Description
Book SynopsisExtreme Toyota offers the first real, comprehensive inside look at what makes one of the world?s best companies run. With unprecedented access to the inner working of Toyota, the authors spent six years researching the company, interviewing hundreds of executives and employees, and discovering the company''s secret of success. What they uncovered will surprise you and change the way you think about business. Simultaneously rigidly traditional and seriously innovative, it is precisely those internal contradictions that make the company so successful and admired.
Trade Review"Heavily footed and studded with graphs and charts, this insider's view of one of the world's leading manufacturers is somewhat academic in tone yet has enough anecdotes to make it interesting." (
Library Journal, May 15, 2008)
Table of ContentsPreface xi
CHAPTER 1 Extreme Toyota: An Organization Powered by Creative Contradictions 1
An Amazing Track Record 1
The Hard Side of Toyota 3
The Powerful and Mysterious Soft Side 3
How Toyota Is Like a Failed, Stagnant Company 4
Management Orchestrated Contradictions,Opposites, and Paradoxes 8
Embracing Contradictions as a Way of Life 19
Conclusion 20
CHAPTER 2 Six Opposing Forces That Drive the Company’s Expansion—and Keep It from Breaking Apart 23
Forces of Expansion 25
Forces of Integration 30
Six Forces Working Together 34
Resource Base 35
Six Forces in Action: Case of the Lexus 38
Conclusion 42
CHAPTER 3 The Force of Impossible Goals 43
Meet Every Customer Need 45
The Finest Cars, the Finest Dealers 51
Bypassing Japan to Make a Global Car 57
Conclusion 64
CHAPTER 4 Eagerness to Experiment 67
Experimentation Hardware:The Eight-Step and A3 Processes 73
Experimentation Software: Values 86
Conclusion 92
CHAPTER 5 Local Customization 95
The Underdog Even at Home 98
Customizing the IMV in Asia 99
The Challenges and Benefits of Local Customization 100
Customizing the Yaris for Europe 102
Customizing the Scion for the United States Youth Segment 105
Customizing the Tundra for the United States 115
Disseminating Local Best Practices throughout the World 116
Conclusion 118
CHAPTER 6 The Founders’ Philosophies 121
Tomorrow Will Be Better than Today 124
Everybody Should Win 129
Customer First, Dealers Second, and Manufacturer Last 135
Genchi Genbutsu 139
Conclusion 141
CHAPTER 7 Toyota’s Nerve System—A Human Version of the World Wide Web 143
Open and Lateral Dissemination of Know-How 146
Freedom to Voice Contrary Opinions 149
Frequent Face-to-Face Interaction 154
Making Tacit Knowledge Explicit: The Toyota Way 2001 158
Formal and Informal Support Mechanisms 161
Conclusion 163
CHAPTER 8 Up-and-In Human Resource Management 165
Stable, Long-Term Employment 169
Emphasis on Training,Training, and More Training 172
Power in Teamwork 177
Action Orientation 178
Learning-Based Evaluation 180
Conclusion 183
CHAPTER 9 Toyota’s Resource Base 185
Investing in Efficiency 187
Cultivating Organizational Capability and People Required for Growth 191
Making a Long-Term Commitment to People 198
Conclusion 206
CHAPTER 10 A Company Always in Danger 211
Organizational Growth Pains 212
Employee Complacency 214
Cultural Rigidity 216
Workforce Diversity 218
Insular Approach to the Capital Markets 220
Rise of New Competitors 221
Conclusion 223
CHAPTER 11 What Your Organization Can Learn from Toyota: Ten Powerful Contradictions 225
Embrace Contradictions 229
Conclusion 238
Appendix A Selected Auto Industry Figures and Comparisons 241
Chapter 1—Extreme Toyota 241
Chapter 2—Six Forces 248
Chapter 3—Impossible Goals 253
Chapter 9—Resources 254
Appendix B Literature Review 257
Literature Review Methodology 258
Notes 263
References 287
Index 297
