Masaaki Imai

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Masaaki Imai (born 1930) is a consultant in the field of quality management.

He was born in Tokyo. In 1955, he received his bachelor's degree from the University of Tokyo, where he also did graduate work in international relations. In the 1950s he worked for five years in Washington, D.C., at the Japanese Productivity Center where his principal duty was escorting groups of Japanese business people through major U.S. Plants. In 1962, he founded Cambridge Corp., an international management and executive recruiting firm based in Tokyo. As a consultant, he assisted more than 200 foreign and joint-venture companies in Japan in fields including recruiting, executive development, personnel management and organizational studies. From 1976 to 1986, Imai served as president of the Japan Federation of Recruiting and Employment Agency Associations.

In 1986, Imai established the Kaizen Institute , to help Western companies introduce kaizen concepts, systems and tools. That same year, he published his book on Japanese management, Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success. This best-selling book has since been translated into 14 languages. Other book by Imai include, 16 Ways To Avoid Saying No, Never Take Yes for an Answer and Gemba Kaizen published in 1997. To date the Kaizen institute operates in over 22 countries and continues to help companies accomplish their manufacturing, process, and service goals.