Lessons from Japan - Quality as a driver of social development
Leave a CommentIn times of great societal challenges - with energy crises, volatile inflation rates, geopolitical uncertainty, increased sustainability demands and the experience of a global pandemic - there is a growing need to return to fundamental questions: what creates long-term sustainability and resilience in organizations and societies? Here, the quality movement offers important insights, not least through the experiences that can be drawn from Japan, where quality has for decades been considered a cultural and societal issue, far beyond methods and tools.
This year's conference in Tokyo made it clear that quality is fundamentally about culture, leadership and people engagement. Several presentations emphasized the importance of leadership that actively participates in improvement efforts. One concrete example was leaders who regularly visit the gemba - the everyday life of the organization - to show presence and commitment. Quality circles were highlighted as a powerful way to systematically involve employees in order to gain knowledge and experience.
A recurring theme was that the basic principles of TQM are timeless, but need to be interpreted in light of the current context. AI and digitization create new opportunities, but are so far mainly used for control and inspection. The big challenge ahead will be to use technology in creative development processes, where human judgment continues to play a crucial role.
At the same time, the conference marked an important shift in the quality movement: from a one-sided focus on the customer and stakeholder perspective to embrace a broader sustainability and societal focus. Quality is increasingly understood as a contribution to long-term value creation - not only for organizations and their customers, but also for people, communities and future generations.
The conference also provided interesting cultural perspectives. In Japan, the way of working is characterized by a collective, family-oriented approach - in contrast to the stronger individualism in the West. Despite the country's '30 lost years' in the economy, there was a clear sense of optimism and confidence in the future.
A key insight was the importance of putting people at the center: creating the conditions for engagement, creativity and a long-term quality culture. Improvements need not only to be implemented, but also standardized to be sustainable over time. Here, digital analytics can provide important support in the improvement work.
Inspiring examples came from visits to the car manufacturer Subaru, where specific resources are budgeted to enable all teams to work on improvements. Other recurring messages were the importance of reducing the distance between management and employees, fostering an open and courageous culture, seeing change as an opportunity and taking responsibility together as a team.
Our own contribution was about how organizations can understand and put values into practice. Through our research in collaboration with Sahlgrenska University Hospital, we want to contribute to developing ideas about what characterizes leading organizations and build bridges between research and practice. Our ambition is to create new perspectives on how organizations can become both more sustainable and resilient - with the value base as a compass.
Three key lessons can be highlighted in particular:
- Quality is built onculture, leadership and commitment. The conference showed how leadership presence - for example through regular gemba visits - and working methods such as quality circles create participation and long-term improvement power.
- Customerneeds remain important, but are now complemented by a clearer focus on societal benefits and sustainability. Quality is increasingly understood as a contribution to long-term value creation - for organizations, people and future generations.
- Technology with a human compass.AI and digitalization are today often used for control, but the potential ahead lies in supporting creative development processes. Improvements will only be sustainable when digital tools are combined with human judgment and the ability to standardize lessons learned over time.
In conclusion, I would like to express my gratitude for the hospitable, inviting and generous culture we encountered in Japan. The warmth and openness that characterized both the conference and the face-to-face meetings provided not only new insights into quality and leadership, but also a deeper understanding of how cultural values can create conditions for collaboration, development and long-term learning. In a time of societal challenges and increased sustainability requirements, these lessons become particularly important - not only for the success of organizations, but for the future of society at large.
Anders Fundin, Research Director SIQ
