Management of Technology and Innovation in Japan

198 R. Haak
or shared with other companies via the collective strategies (collaborating companies,
value added partnerships, alliances, supplier networks). New knowledge circulates
through companies in the same networks very quickly. The highlyregarded
kaizen concept, the manufacturing leadership philosophy which still remains
valid even under the currently prevailing low growth conditions, has proven
to be an effective method for learning particularly in the area of production and
enables progress in a combination of individual, organizational and interorganizational
learning.
Toyota production system and his philosophy is associated with specific forms
of work organization (for example, group work, team organization), of logistics
and quality (for example, just-in-time, kanban, quality circles), of manufacturing
processes (high-tech manufacturing systems, NC and CNC systems, autonomation),
of personnel deployment (for example, job rotation) and of education. Its
main characteristic overall is that it has been strongly molded by step by step
learning and is expressed in the philosophy of continuous improvement. The challenge
for Toyota in the frame of rapid internationalization is to continue this successful
way of doing business worldwide. The manager and the worker in various
Toyota plants and numerous nation and different cultures have to understand the
“Toyota Way”, which based on the main principle “kaizen”.
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