Systematic bibliometric analysis on Kaizen in scientific journals

Purpose: Since Masaaki Imai coined the term Kaizen in the mid-1980s, it has been seen as a key element for the competitiveness of Japanese companies, and it is currently a widely discussed philosophy and is applied in a wide range of organizations throughout the world. The purpose of this paper is to serve as guidance for researchers who are developing their studies in the field of the Kaizen philosophy, in order to improve their knowledge on the most relevant articles, the most productive authors or the key scientific journals that make up this subject. Design/methodology/approach: In order to fulfill the proposed objective, a descriptive bibliometric study was carried out with the analysis of citations from 138 articles included in the multidisciplinary database Scopus (Elsevier) until 2016. For the search of documents, a tracking strategy was chosen that allowed for the development of the ad hoc database required to analyze each of the basic variables of the bibliometric indicators. Findings: The results obtained show a growing interest of the scientific community in its study in the last decade, as shown by the significant increase in citations received by articles, despite the reduction in the number of papers published in the last two years. Research limitations/implications: The main limitations are derived from the choice of a specific database, as well as the specific search equation. Originality/value: The study presents an in-depth analysis of the current state of research regarding the Kaizen philosophy through its bibliometric study, providing useful information for academics and professionals by providing a series of significant indicators to measure the bibliographic material.