The aim of this study is to provide a literature review on continuous improvement, analysing the evolution of the field by combining quantitative and qualitative analysis. More than 1000 articles have been reviewed. The articles have been collected through the prestigious database Web of Knowledge (Thomson Scientific). The results show an increasing interest in the field of continuous improvement over the past 30 years. The most discussed topics have been ‘implementation of continuous improvement systems’ and ‘methodologies’. Other findings from the study are: the existence of regional differences in research on continuous improvement, the predominance of the case study and the survey as research methodologies, and the positioning of Total Quality Management and Business Excellence as the lead scientific publication in continuous improvement areas. The present review adds value to other studies on the same topic due to the number of items used (1090), the time period covered (1980–2011), the prestigious database used (Web of Knowledge) and the combination of different analysis (quantitative and qualitative).

Given the importance that environmental management is acquiring, the main aim of this work is to know what the state of the field kaizen and green practices is at present. A systematic narrative review is conducted in accordance with the PRISMA Statement. Two databases (Web of Science and Scopus) were searched. Finally, after applying the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 19 documents were analyzed. Based on the results, it might be concluded that, despite the growing interest in the relationship between kaizen and green practices, this is a topic in the early stages of development, with a clear predominance of case studies. It is, therefore, necessary to develop more research on this kaizen and green issue as improving environmental management is undeniably becoming a must in today’s competitive environment. For instance, more research is needed on the application of kaizen tools as results obtained so far seem not to be conclusive. Additionally, more academic and rigorous studies should be developed on this topic as many of the analyzed papers seem to be clearly created for dissemination among practitioners, some of them lacking the traditional academic structure and scientific method during their development.