Japanese companies and 5 S - the historical relationship between Japanese companies and their cleaning, sorting, and organizing practices

Many Japanese companies have a long history of stressing in-house cleaning and organization, and today, companies of every size and across an array of industries advocate what has come to be known as “5S” (seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, shitsuke). What is more, the value they place on their cleaning and organization practices has been sustained over time, beyond the influence of any given individual or era. It is clear that the 5 S should be regarded as a social practice of the kind that management studies have addressed in recent years based on “practice theory.” However, research has yet to be conducted in Japan, let alone overseas, clarifying why Japanese companies so emphasize cleaning and organization or when they started using the “5S” terminology. The present study uses historical business literature and archival materials to clarify the history of this practice in Japanese companies from its origins until the adoption of the 5 S formulation. It argues that companies reinvigorated their company-wide cleaning and tidying routine each time they faced serious problems or destabilizing challenges, and also that they re-imagined these practices as 3–5 S as part of their approach to addressing serious challenges. Based on these results, this study goes on to present the characteristics of the 5 S practice and its academic implications for management research based on practice theory. Specifically, we establish that some practices are highly means-oriented, such as 5 S, while others are highly goal-oriented, and that the more uncertain and unpredictable an environment is, the more effective an organization can be in which both types of practices can coexist.