Purpose – Since Masaaki Imai coined the term Kaizen in the mid 1980s it has been regarded as a key element in the competitiveness of Japanese companies. However, even though Kaizen was defined by the author who created the term, writings by scholars and practitioners in the field exhibit a...

Purpose – In recent years, small family businesses in Mexico have come under enormous pressure from their external environment: this has resulted in serious problems affecting the running of their businesses, leading ultimately to a drop off in sales, customers and market share. Some have...