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Kahnemann, Daniel (1934–) Israeli-American psychologist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on PROSPECT THEORY. He was Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. He is noted for his work on the psychology of judgment, decision making, behavioral economics, and hedonic psychology. He established a cognitive basis for common human errors using heuristics and biases.
Kaidanren Japanese Business Federation, the most powerful of Japanese business associations.
Kaiser plan Adopted by the Kaiser Steel Corporation and the Steel Workers Union, an agreement to guarantee employees against possible loss of wages or employment as a result of technological changes.
Kaizen Japanese concept of CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT that undergirds JUST-IN-TIME, TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT, and KANBAN. Its key is to put out any fires as soon as they are noticed and to exploit opportunities for improvement not episodically but continuously. Employees are encouraged to bring problems before management without any bureaucratic red tape and without barriers to communication.
Kaizen has three dimensions: management, group, and individual. Management kaizen uses seven statistical tools, including PARETO CHARTS/DIAGRAMS, CAUSE-EFFECT, HISTOGRAMS, CONTROL CHARTS, SCATTER DIAGRAMS, graphs, and checklists. It also involves waste elimination. Group kaizen identifies problems, analyzes them, implements and test new practices, and establishes new standards. Groups also learn from other groups; many of these groups are integrated into the workforce and help to set goals, build team spirit, improve labor-management relations, heighten morale, and develop skills. Individual kaizen involves suggestions that contribute to overall savings, idea pools, improvements in tools, and better customer relations and services.
Kaldor-Hicks efficiency In economic theory, any alteration in the allocation of resources. An extension of the PARETO EFFICIENCY, in which one person is made worse off when another is made better off, the Kaldor-Hicks efficiency, those who are better off are asked to compensate those who are worse off, thus restoring parity to the system. Developed by economists Nickolas Kaldor and John Hicks. Also termed Kaldor-Hicks criterion.
Kamikaze pricing Predatory pricing strategy of Japanese origin, in which goods and services are offered at a loss in order to capture a market and drive out all competition.
Kanban (Japanese, “visible record”) Card developed by businessman Taicho Ohno of Toyota, which records the supply and use of parts and is thus part of the JUST-IN-TIME system.
Kansei engineering Product design that places great importance on aesthetics and the evocative qualities of a product.
Kanter, Rosabeth Moss Management expert best known for her work on organization structures, globalization, and the empowerment of employees.
Kaplan, Robert American management guru who developed, with David Norton, the BALANCED SCORE CARD, which includes consumer satisfaction as an intangible asset for corporations.
Karoshi In Japan, death by overwork.
Keiretsu In Japan, a group of companies with cross-holdings and family as well as professional connections based on and descended from the prewar Zaibatsu family-based groups, which were banned after World War II. It is an industrial organization occurring in both vertical and horizontal forms. Today there are six main horizontal keiretsu: Mitsubishi, Matsui, Sumimoto, Sanwa, Fuji, and Dai Ichi Kangyo. There is a vertical relationship between the core company and its subsidiaries, in each of which the parent group has a controlling interest. All keiretsu contain financial service companies that provide financial and insurance services, as well as investment banking. Each group also contains a trading company known as soga sosha.
Cross-shareholding makes it virtually impossible for outsiders to take over the companies. Keiretsu continually diversify to maintain their broad-based dominance over a swath of the economy, and they lose no op portunity to exploit new technologies. Members help each other both through financial aid and through personnel redeployment. Within each group, there is a presidents’ council, or shacho kai, that forms the supreme command. This council meets regularly and sets the path for the group to follow.
Kelly repertory grid In market research, a technique to obtain opinions from respondents about multiple products, thereby discovering what appeals most in terms of quality and affordability. Developed in 1955 by clinical psychologist George Kelly.
Kepner, Charles Higgins Management consultant whose book with Benjamin Tregoe, The Rational Manager (1981), described procedures for decision making.
Kepner-Tregoe method Systematic problem-solving method and retrospective problem analysis developed by management consultants CHARLES KEPNER and Benjamin Tregoe.
Kerb market Exchange that deals in shares of companies not listed on the stock exchanges.
Keynes, John Maynard (1883–1946) British economist, one of the most influential in the 20th century. Father of Keynesianism, the foundation of modern macroeconomics. His work dealt with business cycles and the use of fiscal and monetary measures to mitigate the effects of economic recessions and depressions. Author of The Economic Consequences of Peace (1919), The End of Laissez Faire (1926), Treatise on Money (1930), and The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936).
Keynesian economics Economic policies, programs, and theories associated with JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES. It is a macroeconomic school of thought that has been influential in the 20th century. It argues that the private sector in a free market economy is inefficient and needs to be corrected by active policy responses by the public sector, particularly monetary policy actions by the central bank and fiscal policy actions by the national government to stabilize output over the business cycle. It was first presented by Keynes in his book, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money (1936) and stands in sharp contrast to the classical economics that preceded it and the SUPPLY-SIDE ECONOMICS that followed it. It advocates a mixed economy based on the private sector with a strong role for government interventions during recessions. It asserts that production is influenced by aggregate demand and that aggregate demand is influenced by a host of irrational factors including employment and inflation. Keynesian unemployment results when there is insufficient demand in the economy.
Kickback Colloquial term for a bribe.
Killer app Effective and successful smartphone application, or APP.
Killer bee Investment banker hired to repel a takeover attempt by devising strategies to make the company less attractive to investors See also POISON PILL, PORCUPINE PROVISION.
KISS Acronym for “Keep it simple, stupid,” a maxim for effective communication.
Knight, Frank H. (1885–1972) Professor of Economics at the University of Chicago and champion of classical economics that extolled the virtues of economics freedom and a free market.
Knockdown 1. Product supplied or shipped in kit form, to be assembled by the customer. 2. Something offered at a temporarily reduced price.
Knockoff Poor imitation or unauthorized copy of a designer product.
Knowledge management Creation, sharing, and transmission of information or expertise, designed to foster employee creativity and risk-taking within established parameters, with the goal of gaining competitive advantage. Also termed knowledge engineering.
Knowledge triangle Conjunction of research (which creates knowledge), education (which diffuses knowledge), and innovation (which applies knowledge) as one of the drivers of corporate growth.
Knowledge worker Professional in the information industry, including scientists, educators, and information-system designers. This expert must possess factual and theoretical knowledge, be able to find and access information, and apply information to solve problems and communicate these solutions to peers.
Kolb, David A. (1939–) American educational theorist and proponent of experiential learning. He was Professor of Organizational Behavior in the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western University. In the early 1970s he and Ron Fry developed the experiential learning model, which comprised four elements: Concrete experience, observation and reflection, formation of abstract concepts, and testing and repetition. He is also known for his Learning Style Inventory in which there are four types of learners: converger, accommodator, assimilator, and diverger.
Kolb’s learning cycle Management training technique developed by consultant DAVID KOLB, which breaks up the learning process into different stages, such as doing, reflecting, conceptualizing, and experiencing.
Kondratieff, Nikolai Dmitriyevich (1892– 1938) Russian economist and proponent of New Economic Policy, which promoted small business in the Soviet Union. He is best known for his theory known as the Kondratieff Cycle, or long-term (50 to 60 years) cycles of boom followed by depression, which he first proposed in his books, The World Economy and its Conjectures During and After the War (1922) and The Major Economic Cycles (1925)
Kondratieff cycle Hypothesis first developed by Russian economist NIKOLAI KONDRATIEFF that the international economy rises and falls in 50-year cycles.
Kotler, Philip (1931–) American marketing expert. He is Professor of International Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. His ideas on marketing appear in his classic text Marketing Management as well as in the nine-volume Legends in Marketing.
KSA Acronym for “knowledge, skills, and abilities,” key attributes for career development and professional growth.
K-strategy Management system indigenous to South Korea.
Kyoroku kai In Japan, a supplier association.