Current issue
Archive
About the Journal
About
Editorial Office
Scientific Board
Abstract & Indexing
Contact
Reviewers list
Editorial Policies
Authorship & COI
Ethical principles
Crossmark
Principles of Transparent Checklist
Open access
Reviewing procedure
Instruction for Authors
Guidelines for Authors
Manuscript Types
Manuscript structure
How to submit
SCIENCE ARTICLE
A model of the Kaizen organizational culture shaping process in the company
1
Wydział Zarządzania, Uniwersytet Gdański, Poland
Submission date: 2025-04-10
Final revision date: 2025-06-21
Acceptance date: 2025-07-12
Online publication date: 2025-09-16
Publication date: 2025-09-16
Corresponding author
Piotr Sergiusz Walentynowicz
Wydział Zarządzania, Uniwersytet Gdański, Armii Krajowej 101, 81-824, Sopot, Poland
Wydział Zarządzania, Uniwersytet Gdański, Armii Krajowej 101, 81-824, Sopot, Poland
Management 2025;(2):1-17
KEYWORDS
KaizenKaizen organizational culturemethods of changing organizational culture towards Kaizen cultureprocess of shaping organizational culture towards Kaizen cultureresults of empirical research
JEL CLASSIFICATION CODES
L20
L23
D23
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Research background and purpose:
Kaizen is a management method that has been known around the world for more than 40 years. As reported by the results of various studies, it is still relevant and in practice can bring a lot of benefits to a company, provided, howewer, that it is applied correctly. One of the basic conditions for the successful application of Kaizen is a cultural change towards a culture conducive to the application of Kaizen.Therefore the main this article purpose is to present a model of the process of successfully creating a Kaizen organizational culture developed based on an extensive study of the literature on the subject and the results of empirical research.
Design/methodology/approach:
In addition to literature studies, the research was conducted in manufacturing companies in Poland between 2022 and 2024 using quantitative methods (a convenience sample of 54 large and medium-sized manufacturing and service companies) and a case study method (four large manufacturing companies in the automotive, medical and aerospace industries).
Findings:
As a result of the research procedure, a model of the process of creating Kazien's organizational culture was developed, along with an indication of more than twenty methods of cultural change that can be used in this process.
Value added and limitations:
The main added value of the survey results is knowledge, which, in addition to its academic value, in practice can be of great help to those interested in the topic. On the other hand, the main limitation of the survey may be the survey sample, conveniently selected and consisting mainly of manufacturing companies, which may affect the representativeness of the survey results and their limitation to the group of surveyed companies only. Therefore, in the future, author intend to continuing the survey, the to reduce these limitations.
Kaizen is a management method that has been known around the world for more than 40 years. As reported by the results of various studies, it is still relevant and in practice can bring a lot of benefits to a company, provided, howewer, that it is applied correctly. One of the basic conditions for the successful application of Kaizen is a cultural change towards a culture conducive to the application of Kaizen.Therefore the main this article purpose is to present a model of the process of successfully creating a Kaizen organizational culture developed based on an extensive study of the literature on the subject and the results of empirical research.
Design/methodology/approach:
In addition to literature studies, the research was conducted in manufacturing companies in Poland between 2022 and 2024 using quantitative methods (a convenience sample of 54 large and medium-sized manufacturing and service companies) and a case study method (four large manufacturing companies in the automotive, medical and aerospace industries).
Findings:
As a result of the research procedure, a model of the process of creating Kazien's organizational culture was developed, along with an indication of more than twenty methods of cultural change that can be used in this process.
Value added and limitations:
The main added value of the survey results is knowledge, which, in addition to its academic value, in practice can be of great help to those interested in the topic. On the other hand, the main limitation of the survey may be the survey sample, conveniently selected and consisting mainly of manufacturing companies, which may affect the representativeness of the survey results and their limitation to the group of surveyed companies only. Therefore, in the future, author intend to continuing the survey, the to reduce these limitations.
REFERENCES (50)
1.
Alenezi O.Y. (2022). University leadership styles using the Kaizen approach. Amazonia Investiga, 11(50), 109-121. https://doi.org/10.34069/AI/20....
2.
Alvesson, M. (2002). Understanding Organizational Culture. Sage Publications Ltd., London.
3.
Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson S. (2008). Changing Organizational Culture. Cultural Change Work in Progress, Routledge. Taylor and Francis Group.
4.
Balle, M. (2008). Lean Transformation. Seminar Materials of the VIII International Lean Manufacturing Conference. Lean Enterprise Institute Poland.
5.
Balle, M. & Balle, F. (2012). Dyrektor firmy jako Lean Menadżer. Powieść o transformacji przedsiębiorstwa [Director of the company as Lean Manager. A novel about the transformation of the enterprise]. Publishing House Lean Enterprise Institute Poland.
6.
Balle, M. & Balle, F. (2017). Skuteczne zarządzanie. Powieść o wykorzystywaniu Lean w kierowaniu ludźmi [Effective management. A novel about using Lean in people management]. Publishing House Lean Enterprise Institute Poland.
7.
Beer, M. (2000). Leading organizational change by creating dissatisfaction and realigning the organization with new competitive realities. In E. Locke (Ed.), Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behaviour (pp. 385-401). Blackwell Publishing Ltd., Oxford.
9.
Burggräf, P., Lorber, C., Pyka, A., Wagner, J., & Weißer, T. (2020). Kaizen 4.0 Towards an Integrated Framework for the Lean-Industry 4.0 Transformation. In K., Arai, R., Bhatia & S. Kapoor (Eds.), Proceedings of the Future Technologies Conference (FTC) 2019. FTC 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing (Vol. 1070, pp. 692–709). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-....
11.
Cameron, K.S., & Quinn, R.E. (2015). Kultura organizacyjna - diagnoza i zmiana. Model wartości konkurujących [Organizational culture - diagnosis and change. Competitive Values Model]. Wolters Kluwer.
12.
Czerska, M. (2003). Zmiana kulturowa w organizacji. Wyzwanie dla nowoczesnego menedżera [Cultural Change of Organization. A Challenge for a Modern Manager]. Difin.
13.
Fitzgerald, T.H. (1988). Can change in organizational culture really be managed? Organizational Dynamics, 17(2), 117–34.
14.
Dekier, Ł., & Grycuk, A. (2014). Employee suggestion programs. Experiences of Polish enterprises. Lean Management Poland Association. Wrocław. Retrieved June 20, 2025 from https://leanpolska.org/employe....
15.
Grycuk, A., (2016). Bariery w stosowaniu koncepcji lean management [Barriers to the application of the lean management concept]. Quarterly of Business Administration, 40(3), 72-79.
16.
Hines, P. (2010). How to create and sustain a lean culture. Development and Learning in Organizations, 24(6), 58-62. https://doi.org/10.1108/dlo.20....
17.
Hofstede, G. (2007). Kultury i organizacje. Zaprogramowanie umysłu [Cultures and Organizations. Mind Programming]. PWE.
18.
Imai, M. (2006). Gemba Kaizen. Zdroworozsądkowe, niskokosztowe podejście do zarządzania [Gemba Kaizen. A common-sense, low-cost approach to management]. MT Business.
19.
Imai, M. (1986). Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success. McGraw-Hill Education Ltd.
20.
Janiszewski, J.M. (2018). Zbieżność kultury firmy produkcyjnej nastawionej na ciągłe doskonalenie z kulturą kaizen - wyniki badań wstępnych [The convergence of the culture of a production company focused on continuous improvement with the culture of kaizen – results of preliminary research]. Studies and Works of the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Szczecin, 52/2, 389-401.
21.
Kotter, J.P. (1995). Leading Change. Why Transformations Efforts Fail. Harvard Business Review, March-April, 59-67.
22.
Liker, J. (2022). Droga Toyoty. 14 zasad zarządzania wiodącej firmy produkcyjnej na świecie [The Toyota Way. 14 Principles of Management for the World’s Leading Manufacturing Company]. MT Biznes.
23.
Liker, J., & Hoseus M. (2009). Kultura Toyoty [The Culture of Toyota]. MT Biznes.
24.
Mann, D.W. (2005). Creating a Lean Culture. Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions. Productivity Press.
25.
Manos, A. (2007). The Benefits of Kaizen and Kaizen Events. Quality Progress, 40(2), 47-48.
26.
Miler, T. (2017, August 30). 10 principles of Kaizen. Tomasz Miller. Trainings, Coaching & More. https://tomasz-miler.pl/10-zas....
27.
Miller, J., Villafuerte, J., & Wroblewski, M. (2014). Kultura Kaizen. Budowanie i utrzymanie kultury ciągłego doskonalenia [Kaizen culture. Building and maintaining a culture of continuous improvement]. MT Business.
28.
Neese, M., & Kong, S.M. (2007). Establishing a Kaizen culture. Circuits Assembly, 18(11), 57-58.
29.
Nejjari, J., Etouzani, L., & Benmoussa, I. (2024). The impact of Kaizen culture, transformational leadership and the 4P model on organizational performance and employee commitment. African Scientific Journal, 03(27), 1020-1044.
30.
Ogbonna, E., & Wilkinson, B. (2003). The false promise of organizational culture change. Journal of Management Studies, 40(5), 1151–1178. https://doi.org/https://doi.or....
31.
Ortiz, O.R.D., & Cárdenas, G.A.M. (2022). Kaizen Methodology: literature review and implementation analysis. Journal of Scientific and Technological Research Industrial, 3(2), 26-35.
32.
Piątkowski, M. (2009). Zarządzanie wdrażaniem Lean Manufacturing - powrót do podstaw [Lean Manufacturing Implementation Management - Back to Basics]. Seminar Materials of the IX International Lean Manufacturing Conference. Lean Enterprise Institute Poland.
34.
Rother, M., (2011). Toyota Kata. Zarządzanie ludźmi w celu doskonalenia, nabywania umiejętności adaptacyjnych i osiągania ponadprzeciętnych wyników [Toyota Kata. Managing people for improvement, acquiring adaptation skills and achieving above-average results]. Publishing House Lean Enterprise Institute Poland.
35.
Shook, J. (2010). Lean leadership. Balancing process and people. In T. Koch (Ed.), X International Lean Manufacturing Conference Materials (pp. 14–39). Lean Enterprise Institute Poland.
36.
Singh J., & Singh H. (2015). Continuous Improvement Philosophy Literature Review and Directions. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 11(1): 75-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/bij-06....
37.
Sułkowski, Ł. (2001). Czy można kształtować kulturę organizacyjną? [Is it possible to shape organizational culture?]. Organization and Management, 4, 99-110.
38.
Sundararajan, S. (2023). The Need for Kaizen Culture for Manufacturing Industries in Industry 4.0. International Journal of Professional Business Review, 8(5), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.26668/busin....
39.
Trenkner, M., & Truszkiewicz, B. (2015). Zaangażowanie pracowników w ciągłe doskonalenie - studium przypadku [Employee involvement in continuous improvement - a case study]. Management Sciences, 3(24), 149-164.
40.
Walentynowicz, P. (2013). Uwarunkowania skuteczności wdrażania Lean Management w przedsiębiorstwach produkcyjnych w Polsce [Determinants of the effectiveness of Lean Management implementation in manufacturing companies in Poland]. Publishing House of the University of Gdansk.
41.
Walentynowicz, P. (2014). Narzędzie pomiaru szczupłości kultury organizacyjnej przedsiębiorstwa [A tool for measuring the thinness of the organizational culture of the company]. In J. Łopatowska & G. Zieliński (Eds.), Systemy techniczne i społeczne [Technical and Social Systems] (pp. 41-53). Gdańsk University of Technology Publishing House.
42.
Walentynowicz, P. (2016). Angażowanie pracowników w rozwój firmy z wykorzystaniem założeń koncepcji Kaizen [Engaging employees in the development of the company using the assumptions of the Kaizen concept]. In Z. Malara (Ed.), Oblicza innowacji w gospodarce i społeczeństwie [Faces of innovation in the economy and society] (pp. 195-2130). Publishing House of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology.
43.
Walentynowicz, P. (2018). Employees’ involvement in continuous improvement processes of the enterprises in Poland - barriers and the ways of reducing them. SHS Web of Conferences, 57, 0103. https://www.shs-conferences.or... shsconfinfoglob2018 _01031 .pdf.
44.
Walentynowicz, P., & Szreder, J. (2022) The Methods of Change of Organizational Culture in Companies Using Lean Management. Communications of International Proceedings, Vol. 2022 (6), article ID 4034922.
45.
Walentynowicz, P. (2023). Continuous Improvement system and process in the enterprise, Scientific Papers of the Częstochowa University of Technology Management, 52, 133-148.
46.
Walentynowicz, P. (2024). Metody kształtowania kultury organizacyjnej sprzyjającej Kaizen [Methods of shaping organizational culture conducive to Kaizen]. In M., Lis & M. Bryke (Eds.), Transformacja Kaizen w perspektywie przemiany kulturowej organizacji [Kaizen transformation in the perspective of cultural transformation of organizations] (pp. 17-35). WSB Academy.
47.
Walentynowicz, P., & Omiotek, P. (2024). Ways of shaping the Lean culture in enterprises in Poland. Management, 28(2), 405-422. https://doi.org/10.58691/man/1....
48.
Walentynowicz, P. (2025), Kultura szczupłej organizacji. Atrybuty i sposoby jej kształtowania [TheCulture of Lean Organization. Attributes and methods of shaping it]. In H. Czubasiewicz, & P. Wróbel (Eds.), Kultura organizacji. Uwarunkowania zewnętrzne i wewnętrzne oraz zmiana kulturowa [Culture in organization. External and internal conditions and cultural changes].Publishing House of the University of Gdansk.
49.
Wolniak, R., & Grębski, W. (2024). The usage of Kaizen in Industry 4.0 conditions. Scientific Papers of the Silesian University of Technology. Organization and Management, 188, 677-685. https://doi.org/10.29119/1641-....
50.
Womack, J.P., & Jones, D.T. (2008). Lean thinking. Eliminacja marnotrawstwa i tworzenie wartości w przedsiębiorstwie [Lean thinking. Elimination of waste and creation of value in the enterprise]. ProdPress.
Share
RELATED ARTICLE
| eISSN: | 2299-193X |
| ISSN: | 1429-9321 (1997-2019) |
We process personal data collected when visiting the website. The function of obtaining information about users and their behavior is carried out by voluntarily entered information in forms and saving cookies in end devices. Data, including cookies, are used to provide services, improve the user experience and to analyze the traffic in accordance with the Privacy policy. Data are also collected and processed by Google Analytics tool (more).
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
You can change cookies settings in your browser. Restricted use of cookies in the browser configuration may affect some functionalities of the website.
