kaizen

Etymology

From Japanese 改善 (kaizen かいぜん), from Middle Chinese 改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare Mandarin gǎishàn 改善), from Old Chinese 改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ "to correct errors"), from 改 ("to change") + 善 ("good").

Introduced to English in 1959, by Boyé Lafayette De Mente, in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaɪˌzɛn/

Noun

kaizen (countable and uncountable, plural kaizens)

1. a Japanese business practice of continuous improvement in performance and productivity
2. continuous improvement in a general way (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Verb

kaizen (third-person singular simple present kaizens, present participle kaizening, simple past and past participle kaizened)

1. (transitive, business) To apply continuous improvement to (a task, or the worker who performs it).

See also

• quality circle

Romanization

kaizen

1. Rōmaji transcription of かいぜん