Wen-Hsing Liu, Sarah Asio, Jennifer Cross, Wiljeana J. Glover and Eileen Van Aken
The purpose of this study is to identify inhibitors and enablers of Kaizen event effectiveness, as perceived by participants, and categorize them into shared mental models to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify inhibitors and enablers of Kaizen event effectiveness, as perceived by participants, and categorize them into shared mental models to understand the factors participants believe to be affecting Kaizen event success. The findings are also interpreted using the lens of attribution bias and previous studies of Kaizen event effectiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach involving coding responses from participants was adopted. The identified significant inhibitors and enablers were then assigned to shared mental model types using a mapping and categorization approach.
Findings
The results are largely consistent with previous studies and show that job/task and technology/equipment mental models dominate participant views of inhibitors, while enablers were primarily drawn from team and team interaction mental models. This also suggests that attribution bias is present.
Research limitations/implications
The methods used to measure shared mental models in this study are cross-sectional and exploratory in nature. Future research could involve the intensive study of a smaller number of Kaizen events over time.
Practical implications
The findings in this study can be used by organizations to identify training needs for Kaizen event teams by identifying areas of potential attribution bias, by divergence of perceptions between facilitators and team members and by underestimated factor effects.
Originality/value
This investigation offers understanding of the Kaizen event team shared mental models with respect to inhibitors and enablers of event success. Organizations can harness common perceptions among continuous process improvement teams to increases chances of Kaizen event success.
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Wiljeana J. Glover, Wen‐Hsing Liu, Jennifer A. Farris and Eileen M. Van Aken
Despite the increased adoption and reported benefits of kaizen event (KE) programs, there is a lack of empirical research documenting their design, implementation and outcomes, as…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the increased adoption and reported benefits of kaizen event (KE) programs, there is a lack of empirical research documenting their design, implementation and outcomes, as well as what designs may be more vs less effective. This paper aims to present an empirical study describing the characteristics, including outcomes achieved, program attributes, and implementation problems, of 16 established KE programs. Although this study is primarily exploratory and descriptive, the goal is to identify areas for future research, including attributes that appear to support or detract from program success, and the outcomes and implementation problems experienced.
Design/methodology/approach
Using semi‐structured interviews, qualitative data were collected to characterize established KE programs in 16 manufacturing, service, and government organizations. The data were examined using content analysis to identify the most frequent codes for each characteristic, which were then compared to KE program characteristics synthesized from a systematic review of published KE sources. Based on this, a set of propositions were identified to guide future research on KE programs.
Findings
The majority of the 16 organizations reported successful programs, although there was noted variation in organization success. The organizations also neglected to measure many aspects of program success which they considered to be highly important, in particular, human resource outcomes. In addition, the organizations appeared to struggle with sustainability and believe that sustainability problems could threaten long‐term KE program viability. Other potentially influential factors include the types of processes targeted, event types, catalysts for events, and KE resources. The findings were used to develop propositions for future research in these and other specific areas.
Practical implications
The study provides a better understanding of the characteristics of established KE programs, as well as common areas in need of improvement even in these programs, and can be used by practitioners in establishing or improving their KE programs.
Originality/value
By documenting established KE programs across organizations and comparing actual practices to published sources, this study contributes to the development of KE theory and also provides direction for future empirical research.
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Chi-Chun Chen, Jian-Hong Wang, Hsing-Wen Wang and Jie Zhang
This research proposes an innovative fault-tolerant media content list management technology applied to the smart robot domain.
Abstract
Purpose
This research proposes an innovative fault-tolerant media content list management technology applied to the smart robot domain.
Design/methodology/approach
A fault tolerant Content List Management Unit (CLMU) for real-time streaming systems focusing on smart robot claw machines is proposed to synchronize and manage the hyperlink stored on media servers. The fault-tolerant mechanism is realized by the self-healing method. A media server allows exchanging the hyperlink within the network through the CLMU mechanism.
Findings
Internet users can access the current multimedia information, and the multimedia information list can be rearranged appropriately. Furthermore, the service of the proposed multimedia system should be uninterrupted even when the master media server fails. Therefore, one of the slave media servers enables the Content List Service (CLS) of the proposed CLMU and replaces the defunct master media server.
Originality/value
The recovery time is less than 1.5 seconds. The multimedia transmission is not interrupted while any one of the media servers keeps functioning. The proposed method can serve to stabilize the system of media servers in a smart robot domain.