The Secret to Trader Joe’s Success? Embracing This Japanese Business Strategy

Here's what Toyota and Trader Joe's have in common: Both companies have embraced kaizen and are better for it.

The Trader Joe's sign is seen on a store in Florida in a file photograph. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

By Aytekin Tank

“The starting point for improvement is to recognize the need. This comes from recognition of a problem. If no problem is recognized, there is no recognition of the need for improvement. Complacency is the archenemy of kaizen."—Masaaki Imai, Kaizen: The Key To Japan’s Competitive Success

The philosophy of kaizen—or continuous improvement—is a combination of two words: Kai, meaning change, and zen, meaning good. Although its origins can be traced back to the rebuilding effort that followed World War II, it became known in the West after Japanese organizational theorist Masaaki Imai released the book Kaizen: The Key To Japan’s Competitive Success in 1986.