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During crises, notably the recent COVID-19 pandemic, a heightened sense of urgency has manifested as a catalyst for improvement within organizations. The present study aims to explore the influence of a sense of urgency on individual kaizen performance. Additionally, the study delves into the potential moderating roles of organizational culture in this relationship.

Data samples include 481 employees who are working at Japanese manufacturing companies. SPSS software is used for data analysis, comprising measurement test, correlation and regression analysis.

A sense of urgency was found to predict a higher number of accepted suggestions. Moreover, there is a significant and positive interaction effect of adhocracy culture and a sense of urgency on writing and submitting ideas.

As an initial study that empirically tests the relationship between a sense of urgency and individual kaizen performance, this paper contributes to the literature on kaizen, change management and innovation. It also corroborates previous research on the Person-Organization fit framework.

This study examines the role of anxiety in kaizen behaviour and performance by empirically testing the influence of personal anxiety (state and trait) on individual kaizen behaviours (rule adherence, initiative and perseverance of effort), which, in turn, affect individual kaizen performance.

The data were obtained from a survey of 552 employees of four companies in Japan and analysed using structural equation modelling.

The results show that state anxiety has a significantly positive effect on rule adherence and kaizen performance. Trait anxiety positively influences employees' initiative and perseverance but has a significant negative effect on kaizen performance.

This study contributes to kaizen and continuous improvement theory by focussing on individual kaizen, which is considered to be as important as organisation-level kaizen and investigating the relevance of personal anxiety in individual kaizen behaviours and kaizen performance.

The purpose of this research study was to examine the international transfer of kaizen or continuous improvement. The central research question was formulated as: what national level factors influence the transfer of kaizen, and how?

In the study, a survey interview was followed with semi-structured interviews. The study focused on Japanese subsidiaries in The Netherlands. A total of 15 companies participated in the research.

Two main national level factors, not previously identified in the literature, were found: the level of eagerness of employees and the level of discipline of employees. It was also found that, based on these two factors, transferring kaizen to The Netherlands is very challenging.

The research was limited to kaizen transfer from Japan to The Netherlands.

Companies benefit from this research because it contributes to understanding the relative ease of transferring kaizen. Having this understanding aids companies with planning the transfer of kaizen and its implementation.

Several studies have examined the international transfer of kaizen and/or the international transfer of Japanese management systems. Some studies have identified national level factors as being important but understanding of how and why the factors play a role has been underdeveloped. Furthermore, companies are still struggling with the international transfer of kaizen. This study on kaizen transfer found two previously unidentified key factors, the reasons for their occurrence, and how they influence the transfer. This allows an improved understanding.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Firms seeking improved performance to meet complex challenges fueled by uncertain conditions can increase employee ability to find creative solutions by generating a sense of urgency. The likelihood of this can increase when either a clan or adhocracy organizational culture prevails.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.