What are the advantages and disadvantages of Kaizent Discuss in brief.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Kaizent Discuss in brief.

The advantages
Kaizen can be useful in any industry, whether it is ailing or not. Its advantages are : Primarily it puts people first.
It concentrates attention on the processes and activity is centered on getting the process right.
It rewards effort as well as achievement.
It is a method for active problem solving.
It delegates responsibility to all participants.
It gives employees a sense of purpose.
It acts as a motivator for building quality in to product.
It eliminates the need for inspection.
It harbours group-centered activity and therefore encourages teamwork.
It helps to breakdown departmental barriers.
The focus for improvement is returned to the needs for the customer.
It aims to reduce waste and superfluous activity which are non-vasible to management.
It helps to establish long-term goals for the company so that it can keep abreast of change.
The above are only some of the more abvious reasons for starting down the path to continuous improvement. The list is limited only by the imagination of the observer. In any activity, there are endless opportunities to do things better, then again. By adopting the philosophy whole­heartedly, people can be inspired to achieve levels of quality and artisanship hitherto thought impossible. The human mind is limitless in its ability to achieve. All that is required is a believing heart, and a strong will. The desire to improve, once caugh, will be self-perpetuating when the benefits of that improvement become visible. People must believe in themselves and their ability to do better. Of course, it is frightening to chang, to break ouf of a humdrum state of affairs. However, if one does not try, changes are that the rut merely grows deeper and more difficult to get out of.
Disadvantages
Kaizen is not a new idea - it has been I practice, both in parts and in toto for good many years
now. However the Indian industries are still shy of exploiting its full potential. The reason are :
The difficulties in getting started. Just where does one start? (The unequivocal answer to that
would be with management!)
The difficulties in understanding the concept as a whole from an Indian point of view.
Changing people's attitude to accept something different and by implication foreign (the answer
to that again would be to remove the foreignness by emphasizing the points of similarity. Human
being are simimar enough in the most basic elements wherever they happen to live.)
Maintaining momentum once the initial fizz has gone out of the proceeding. All too often,
introductions are gimmicky and full of razzmatazz, but they fail to have substance and therefore
inevitably fail.
Getting people to think in the long term.
'Convincing people that quality is not costly, but actually saves money, time and effort.
Getting away from 'inspection' culture, which admits failure even before it occurs.
Diehard managerial practice which thrives on territoriality and the big-brother syndrome.
The time investment of starting and keeping going any continuous improvement intiative. People
are desperate about time, but how effectively is it managed?
Too much involvement needed from management. It is hard work, but managers work already.
They are just not working on the right things, that is all!