Kaizen management and within-firm coordination

Last registered on September 09, 2019

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Kaizen management and within-firm coordination
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004689
Initial registration date
September 09, 2019

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
September 09, 2019, 9:57 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Region

Primary Investigator

Affiliation
Sophia University

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Affiliation
National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
PI Affiliation
Foreign Trade University

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2017-07-22
End date
2020-03-31
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We combine a field experiment and a lab-in-the-field experiment to analyze how improved management enhances within-firm coordination between managers and workers and that among workers. We provided management training featuring Kaizen production approach to 40 small manufacturers, randomly selected from 97 eligible manufacturers located in one garment cluster. 21 months after the completion of the training, we will conduct a lab-in-the-field experiment at each of the 97 firms, inviting an owner/manager and three workers randomly selected from the list of all workers, to play a coordination (minimum effort) game. Since we have evidence that the training improved firm-level management practices, particularly production management, among the treated firms, we will analyze whether the training also led to improved within-firm coordination, and investigate whether improved management is related with improved coordination. We also explore whether the performance in the lab-experiment is related with real world behaviors, such as, frequent meeting, regular communication, and within-firm mutual trust.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Higuchi, Yuki, Vu Hoang Nam and Tetsushi Sonobe. 2019. "Kaizen management and within-firm coordination." AEA RCT Registry. September 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4689-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We provided management training featuring Kaizen production approach to 40 small manufacturers, randomly selected from 97 eligible manufacturers located in one garment cluster. The training consists of 1 day of class-room training to teach general principles of Kaizen, Japan-pioneered production management approach, and 3 days of on-site consultation to provide firm-specific advises and suggestions on Kaizen. Both training components were conducted by local trainers. We combine this field experiment with a lab-in-the-field experiment, that we will conduct 21 months after the completion of the training. We will conduct coordination (minimum effort) at each of the 97 firms, inviting an owner/manager and three workers randomly selected from the list of all workers. The game will be played 10 times; in the first 5 rounds, the participants are not allowed to communicate with each other while they are allowed to do so in the following 5 rounds.
Intervention Start Date
2017-09-07
Intervention End Date
2017-12-12

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Within-firm coordination
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Within-firm coordination is measured by performances in the coordination game, such as, individual amount contributed, group level minimum amount contributed, and the degree to which they contribute according to an agreed amount (in the last 5 rounds with communication).

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Frequency of meeting, length of daily communication, and self-reported degree of mutual trust.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
We will conduct a questionnaire survey to collect information for the construction of these variables.

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We randomly selected 40 firms out of 97 firms located in one garment cluster, and provided management training. We will conduct lab-in-the-field experiment in all the 97 firms.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
A pair-wise matching based on the baseline sales revenue, registration status (as a formal firm), and gender of an owner/manager.
Randomization Unit
Firm.
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
97 firms.
Sample size: planned number of observations
97 owner/managers and 291 workers.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
40 firms treated, 40 firms control (paired), and 17 remaining firms (control, unpaired).
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Global Development Network
IRB Approval Date
2017-04-06
IRB Approval Number
N/A

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials