Tens of thousands of euros for Japanese lessons in one of Romania’s poorest counties: Botoșani wants to learn ‘kaizen’ and cut waste

Botoșani County Council wants to bring a Japanese management philosophy to one of Romania’s poorest counties, spending about €70,000 to learn how to apply kaizen in local government.

Kaizen means “change for the better” and “continuous improvement.” Its approach relies on small, consistent steps that produce larger improvements over time. The philosophy is used mainly in the private sector to make company operations more efficient.

Botoșani is marked by poor and depopulated rural areas. Of a county population exceeding 457,000, just over 62,000 people are employees, according to data from the county statistics directorate. The remainder includes pensioners, children, people without income and residents who have moved abroad. A NielsenIQ study also identified Botoșani, Vaslui and Giurgiu as Romania’s counties with the lowest purchasing power.

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It is continuous improvement. Few county councils have implemented this procedure. It leads to modernization, optimization of our workflows and greater clarity in our work at the County Council. We begin first with a course, then we will see how we proceed, because there are many things to do and it takes a long time.

County Council officials believe kaizen could help modernize administrative work, optimize workflows and clarify responsibilities. The program is expected to begin this autumn, but county councillors must first approve it.

“We begin first with a course,” said Valeriu Iftime, the council’s president. He said the changes would be deep but gradual and would require consistency. The initial course is expected to cost about €50,000, with additional modules bringing the overall investment to roughly €70,000.

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We want to begin with this course, which should cost around 50,000 euros. It is the first course, and we wanted to bring this decision before the County Council already in September.