Bottom-Up Kaizen Implementation in Malaysian Automotive Industry: A Conceptual Model

• Kamal Sabri Kamarudin

  Management of Technology Department, Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4028-5376 (unauthenticated)

• Zulhasni Abdul Rahim

  Management of Technology Department, Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 54000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4391-8589 (unauthenticated)

• Norzura Ismail

  Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 08400 Sg, Petani, Malaysia

  https://orcid.org/0009-0008-7932-7175 (unauthenticated)

• Hiroshi Nakanishi

  Institute of Ocean Energy, Saga University 1 Honjo-machi, Saga, 840-8502, Japan

This study aimed to identify the factors that influence the implementation of bottom-up Kaizen models in the Malaysian top manufacturers (Proton, Perodua, Honda, Toyota). The study was conducted in three phases. To identify the need for a model, two instruments were used. In phase one, a panel of 11 experts used the Fuzzy Delphi Method (FDM) to develop the model based on expert feedback on a 5-point Likert scale survey questionnaire. A Partial Least Square Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) approach was used to evaluate the model in phase two. An evaluation was carried out through 300 employees in the automotive manufacturing sector. Findings from phase one resulted in the development of a model consisting of eight constructs with 41 items as a bottom-up Kaizen activity for the Malaysian automotive industry. Furthermore, the findings from phase two showed that the bottom-up Kaizen activity model consists of seven constructs and only significant and positive influencing factors for both direct and mediated paths were considered. In phase three, the results of this study have created a structural relationship model for Bottom-up Kaizen criteria. Hence, this research has the potential to provide great benefits and become a useful reference for the Malaysian automotive industry.

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