Continuous improvement
Also called: Kaizen · Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Class 8, Ch 7 "Factors of Production"
Meaning
Continuous improvement is a work culture where people keep making work a little better and keep quality high, every day. It is not one big reform. It is a steady habit of small gains in methods, skills and quality. Over time this raises workers' human capital, meaning their skills and knowledge, and it lifts a country's living standards. Its best-known form is Japan's kaizen, a Japanese word that means "continuous improvement".
Example
Japan has applied kaizen since the mid-1940s, and it helped raise Japanese living standards. Germany shows a similar work ethic of punctuality, attention to detail and quality, which helped make it a global leader in technology and manufacturing. An Indian car-parts factory follows the same idea when its workers suggest small changes every week that cut waste and defects.
Don't confuse with
- Training: training is a planned process of learning the skills for a particular job. Continuous improvement is an everyday work culture that keeps raising quality after the training is over.