Hoshin Kanri: Policy Deployment for Successful TQM

This book provides an in-depth examination of the implementation of hoshin kanri, including several case studies written by the implementing companies themselves. Two of the contributing authors, Mr. Nomi and Mr. Koura, join in a conversation with Professor Akao in the last chapter, providing an intimate view of methodology design in-process. The quality movement is an evolutionary process, an example itself of continuous improvement in action. Professor Akao's book, now in English, makes it possible for Western managers to join in and contribute their own discoveries to this vital methodology.
The term hoshin kauri has many English equivalents created by practitioners in an attempt to capture the essence of this practice. The most frequently used terms — management by policy, hoshin planning, and policy deployment — all fall short of the complete meaning of the Japanese term and the methodology it stands for.
Perhaps the most accurate term for hoshin kanri would be target-means deployment, but the dryness of that fails to capture the power of this method. Hoshin means shining metal, compass, or pointing the direction; kanri means management or control. Hoshin is often translated as policy, but it refers to something more far reaching, like
the vision, purpose, or long-term direction of the company. Hoshin kanri is a method devised to capture and concretize strategic goals as well as flashes of insight about the future and develop the means to bring these into reality. In this book, we have kept the Japanese term, hoshin kanri, to indicate its unique intention: to integrate an
entire organization's daily activities with its long-term goals.