Continuous Improvement Strategies Japanese Convenience Store Systems

by Marutschke, David

• ISBN13: 9780230347939
• ISBN10: 0230347932
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-01-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book discusses continuous improvement strategies of Japanese convenience store operators. The study highlights the efforts of companies operating under lean management systems to identify new, dynamic, firm-specific capabilities in highly competitive markets.

Author Biography

David Marutschke is an associate at J. D. Power Asia Pacific in Tokyo. He graduated in International Business Administration and Japanese Studies at Tbingen University in Germany. For his PhD thesis and research he was based at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), Tokyo, and at Kyoto University Graduate School of Management as a JSPS scholarship holder.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. vii
List of Tables	p. viii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. x
Introduction	p. 1
General considerations on continuous improvement	p. 1
Japanese lean systems and the role of convenience store chains	p. 3
Structure of the book	p. 6
Theory and research methodology	p. 8
Organizational capabilities	p. 10
Continuous improvement as a dynamic approach	p. 12
Selection of an exemplary business model	p. 18
Existing literature on Japanese CS	p. 21
Historical overview and the CS system	p. 25
Historical overview	p. 25
Elements of the CS system	p. 36
Lean management as a continuous improvement initiative	p. 53
New challenges in a dynamic environment	p. 57
Retail trends and structural changes in the market environment	p. 59
Impact on efficiency using DEA	p. 70
Survey on internal improvement infrastructure	p. 77
New developments in recent years	p. 89
Industry-wide developments	p. 92
New initiatives in recent years: cases of the three industry leaders	p. 115
Discussion of rigidities and new approaches	p. 149
Rigidities of organizational capability building?	p. 151
New approaches in capability building	p. 156
Conclusion	p. 171
Notes	p. 178
Bibliography	p. 188
Index	p. 198
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.