacturing organizations located in Chennai area. The research model was developed using the indicators of Kaizen events and the perceived quality performance factors. The model hypothesized that there is no correlation among the Kaizen Events such as Participation in Decision Making, Communication, and Respect for Top Management, Employee Involvement, Training & Education and Perceived Quality Performance. Furthermore, the model hypothesized that Perceived Quality Performance would mediate the relationship between Kaizen Events of the study. The study hypotheses were analyzed through correlation model. The Kaizen event indicators i.e., Participation in Decision Making, Communication, and Respect for Top Management, Employee Involvement, Training & Education and Perceived Quality Performance that were most strongly related to each Sustainability Outcome were identified. Overall, this study advances academic knowledge regarding Kaizen event outcome sustainability. The findings also present discussion points so that practitioners may take precautions for long-term impact of Kaizen events and perceived quality performance in the selected Organizations