Kaizen, lean production, and agile principles were brought to widespread attention in the 1980s and 1990s as approaches to operational efficiency and effectiveness. Some argue they represent new forms of managerial control over labor and suppliers, while others see them as panaceas. There is a debate around whether these principles are now fully ingrained in modern organizations, or if new conceptual approaches should be explored. The document asks for an assessment of the ongoing relevance of kaizen, lean thinking, and agility in today's business operations and supply networks based on post-2000 literature.

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MA/MSc Programmes
MAN-40083
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT AND SUPPLY
INDIVIDUAL ESSAY ASSIGNMENT
Semester 1, 2016-17
“Kaizen principles were brought to the world’s attention by Imai (1984) as an underlying
doctrine of total quality management. The lean production thesis (Womack, Jones and
Roos) was published twenty six years ago in 1990 and agility was in wide use as a
concept in the 1990s when Marshall Fisher (1997) produced his seminal paper in the
Harvard Business Review. Some argue that kaizen, lean and agile represent
panaceas for operational efficiency and effectiveness, whereas others argue critically
that they represent new forms of managerial control over labour and suppliers. Some
might claim these principles are now ingrained in the operations and supply practices
of modern organisations and so we should breaking new ground conceptually.”
References
M Imai. Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success, McGraw-Hill: New York, 1986.
J P Womack, D T Jones and D Roos. The Machine That Changed The World, Rawson
Associates: New York, 1990.
M Fisher. “What is the Right Supply Chain for your Product?”, Harvard Business Review,
March-April, 1997, pp.105-116.
Based on your own review of more recent (i.e. post 2000) literature, what is
your view on the currency of kaizen, lean and agile thinking to the
management of operations and supply networks in today’s business world?
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Important Notes:
 Your assignment must not be more than 2500 words in length.
 Your assignment represents 50% of the total module assessment;
 Marks will be allocated on content and discussion, references to supporting material, overall
presentation;
 Ensure you include a full list of references to your sources;
 Evidence of reference to other sources AND logic of argument will be duly rewarded. Please note
the word “reference” above – a detached bibliographical listing of other sources not referenced in
the main body will not be rewarded!
 Reference your sources in the main body of your essay using the Harvard system (surname, date,
page number if appropriate).
 You must submit your assignment electronically using the link provided on the KLE pages before
the deadline date and time indicated below.
 Please note, it must be your own work – note that the Turnitin software automatically checks your
electronic submission for plagiarism and similarities between your work, published sources and
other student submissions!
 Further instructions on submission will be provided as appropriate.
The deadline for submission is Friday 25th
November2016,before 3:00PM.