kaizen

Etymology
From (kaizen かいぜん), from  改善 (kój-dʒjén) (compare 🇨🇬 gǎishàn 改善), from  改善 (*qˁəʔ-ɡenʔ "to correct errors"), from 改 ("to change") + 善 ("good").

Introduced to English in 1959 by in his book Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business.

Noun

 * 1) A Japanese business practice of continuous improvement in performance and productivity.
 * 2)  Continuous improvement generally.

Translations

 * French:
 * Japanese:
 * Malay: kaizen
 * Polish: kaizen
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian:, кайдзэ́н
 * Serbo-Croatian: kaizen
 * Turkish: kayılık, kailik

Verb

 * 1)  To apply continuous improvement to (a task, or the worker who performs it).