The Japanese economic miracle is a phenomenon known to most of the world's inhabitants. The record development of the economy was 10% of the annual growth, which is quite a lot and unique in the history of the economy around the world. To understand the reasons for the rapid growth of production, you need to dig deeper, because in many ways the secret of this success lies in the effective professional culture of "paternalism", product quality control and the Japanese system of problem solving.
The Japanese management concept is more than a good corporate culture. It combines the principles and methods of integrated product quality management, maintaining the old foundations, complemented by the latest control methods that arise in response to technological innovations and trends. This includes:
These quality management methods have long migrated from professional management to other areas, including personal time planning and prioritization. Their main advantages are a guarantee of a simple algorithm for working with a large amount of information.
In this article, we will talk about the Japanese management tool - the method of affinity invented by cultural anthropologist Jiro Kawakita, show its place among other principles of problem solving and simulate the situation of its application in practice.
These methods allowed to solve 95% of problems in various fields for many years, but by now Japanese managers have developed additional control methods for firms of any level - “seven new quality control tools”. These control methods relate primarily to the processing and analysis of verbal (descriptive) data. These include:
These tools are usually used in combination with the previous methods. For a better implementation of these methods, it is desirable to form an expert group, but it is also possible to cope with one. The “Seven New Quality Control Tools” also complement other statistical management techniques perfectly .
An affinity diagram, like any quality control tool, aims to efficiently analyze statistical data and identify production process failures. Each of the listed methods can be used selectively - depending on the problem to be solved.
Affinity diagram refers to systematization methods that help analyze large amounts of information and identify underlying problems both in the present moment and prevent future production challenges. This method of organizing information is used to group a large number of facts, ideas or any other information that are related to a specific subject or problem. The formation of a diagram greatly helps to cover a large amount of textual information, both implicit (that is, information that is not voiced, but is implied, often this is taken for granted information), and explicit (declared, voiced information), to comprehend it and find the optimal solution to the problem.
The strengths of Jiro Kawakita's method are that the affinity diagram allows you to:
During the analysis of the data, the diagram indicates all the observed areas of activity, taking into account the competition, numerous customer requirements, forecasting, as well as possible challenges related to the supply of both raw materials for production and finished products. All information is grouped according to one important criterion (for example, working conditions, documentation, control, safety).
As an example of the use of the affinity diagram in the manuals for management, such production problems are cited as:
Regardless of the scale of the solution to the problem, the procedure for creating diagrams is as follows:
Creating an affinity diagram helps you filter out a lot of background information, thereby helping you focus on what matters most. The main advantage of using the KJ method is to create a simple diagram that is easy to visualize and easy to focus on.
In order to minimize such shortcomings, it is precisely proposed to use this method in the expert group, especially to assess the importance of each proposal using brainstorming among the participants.
The affinity diagram method is one of the seven main quality control tools that were invented in Japan and have been successfully transferred to the manufacturing of most countries in the world. The strength of these methods lies in the easy and quick training of personnel in their use, as well as visual perception of the essence of the methods and their implementation in practice.
Jiro Kawakita's method has been successfully used in production management for over four decades. Moreover, the simplicity and clarity of the method became the reason for its transition to other areas of management. Affinity diagram and its simple formation with cards can be easily used for time management and personal prioritization purposes.
By the way, about time management. If you want to master this skill, check out our Best Time Management Techniques online program. With its help, in just 5 weeks you will master the most effective techniques of time management, goal setting, decomposition, planning and collaboration, which are used by famous successful people and companies.
We wish you success and are looking forward to the lessons of our courses!
The Japanese management concept is more than a good corporate culture. It combines the principles and methods of integrated product quality management, maintaining the old foundations, complemented by the latest control methods that arise in response to technological innovations and trends. This includes:
- traditional statistical control methods;
- new control methods - “seven quality tools”;
- modernized version of quality control "seven new quality tools".
These quality management methods have long migrated from professional management to other areas, including personal time planning and prioritization. Their main advantages are a guarantee of a simple algorithm for working with a large amount of information.
In this article, we will talk about the Japanese management tool - the method of affinity invented by cultural anthropologist Jiro Kawakita, show its place among other principles of problem solving and simulate the situation of its application in practice.
Quality control basics
The success of the Japanese economy is based on good management and quality assurance. At the core of every effective enterprise is the implementation of methods known as the “seven quality control tools”. These seven quality control methods are:- Pareto chart;
- control charts;
- histograms;
- stratification method;
- graphics;
- causal diagram;
- scatter chart.
These methods allowed to solve 95% of problems in various fields for many years, but by now Japanese managers have developed additional control methods for firms of any level - “seven new quality control tools”. These control methods relate primarily to the processing and analysis of verbal (descriptive) data. These include:
- affinity diagram (Jiro Kawakita's method);
- matrix diagram;
- analysis of matrix data;
- dependency diagram;
- arrow chart;
- tree diagram;
- process evaluation planning diagram.
These tools are usually used in combination with the previous methods. For a better implementation of these methods, it is desirable to form an expert group, but it is also possible to cope with one. The “Seven New Quality Control Tools” also complement other statistical management techniques perfectly .
An affinity diagram, like any quality control tool, aims to efficiently analyze statistical data and identify production process failures. Each of the listed methods can be used selectively - depending on the problem to be solved.
The essence of Jiro Kawakita's method
The Jiro Kawakaichi method (also called the "affinity diagram" method and the Kei Ji (KJ) method is designed to group a large amount of verbal data. Developed in the 1960s, and was introduced into management by the Japanese Union of Scientists in 1979. Jiro Kawakita's method reveals the current state of affairs, highlight the problem and arrange thoughts among themselves.Affinity diagram refers to systematization methods that help analyze large amounts of information and identify underlying problems both in the present moment and prevent future production challenges. This method of organizing information is used to group a large number of facts, ideas or any other information that are related to a specific subject or problem. The formation of a diagram greatly helps to cover a large amount of textual information, both implicit (that is, information that is not voiced, but is implied, often this is taken for granted information), and explicit (declared, voiced information), to comprehend it and find the optimal solution to the problem.
The strengths of Jiro Kawakita's method are that the affinity diagram allows you to:
- combine information through associations, not logic;
- be creative in grouping data;
- comprehensively assess the problem.
During the analysis of the data, the diagram indicates all the observed areas of activity, taking into account the competition, numerous customer requirements, forecasting, as well as possible challenges related to the supply of both raw materials for production and finished products. All information is grouped according to one important criterion (for example, working conditions, documentation, control, safety).
Stages of forming an affinity diagram
The secret of the effectiveness of the Kei Ji method is in its easy application in practice. This is a simple enough way to deal with a lot of information, allowing you to maintain concentration and structure the process of organizing your data.As an example of the use of the affinity diagram in the manuals for management, such production problems are cited as:
- “What should be the direction of development of the enterprise”;
- "Violation of the conditions for the installation of metal structures"
- "Increase in sales of cellular services in the presence of large competitors on the market."
Regardless of the scale of the solution to the problem, the procedure for creating diagrams is as follows:
- A clear indication of the subject or problem of analysis.
- Collection of versatile information about this subject.
- Distribution of the database by expert groups. Each member of the group receives a card with a number (this is only needed to simplify the subsequent grouping in the diagram itself), on which the main ideas and observations are recorded. In addition to analyzing information, it is also effective to use the method of brainstorming, it will help to take into account potential problems and challenges.
- Highlighting common features and ideas while analyzing the available information.
- Next, you need to prudently divide all the material into several groups. According to these groups, the information obtained during the analysis and brainstorming will be recorded. Each group should track only one symptom associated with the problem being solved.
- Formation of a diagram, creation of a hierarchy.
- Drawing up final proposals for solving the problem.
Creating an affinity diagram helps you filter out a lot of background information, thereby helping you focus on what matters most. The main advantage of using the KJ method is to create a simple diagram that is easy to visualize and easy to focus on.
Difficulties and problems of using the affinity diagram
Despite the strengths of the affinity diagram, such as obtaining a visual diagram from the analysis of a large amount of information, the most common problem is the factor of subjectivity. Usually, the subjective distribution of certain categories does not fully correspond to the problem. Therefore, by reviewing and rethinking some of the categories, a more successful picture of obstacles can be drawn. But in order to understand how adequate this or that categorization is, it is necessary to study in detail the criteria by which it was created.In order to minimize such shortcomings, it is precisely proposed to use this method in the expert group, especially to assess the importance of each proposal using brainstorming among the participants.
The affinity diagram method is one of the seven main quality control tools that were invented in Japan and have been successfully transferred to the manufacturing of most countries in the world. The strength of these methods lies in the easy and quick training of personnel in their use, as well as visual perception of the essence of the methods and their implementation in practice.
Jiro Kawakita's method has been successfully used in production management for over four decades. Moreover, the simplicity and clarity of the method became the reason for its transition to other areas of management. Affinity diagram and its simple formation with cards can be easily used for time management and personal prioritization purposes.
By the way, about time management. If you want to master this skill, check out our Best Time Management Techniques online program. With its help, in just 5 weeks you will master the most effective techniques of time management, goal setting, decomposition, planning and collaboration, which are used by famous successful people and companies.
We wish you success and are looking forward to the lessons of our courses!
