Psychometric analysis of the scale of barriers to sharing knowledge in the Kaizen of a company

Abstract

The Kaizen continuous improvement principle encourages employees to use their knowledge to create better solutions. This knowledge, referred to as tacit, is strategically shared through socialization and made explicit through externalization. One department of a multinational metallurgical industry in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, has historically had a Kaizen involvement rate of less than 50%. This study set out to identify and analyze the barriers to knowledge sharing, considering the socialization-externalization interface, and how they relate to the company's current Kaizen participation rate. To this end, a literature review was conducted, followed by a documentary analysis of the company and the application of a questionnaire that served as a scale for exploratory factor analysis and validation of the model for the objectives set. The factor analysis confirmed the lack of application of meritocratic means, Ba context, and management involvement, and retained three organizational and three individual factors of barriers to knowledge sharing. It was found that the current rate of employee involvement in Kaizen contrasts with the effects of the socialization-externalization interface and the barriers to knowledge sharing. The method structured in this study has the potential to be applied in other companies and can be improved.