Business Performance Excellence
Menu News & Events  
Kaizen has come Jojo at Toyota July 23rd 2007

"Continuous Improvement [Kaizen] comes "slowly, gradually, and steadily" [Jojo].

This item is prompted by a number of articles about Toyota and "The Toyota Way" and the desire of businesses to replicate them and the likes of GE and Motorola. I refer to three recent articles that describe different aspects of Toyota - all of which emphasise the long-term nature of what they have, and are achieving, through the underlying cultural aspects that are a source of their success.

Supply Chain Management
The traditional 'manufacturer - supplier' tensions are contrast with a collaborative relationship where "...manufacturers and suppliers share a long-term commitment to improving each other's capabilities, starting by working together to eliminate wasted effort and inefficiencies" (Jackson and Pfitzmann: s+b. p.64). This article describes four key changes required by organisations intending to change to this collaborative model described as "knowledge-based sourcing".

1. Establish suppliers as strategic long-term partners
2. Set up an ongoing system to eliminate waste through collaboration across the supply chain
3. Get it right the first time
4. Respect and develop human capabilities

For more information see the article titled Win-Win Sourcing in "strategy+business" magazine.

Product Development Foundations
Toyota's Product Development process is based on a set of capabilities that have people and culture at their foundation - "monozukuri ('making products') emanates directly from hitozukuri ('making people'). The capabilities are listed in increasing order of complexity:

Tangible and observable elements
  • Structure and organisation
  • Development process
Subtle and complex elements
  • Extended enterprise
  • Institutional learning
  • People development
  • Culture
For more information see the article titled Innovation Agility in "strategy+business" magazine.

The Toyota Way
This HBR article of an interview with Toyota's President, Katsuaki Watanabe, and several Vice Presidents gives us insight into the underlying and long-standing principles that have resulted in the company's success today.

"The Toyota Way" is summarized in the article as follows:

1. Continuous Improvement
  • Challenge
  • Kaizen - "Continuous Improvement"
  • Genchi Genbutsu - "Go and see for yourself"
2. Respect for the Individual
  • Respect
  • Teamwork
Perhaps one of the most important things to understand about the "Toyota Way" is that it refers to something that has taken more than 50 years to develop; something that even Toyota's President describes by saying that "...there's no end to the process of learning about the Toyota Way. I don't think I have a complete understanding even today, and I have worked for the company for 43 years." (HBR July-August 2007: p.80)

For more information see the article "Lessons for Toyota's Long Drive" in HBR July-August 2007.

The key message here is that the technical skills, methods, tools, technology, and coaching that are readily available from any number of professional services firms and vendors are not the difficult part of company transformation. It is the capability of the company leadership to instill a culture of continuous improvement, systems thinking and collaboration over the long-term that results in a market leading business. So when we seek to emulate others, we should delve much deeper than the explicit results that attracted our attention to them in the first place.


© IMRE HEGEDUS 2006 BEAVERDESIGN