The Japanisation' of UK businesses has become widely established in recent years. The idea of kaizen (a focus on continuous improvement of processes), quality circle groups and aiming for zero d re now common in both business literature and the workplace. There are, however, people who feel that these ideas are either.
ideas that are already known about,
or broad generalizations with little connection to the real world.
They argue that these ideas are more for the benefit of business 'gurus' who can earn a lot of money selling books based on these new ideas than for the benefit and development of businesses. For evidence, they can point to many examples of businesses that have applied these ideas but shown no improvement or have even gone into further decline. It is important to realize that the newer developments in operations management are no one solution that will raise every business to levels of international competitiveness, The real task for managers is to adapt the principles and culture to their own individual situation, and continue adapting them over time as that situation changes.