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Closing Program on Firm Level Quality and Productivity

Image: Researchers at peer review and communications training in Bangkok. Global Development Network

A half day event marked the closing of the joint Global Development Network and Japan International Cooperation Agency - Research Institution's program on quality and improvement in the public and private sectors. The two-year research program documents the link between productivity increases at the firm level and managerial innovation such as Kaizen, a Japanese management approach. Research teams from Brazil, Ghana, the Philippines, and Vietnam, as well as JICA’s staff convened on the 20th of February 2019 at the Brookings Institution in Washington DC to discuss their findings with experts in the field and enrich existing knowledge on how to boost quality and productivity in the public and private sector. The teams have analyzed cases and results of big and small companies employing the Kaizen techniques in developing countries they presented during the event. The event also discussed the introduction and dissemination of Kaizen in developing countries,  the policy implications as well as the development of a research agenda studying work systems in Africa.

See more details about the event on the Brookings Institution website.

The results of the programs' findings will be published in a book co-edited by Akio Hosono (JICA-RI), John Page (Brookings Institution) and Go Shimada (Meiji University). The event was jointly hosted by the Brookings Institution, the GDN, and the JICA-RI.