The Kaizen philosophy in the context of SMEs

: a case from a Portuguese bus manufacturing company

Abstract

This dissertation aims to examine the cultural, organizational, and practical factors that influence the implementation of Kaizen in SMEs. A case study with qualitative approach was designed, with fifteen semi structured interviews conducted in departments such as commercial, continuous improvement and upper management. The results have shown support for the Kaizen, with high level of acceptance in theory, but in practice there are visible issues, such as unfairness in the recognition and submission criteria, lack of leadership example, which leads to demotivation, and incomplete PDCA cycle, leaving participants unable to measure the total extent of their effort. Nonetheless benefits are unquestionable, with a better organization, better flow of information and digitalization, as well as visible cost reductions and time saving measures. When compared to the case studies analyzed, the realization is that the success is not so dependent on the context, such as office vs production, but on the mechanisms, for example showing employees the improvements made and why, creating time space for improvement ideas to flow. The study also offers suggestions to improve, different grid evaluation for office and production kaizens, weekly Kaizen time, different recognition for administrative efforts, and replace the forms used at this moment. Limitations noted are the scope of a Portuguese bus manufacturing company being perhaps too narrow to generalize results, the writer insider perspective that can lead to bias, and the fact the same company is not in itself a SME.

Date of Award	12 Dec 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Aydin Teymourifar (Supervisor)