This paper reports the study of kaizen as practised in a selection of Japanese companies. After discussing the general understanding of kaizen and proposing a clear definition, the paper describes the methodology of the study, and presents findings from the research, as a base model and comparing this with the data from other companies which is compared with other firms in the steel and automotive industries to assess uniformity. The paper concludes that kaizen evolves uniquely within each organization, following changes to the organization’s business environment. Detailed implementations vary considerably between organizations, but all rely on kaizen to achieve targets as an integral element in the operations management system.