Customer Reviews

Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This article summarizes the research Steven Spear did on Toyota for his PhD dissertation at Harvard Business School.

While most previous research on the Toyota Production System looked at the physical systems and artifacts, Spear looked at Toyota through the eyes of an anthropologist. He was interested in how the social and cultural aspects of Toyota combined with the technical systems to create the phenomenal business results they are famous for.

What he found was consistent application of four tacit, undocumented "rules-in-use" guided the design and execution of every process he observed.

He also researched other companies that were trying to emulate the Toyota Production System, and found that while they were implementing the physical aspects of the system, they were not applying the rules-in-use he observed at Toyota.

Understanding these rules, and especially their effect on the organization's framework for thinking, will take the reader up a level from the "implement the tools of lean manufacturing" approach that so commonly stalls and fails today.

I have given it 5 stars because I consider it mandatory reading. However, it is not necessarily an easy read. There was a lot of information to compress into a very few pages. (The original dissertation is 465 pages.) This article is best digested slowly. Read it, apply understanding as you have it, gain some experience, read it again. Upon the second reading you will "get" things that you glossed over the first time. Then do it again. The more practice you have with applying the concepts, the more depth emerges from this research.

Note: Spear will be publishing a book, currently titled "Chasing the Rabbit: How Market Leaders Outdistance the Competition and How Great Companies Can Catch Up and Win in the fall of 2008. Based on his other work, and meeting him and hearing about the research and conclusions presented in the book, I expect it to be very good.

This seminal work is part of the recommended reading for the Lean Bronze Certification (LBC), the paper is extremely profound in matter. Another excellent paper from Dr. Spear is " Learning To Lead From Toyota".

This article, among other material, is required reading for my team.

Pro:
-Brief article with a nice executive summary
-Describes in part why lean, Toyota's version of just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing, works so well (and you can see one reason why it is so hard to copy)

Con:
-In my view does not fully address DNA elements, a short article by D. Rock and J. Schwartz called "The Neuroscience of Leadership" published by Business and Strategy, issue 43, adds more to the puzzle

Bottom line: a must have.

I am Teacher in Celaya Tech and review the book for recomendate a my students in Industrial Enginer