This the fourth and final part of a larger series on "The Toyota Way" where I compare the culture of Toyota with the culture of Japan to see what about Toyota's culture is unique. In the beginning of chapter 18 Principle 12 of "The Toyota Way" Jeffrey Liker introduces the concept of the Ohno Circle. For those of you who are unfamiliar, famous TPS founder/practitioner Taiichi Ohno would train his employees/students by drawing a circle on the ground near the production line an

This is part 3 of a larger series on "The Toyota Way" where I compare the culture of Toyota with the culture of Japan to see what about Toyota's culture is unique. Section III Section III of the “The Toyota Way” Jeffrey Liker begins be touting the differences between Toyota CEO Fujio Cho and the CEOs of different automotive companies (Bob Lutz, Carlos Ghosn, and company). The main points being: 1.Fujio Cho’s installment as a manager and his management style wasn’t an effort t

This is part 1 of a larger series on “The Toyota Way” where I compare the culture of Toyota with the culture of Japan to see what about Toyota's culture is unique. History (Why the Japanese “Own” Lean) “The Toyota Way” begins by explaining the history of Toyota’s rise. Toyota's production ideology began taking-off in the late 1940’s in post war Japan*. The book acknowledges this as a difficult time in history and explains that it is miraculous how Toyota ultimately outperform

Every year I read "The Toyota Way" and every year I give the copy I just bought for someone else to read. Honestly, Jeffrey Liker owes me at least one drink. However, there is an aspect of the Toyota Production System (TPS) that I don’t think gets talked about often enough. Japanese culture and Japanese history in relation to the Toyota Production System. Specifically, What about the Toyota Production System is characteristically Japanese and what is uniquely Toyota? Did this