National Movements for Quality and Productivity Improvement with Local Adaptation: The Experience of Japan and Singapore

Japan and Singapore are two countries that have successfully learned management technologies for quality and productivity improvement from abroad, with local adaptation, and organized national movements for their diffusion. Japan introduced productivity and quality control methods from the United States in the early post-World War II era, and quickly assimilated and developed these as its own management practice (which came to be known as Kaizen). Singapore was the first country to receive Japan’s comprehensive technical cooperation (1983–1990) in this field, and successfully internalized and institutionalized the Productivity Movement. Nevertheless, the two countries adopted different approaches. In Japan, the private sector took the initiative to create the core organizations responsible for promoting a national movement for quality and productivity improvement. In contrast, the Singaporean Productivity Movement was led by the government. This chapter focuses on the experience of national movements for quality and productivity improvement in Japan and Singapore, from the viewpoint of translative adaptation. It also analyzes the key factors for their successes and draws implications for today’s developing countries. The experience of Japan and Singapore suggests that national movements, if properly designed and implemented, are an effective way to promote societal learning and transform the popular mindset toward industrial society.