EFFECT OF KAIZEN STRATEGY ON FIRM COMPETITIVENESS AMONG THE MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN NAKURU TOWN

Abstract

Kaizen means continuous improvement involving everyone in the organization from top management, to managers then to supervisors, and to workers, this study sought to establish the effects of Kaizen strategy on the competitiveness of manufacturing firms in Nakuru. The general objective of the study was to establish the effect of the Kaizen strategy on firm competitiveness among the manufacturing firms in Nakuru town. The study was guided by the theory of lean management. From the reviewed literature very little research linking the Kaizen strategy with firm competitiveness has been done, this research, therefore, filled the gap by providing empirical evidence on the effects of Kaizen strategy on the competitiveness of the manufacturing firms. The research adopted a descriptive survey research design, the target population for this study was 40 manufacturing firms in Nakuru registered under the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM). Since the population was not large the study used census approach, the targeted respondents included heads of Operations/Production managers; the data was collected using structured questionnaires administered personally by the researcher. The effects of Kaizen on manufacturing firm competitiveness were found to be positive and significant at (β= 0.258 P= 0.011< 0.05). The study recommends that manufacturing firms consider implementing the Kaizen strategy to enhance their firm competitiveness. Lastly, the study suggests that further research be undertaken in other firms in other sectors such as banking, insurance, hospitality, health, and telecommunications to establish the effects of Kaizen strategy on the competitiveness of such firms.