0MANAGEMENTCONSULTINGPREP©2013MConsultingPrep,Inc.1HimalaMotorsSomebusinessimprovementsinvolvegiantleapsforward.Anexampleofthiswouldbethedevelopmentofarevolutionarynewproductsuchasthecomputeror,morerecently,theiPhoneormodernwindturbinestocreategreenenergy.However,ofmoreimportancetomostbusinessesaretheongoingsmallstepsofimprovement.HimalaMotors,oneofthelargestautomobileproducersinIndia,continuallymakesimprovementstoeverythingitdoesbasedontheJapaneseprincipleofKaizen.TheJapaneseterm'Kaizen',meaningcontinuousimprovement,comesfromthewords'kai'-continuousand'zen'-goodorforthebetter.Sotheterm'Kaizenevent'isusedforanyactionthatisanimprovementtoanexistingprocess.Kaizeneventsusuallyinvolvebringingtogetheroperators,managersandtheownerstoaparticulareventtodiscusspossibleimprovements.Flowchartsillustratingprocessesareshownandpeoplediscusshowtheycanimprovetheflowofwork.Alotofsmallstepscanrapidlybecomeagiantleapforwardinthecreationofnewideas.ThegreatthingaboutKaizenprocessesisthatpeoplewhoreallyunderstandmanufacturingatanuts-and-boltslevelcangetinvolvedinintroducingimprovements.Someonewhoassemblespartsoftheautomobilesuspensionwillhaveareasonablygoodideaabouthowtheprocessestheyworkoncouldbeimproved.Himalathereforeencourageseveryonetobeinvolvedinthedecisionmakingprocess.Thecompany,withthesuccessfulapplicationoftheKaizeninitiative,hasbecomethetopplayerinthetruckmarketinIndia.However,itsmarketshareintheIndianpassengercarmarketthisyearhasfallento7%comparedtolastyear’sshareof12%.DespitethefactthattheKaizeninitiativehasnotworkedforthepassengercarmarketsofar,theCEOofHimalastillbelievesinit.Hestatesthatitisjustbecauseofsomedifferencesbetweenthepassengercarmarketandthetruckmarket.OneofthedifferencesisthatwhileHimalahasbeentheexperiencedcompetitorinotherareas,thecompanyisarelativelynewplayerinthismarket,only5yearsintoit.TheCEOhasdecidedtogatheraMcKinseyteamtofindthebottleneckandtomakesomeadjustmentstotheinitiativesothatitcanadapttothepassengercarmarket.21.Whichofthefollowingstatementsw...
