Investigation of Kaizen strategy as business strategy at eThekwini Municipality to improve business productivity.

Abstract

Public sector is one of the biggest employer in South Africa and contributes significantly to the national economy. It is therefore essential to ensure that all public sector entities like Metropolitans are managed well to remain efficient and sustainable at all times. EThekwini Municipality took a decision to implement Economic Development and Job-Creation Strategy in year 2013 that was set out to specifically revive the economy of the Municipality and decrease unemployment rate. However, six years later EThekwini Municipality’s Gross Domestic Product growth rate had decreased from 2.6 % to 0.4% between 2013-2016. It is therefore clear that the Economic Development and Job-Creation Strategy did not deliver on the expectations of EThekwini Municipality as was originally anticipated, hence the need for this study. The study seeks to determine if Kaizen strategy can potentially be a solution to EThekwini Municipality’s ongoing problems. By definition, Kaizen means continuous improvement through minor incremental changes. This strategy originated in Japan and is famous in the manufacturing sector; however, case studies have revealed that it can be successfully applied in the public sector despite public sector challenges. The study had three research questions that were constructed to achieve the objectives of this study. The study was conducted following the qualitative approach where twelve respondents were purposively selected from EThekwini Municipality to participate in the study. The data that was collected through in-depth interviews was analyzed using thematic approach to deduce three findings of the study. The study revealed that employees working for EThekwini Municipality do believe that Kaizen strategy can increase productivity in the Municipality. Study also relieved that that there is theoretical evidence supporting that EThekwini Municipality can benefit from implementing Kaizen strategy. Lastly, the study revealed that there are two challenges that may potentially be a threat to EThekwini Municipality’s successful application of Kaizen strategy. These threats include varying management models within EThekwini Municipality and current organizational culture which is not customer-driven.