Letter K

K
Kaizen: A Japanese term meaning 'continuous improvement'. In the 1960s, Japanese car makers were far behind their western counterparts in quality. Through slow but ongoing improvements in their manufacturing techniques, the Japanese improved their quality and operational efficiency and became the global leaders in various industries. The basic thinking behind Kaizen is that small ongoing improvements, over a period of time, can lead to a significant competitive advantage.
(See Japanese Style of Management, Lean Manufacturing)

Kanban: A technique for controlling the flow of inventory through a manufacturing system. It is closely linked to the just-in-time system. The term is Japanese for 'card' or 'signal'. In its simplest form, the technique may be viewed as a card used by operators to instruct their suppliers to provide more material. Kanbans “pull” inventory through the manufacturing process and form the core of a just-in-time production system.
(See Japanese Style of Management)

Kaplan and Norton: Kaplan and Norton are famous for developing the ‘Balanced Score-Card’. They emphasize the importance of not over-focusing on financial measures of performance.

The Balanced Score Card has four perspectives:
• Customer perspective
• Process perspective
• Innovation and Learning perspective
• Financial perspective

The main idea of the balanced score-card is that one needs to measure and manage all of these indicators in a balanced way instead of focusing solely on financial performance. Kaplan and Norton have also developed the concept of Activity Based Costing.
(See Activity Based Costing, Balanced Score Card)

Keiretsu: A form of organization in Japan in which a group of companies work closely together, effectively becoming a vertically integrated enterprise. The companies may be held together by cross-ownership, long-term business dealings, directorship on each other’s board and social ties. These vertical ties improve trust and facilitate the smooth flow of goods and services across the different entities. In recent times, as companies have restructured themselves and tried to become leaner and more focused, Kirietsu ties in Japan have weakened, while arms length market based relationships have become stronger.
(See Vertical Integration)

Kepner – Tregoe analysis: A structured methodology for identifying and ranking all factors critical to a decision. The aim is to minimize the influence of conscious and unconscious biases. This methodology can be applied to nearly all decisions ranging from product marketing to selection of the site for a new plant. The analysis helps in evaluating alternative courses of action and optimizing the ultimate results based on explicit objectives.

Khanna, Tarun: A professor at the Harvard Business School, Khanna has done extensive research in corporate strategy, particularly business houses and conglomerates in emerging markets. As part of the Emerging Giants project, he seeks to understand how to build world-class companies from emerging markets worldwide. Much of his work is focused on China and India, and involves identifying best practices for local entrepreneurs and multinationals operating in each of these two countries.
Khanna’s work has been published extensively in academic journals, including the Journal of Finance, the European Economic Review, the Strategic Management Journal, the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science and Management Science. Khanna’s work has also been profiled in news-magazines around the world, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the Far Eastern Economic Review, and numerous newspapers in China, India, and elsewhere in Asia and Latin America. He has been a frequent commentator on China and India and has featured on several TV programs recently (CNN, CNBC, and local channels). Khanna’s two articles written jointly with another Harvard Business School professor, Krishna Palepu, “The right way to restructure conglomerates in emerging markets,” and “Why focused strategies may be wrong for emerging markets” are widely cited in the literature.
(See Palepu, Krishna G)

Knowing-Doing Gap: According to Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton, who teach at Stanford, knowing amounts to little without doing. The gap between knowing and doing is more important than the gap between ignorance and knowing. Today, there are entities like consulting firms who specialize in collecting and disseminating knowledge about management practices. Knowledge workers are also mobile and move from one organization to another. So better ways of doing things cannot remain secret for long. In most cases, however, the knowledge that is successfully transferred in various ways is not used to take action. According to Pfeffer and Sutton, the ability to minimize the knowing-doing gap, is the defining characteristic of well managed companies.
(See Willpower)

Knowledge Management: A discipline which is becoming increasingly important in today’s knowledge economy. It refers to the retention, exploitation and sharing of knowledge in an organization to generate sustainable competitive advantage. The crux of knowledge management (KM) is leveraging the knowledge which resides in individuals for the benefit of the organization as a whole. The biggest challenges arise in the case of tacit knowledge which is often difficult to extract from individuals. KM has to strike the right balance between information technology and human intervention. The key to effective KM is to get into an action mode by actually using knowledge to create value. This calls for embedding knowledge into business processes wherever possible. KM really takes off when knowledge flows in as and when knowledge workers need it. While many sophisticated KM tools are available today, the key to successful KM is an enabling culture that encourages learning and knowledge sharing.
(See Knowing-Doing Gap)