The Prius That Shook.. - VFAQ Prius Site

under fire? What was the point of your work until now? We
have a responsibility to complete the car. To fulfill our duty
at Hirose Plant to carry our work all the way through to
the end, to do what we can do here. If we give up now,
Hirose will never have another opportunity."
Noda's energetic reaction made even Baba speechless.
Overcoming the misunderstanding
In reality, mutual trust among the departments was
reaching a low point and wearing thin. Relationships
were steadily growing hostile. Staff morale was dropping.
Without a firm sense of trust in technical development,
even what is possible can become impossible. Noda, however,
came up with an idea.
Until then, the roles of the chip group and the module
group were clearly separated as the "early" process group and
the "later" process group. Noda decided to place them on
equal footing. He appointed Toru Tamano as the leader for
both groups. Tamano was the Development Department No.
4, General Manager at Electronics Production Engineering
Division. He had been involved in electronic parts
production from the beginning, and had gained the trust
of both design and production divisions. He understood
the feelings of the people in both groups. In addition, he
had a mild temperament and was able to make judgments
patiently.
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