Adoption of JIT/TQM in A Transition Economy: A Case of Manufacturing Industry in Kazakhstan

One of the important elements that have been playing a vital role in today‟s successful management practice is culture. An important dimension has been added to the cultural aspect of management since the management practices of JIT/TQM became a popular philosophy and tool among many world-class organizations from all over the world. This paper reviews the transferability of the management practices of JIT/TQM to Kazakhstan, specifically the Kazakh manufacturing industry. The manufacturing industry including mining has been a major revenue generator for Kazakhstan contributing to nearly 30% of its national production. Some of well-known models of cultural analysis in international business are discussed and applied to this study of the transferability of JIT/TQM to Kazakhstan. The resulting inferences are further analyzed and examined to make some suggestions to Kazakhstan for the successful adoption and implementation of JIT/TQM practices based on cultural analysis of Kazakhstan.