Masaaki Imai

Masaaki Imai
, 1930–⁠2023, was a Japanese organizational theorist and management consultant known for his work on quality management, specifically on kaizen. Known as the father of Continuous Improvement (CI), Masaaki Imai has been a
pioneer and leader in spreading the kaizen philosophy all over the world.
Life & Work
In 1986, Imai published "Kaizen, The Key to Japan's Competitive Success", which was an instant global bestseller, firmly embedding the word kaizen in the corporate lexicon. It was
the first book to introduce the Lean philosophy to the world. His firsthand account is
based on his close associations and travels with Shoichiro Toyoda and Taichi Ohno and reveals
the secrets behind the success of Toyota and other Japanese companies.
Mr. Imai’s sequel book on this subject, "Gembakaizen: A Commonsense, Low-cost
Approach to Management", was published in 1997. This book uses relevant case studies to
detail 21 practical kaizen management practices, including methodologies and tools to apply where the real action occurs. The result: greater productivity, quality, and profits
achieved with minimal cost and time.
In keeping with his philosophy of never-ending Continuous Improvement, Mr. Imai founded
Kaizen Institute in 1985, a global management consulting firm promoting kaizen and lean practices. The concept of kaizen is to make simple, common-sense improvements and
refinements to critical end-to-end business processes- supporting the overall CI strategy of the
organization. Today, companies around the world have used kaizen for greater productivity,
speed, quality, and profits with minimal cost, time, and effort to get results and to become
recognized industry leaders. Masaaki Imai continues to play a significant role as the
Ambassador and visionary of the organization while actively participating.
In November 1998, Masaaki Imai received the Asia-Pacific Human Resource Development.
Award in recognition of his immense contribution to business efficiency and productivity through
the application of the philosophy of step-by-step improvement. In June 1999, he received the
Shingo Research and Professional Research Prize for his book Gembakaizen. In 2010, he was
awarded the first Honorary Fellowship of Quality Control in India. Further, in 2019, Masaaki
Imai was awarded by the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation with "The BrandLaureate Legendary Award".
After retirement, he has been actively engaged in spreading the Toyota Way in Japan and
abroad. In 2012, he published a book, “Toyota Production System” (in Japanese only), a
collection of some 50 cases of his own consulting.
Masaaki Imai’s latest book "Strategic KAIZEN™" was published in 2021 and completed the
trilogy of his authoritative work on the kaizen approach.
Kaizen
"KAI" means change, and "ZEN" means for the better, together "Change for the better".
Kaizen refers to a philosophy or practices that focus upon Continuous Improvement
regardless of the type of business or process. Masaaki Imai acknowledged that kaizen
starts with the detection of needs and problem definition:
"The starting point for improvement is to recognize the need. This comes from
the recognition of a problem. If no problem is recognized, there is no recognition of the
need for improvement. Complacency is the archenemy of KAIZEN™." [9]
Awards and Recognitions
2019: "The BrandLaureate Legendary Award."
2010: “Honorary Fellowship of Quality Control.”
1999 “Shingo Research and Professional Publication Prize" for the book Gemba Kaizen
1998: “Asia-Pacific Human Resource Development Award.”
Selected publications
2021: “Strategic KAIZEN™: Using Flow, Synchronization, and Leveling [FSL™] Assessment to Measure and Strengthen Operational Performance” (McGraw Hill)
2012: "Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy, 2nd Edition" (McGraw Hill)
1997: "Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-cost Approach to Management" (McGraw Hill)
1986: "KAIZEN™: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success" (McGraw Hill)
1975: "Never Take Yes for an Answer: An Inside Look at Japanese Business."
References
1930 births
Living people
Japanese business theorists
Japanese management consultants
University of Tokyo alumni
People from Tokyo