The mutation of the Toyota Production System: adapting the TPS at Hyundai Motor Company

Abstract

This paper examines the spread of Toyota Production System (TPS) through Korea, by focusing on the experience of Hyundai Motor Company. Drawing upon data obtained from field research, this case study interprets the adoption of TPS from an evolutionary perspective, arguing that the emulation of TPS should not entail adopting TPS as Toyota developed it originally, but to develop one's own production model. Over the past 40 years, Hyundai has developed its own production model, Hyundai Production System (HPS), initially emulating TPS, followed by re-interpreting and modifying TPS to adapt to the company's unique circumstances. HPS is a mutated form of TPS. The Hyundai case reveals that the adoption of TPS involves a complex evolutionary process of organizational learning and interpretation. This case sheds light on the possibility of various paths toward lean production, and demonstrates that both external and internal factors combine to form a complicated causal chain, influencing the 'mutated' emulation of TPS and generating a certain pattern of path-dependence in the evolutionary trajectory of a particular production model.

Métodos Para Avaliação Da Produção Enxuta: Revisão E Análise Crítica

“…LANDER;LIKER, 2007;LEE;JO, 2007;DEFLORIN;SCHERRER-RATHJE, 2012). Isso significa que cada sistema de produção pode ter objetivos e necessidades diferentes ao implementar a produção enxuta, o que reflete diretamente na forma pela qual o sistema é avaliado.…”

Unpacking the ‘black box’ of a Korean big fast follower: Hyundai Motor Company’s engineer-led production system

“…110-112). Hyundai also attempted to upgrade shop floor workers' skills through the 1997 Training Road Map programme, but this also failed due to mass layoffs in 1998, and the subsequent replacement of the existing CEO (Lee and Jo, 2007). These experiences acted as a catalyst for the progress of the Hyundai production system, which excluded shop floor workers' skills as much as possible.…”

“…We infer that engineers' high level of accumulated technological skills compensates for workers' limited skills on the shop floor, and facilitates Hyundai's progress. Hyundai's production system, in which engineers' technological skills play a relatively critical role in its operation, can strongly differ from that of Toyota, in which workers' skills and commitment on the shop floor are highly respected (Lee and Jo, 2007).…”

“…1 Korean automobile producers have recently caught up with the United States and Japan, and have progressed from simply imitating foreign technologies to showcasing their own innovation (Kim, 1998;Lee and Jo, 2007). The Hyundai Motor Group, hereafter referred to as 'Hyundai', is the only indigenous automaker among these to have survived, thus far.…”

Transferring Production Systems: An Institutionalist Account of Hyundai Motor Company in the United States

“…Hyundai's production system relies on engineer-led automation that utilizes state-of-the-art technology, but it is less dependent on high levels of skill and active participation of production workers. Workers can easily take the place of other workers (Lee and Jo 2007). Conversely, the Japanese Production System heavily depends on high levels of skill and active participation of production workers.…”