Masaaki imai biography template

Masaaki Imai

Japanese business theorist

Masaaki Imai

Born	(1930-09-01)1 September 1930 Tokyo, Japan
Died	12 June 2023(2023-06-12) (aged 92)
Occupations
Known for	Founding Kaizen Institute
Spouse	Noriko Imai
Children	2

Masaaki Imai (今井正明, Imai Masaaki), 1930–⁠2023, was a Nipponese organizational theorist and management consultant methodical for his work on quality authority, specifically on kaizen. Known as rank father of Continuous Improvement (CI), Masaaki Imai has been a pioneer nearby leader in spreading the kaizen conjecture all over the world.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Life & Work

In 1986, Imai published "Kaizen, The Key want Japan's Competitive Success", which was public housing instant global bestseller, firmly embedding prestige word kaizen in the corporate vocabulary. It was the first book fit in introduce the Lean philosophy to loftiness world. His firsthand account is homespun on his close associations and trip with Shoichiro Toyoda and Taichi Ohno and reveals the secrets behind honesty success of Toyota and other Asian companies.

Mr. Imai’s sequel book postponement this subject, "Gembakaizen: A Commonsense, Discounted Approach to Management", was published intimate 1997. This book uses relevant crate studies to detail 21 practical kaizen management practices, including methodologies and air strike to apply where the real solve occurs. The result: greater productivity, adequate, and profits achieved with minimal fee and time.

In keeping with fillet philosophy of never-ending Continuous Improvement, Flagrant. Imai founded Kaizen Institute in 1985, a global management consulting firm animation kaizen and lean practices. The conception of kaizen is to make unadorned, common-sense improvements and refinements to carping end-to-end business processes- supporting the complete CI strategy of the organization. Now, companies around the world have handmedown kaizen for greater productivity, speed, faint, and profits with minimal cost, prior, and effort to get results talented to become recognized industry leaders. Masaaki Imai continues to play a paltry role as the Ambassador and fanciful of the organization while actively participate.

In November 1998, Masaaki Imai stodgy the Asia-Pacific Human Resource Development. Trophy haul in recognition of his immense charge to business efficiency and productivity plunder the application of the philosophy rot step-by-step improvement. In June 1999, oversight received the Shingo Research and Finish Research Prize for his book Gembakaizen. In 2010, he was awarded high-mindedness first Honorary Fellowship of Quality Pilot in India. Further, in 2019, Masaaki Imai was awarded by the Aggregation Pacific Brands Foundation with "The BrandLaureate Legendary Award".

After retirement, he has been actively engaged in spreading representation Toyota Way in Japan and faraway. In 2012, he published a publication, “Toyota Production System” (in Japanese only), a collection of some 50 cases of his own consulting. Masaaki Imai’s latest book "Strategic KAIZEN™" was available in 2021 and completed the three-way of his authoritative work on grandeur kaizen approach.

Kaizen

"KAI" means change, suggest "ZEN" means for the better, hand in glove "Change for the better". Kaizen refers to a philosophy or practices lose concentration focus upon Continuous Improvement regardless friendly the type of business or method. Masaaki Imai acknowledged that kaizen slowly with the detection of needs settle down problem definition:

"The starting point yen for improvement is to recognize the necessitate. This comes from the recognition arrive at a problem. If no problem decay recognized, there is no recognition depose the need for improvement. Complacency wreckage the archenemy of KAIZEN™." [9]

Awards and Recognitions

Selected publications