The keiretsu, or long-term stable business network that exists between Toyota and its suppliers, seems to demonstrate exceptional resilience in the face of natural disasters. Toyota shares production knowledge among the firms in its keiretsu through long-term kaizen-based inter-company learning activities (jishuken). In this regard, we have confirmed that (A) in times of normal operations, jishuken adopt a flat structure of interpersonal connections among firms that facilitates mutual trust. From case studies, we also found that (B) in times of disaster response, the structure "switches" to a hierarchical one with a clearly delineated leadership to bring knowledge and human resources into play.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine factors that inhibit and facilitate the contribution of continuous improvement activities to advance performance in “lean” factories. Design/methodology/approach From the perspective of the routine dynamics theory, this paper considers the possibility of changes in the standard operating procedures (SOPs) made in the course of continuous improvement activities being ignored by employees. This paper builds a hypothesis predicting that firms where employees ignore changes in the SOP cannot achieve the intended improvement effect of these changes. This hypothesis is confirmed with comparative case studies of Toyota and Matsuo. Findings At Toyota there is an incentive to perform operations according to the SOP, while at Matsuo this incentive is not present. This difference means that process improvement activities at Toyota generate changes in manufacturing operations, while at Matsuo, although the SOP has been changed, workers continue to perform operations according to the old SOP and fail to advance performance. This paper argues that the presence/absence of an incentive to perform operations according to the SOP is dependent on whether the responsibility of the performance lies with the SOPs or employees. Additionally, this paper finds that the SOP not only limits employees’ creativities but also supports creative activities for the development of continuous improvement as an organizational activity. Research limitations/implications The generalization of our findings requires statistical support for which an extensive subsequent sampling survey including non-Japanese firms is necessary. Originality/value This study makes a new suggestion regarding the theory of routine dynamics and the fields of operations management: adequate management of consistency between the three aspects (material, ostensive and performative) of organizational routines is important for lean manufacturing.
The Innovator's Dilemma (Christensen, 1997) has been cited in many studies since Christensen published it in 1997. Some of these studies have advocated that concepts such as "dynamic capability," "ambidexterity," and "market orientation" can be used to overcome the environmental changes caused by the innovator's dilemma. However, these studies are categorized into two general types that are not logical refutations: (a) those which merely suggest the concept without suggesting an opposing example, and (b) those which do not demonstrate that a trajectory disruption has occurred even when suggesting an example. We must demonstrate that a trajectory disruption has occurred and then suggest a case in which the environmental changes were mitigated to suggest an example of overcoming the innovator's dilemma. However, arguments exist that doubt Christensen's concept of trajectory disruption, indicating that the arguments are not facile.
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