Japan brings kaizen philosophy to Ethiopia

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26542963

by McUsr • 12 years ago

29 10 12 years ago

I am surprised how often W. Edward Deming is left out of articles like this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming

"n Japan, from 1950 onward, he taught top business managers how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing, and sales (the last through global markets)[1] by various means, including the application of statistical methods. Deming made a significant contribution to Japan's later reputation for innovative, high-quality products, and for its economic power. He is regarded as having had more impact upon Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not of Japanese heritage."

piokuc• 12 years ago

That was a short article about kaizen in Ethiopia, not history of kaizen. But thanks for the reference!

yakshemash• 12 years ago

Not very often we get stories about Ethiopia on front page of hacker news...

Habesha• 12 years ago

Ethiopian here....Very true!

Apocryphon• 12 years ago

Interestingly enough, the historical amity between Japan and Ethiopia has existed since the early 20th century, as two lone countries that managed to remain independent during the time of European colonialism:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethiopia–Japan_relations

spingsprong• 12 years ago

Thailand was never colonised.

e12e• 12 years ago

Reminds me of the story where Toyota decides to help charities by donating help with management/process:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6139960

polskibus2• 12 years ago

Kaizen is a small part of the Lean philosophy that originated in Toyota. I dont understandbwhy the article focuses on kaizen technique only.

Kluny• 12 years ago

The Toyota Way is a philosophy that includes Kaizen, Lean, and like 12 other principles. http://icos.groups.si.umich.edu/Liker04.pdf. Most people latch on to one or two because the whole thing is too big to grasp at one sitting. It takes a long time (a century, for Toyota) to develop a company into it.

polskibus2• 12 years ago

I'd say that kaizen is a lean technique for improving a process or flow as described in "Lean thinking".

Japan brings kaizen philosophy to Ethiopia

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