Self-Organization and Clustered Control in the Toyota Group: Lessons from the Aisin Fire
Japanese supplier management practices have in past years attracted much attention in the US and Europe. Several aspects of these practices still remain relatively neglected, however, such as collaborative relationships between suppliers themselves. In this paper we argue that a recent incident i...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
2002
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1457 |
| _version_ | 1811076679764803584 |
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| author | Beaudet, Alexandre Nishiguchi, Toshihiro |
| author_facet | Beaudet, Alexandre Nishiguchi, Toshihiro |
| author_sort | Beaudet, Alexandre |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Japanese supplier management practices have in past years attracted much attention
in the US and Europe. Several aspects of these practices still remain relatively
neglected, however, such as collaborative relationships between suppliers themselves.
In this paper we argue that a recent incident involving Toyota and its supplier
network reveals the importance of these relationships and their implications for firm
competitiveness. We describe how Toyota suppliers effectively and rapidly organized
a group-wide effort to restore production of a key brake-related part, whose supply
was suddenly interrupted as a result of a fire at a supplier's plant. We conclude that
this remarkable group-wide effort was a function of shared capabilities within
Toyota's supplier network. These capabilities lead to effective responses to major
crises like this one, and in normal times to decentralized and group-wide problemsolving
permitting continuous improvements in firm and group performance, under
the omnipresent yet largely invisible leadership of Toyota. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:25:52Z |
| id | mit-1721.1/1457 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:25:52Z |
| publishDate | 2002 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/14572019-04-12T07:58:20Z Self-Organization and Clustered Control in the Toyota Group: Lessons from the Aisin Fire Beaudet, Alexandre Nishiguchi, Toshihiro Toyota supplier management collaborative research Japanese supplier management practices have in past years attracted much attention in the US and Europe. Several aspects of these practices still remain relatively neglected, however, such as collaborative relationships between suppliers themselves. In this paper we argue that a recent incident involving Toyota and its supplier network reveals the importance of these relationships and their implications for firm competitiveness. We describe how Toyota suppliers effectively and rapidly organized a group-wide effort to restore production of a key brake-related part, whose supply was suddenly interrupted as a result of a fire at a supplier's plant. We conclude that this remarkable group-wide effort was a function of shared capabilities within Toyota's supplier network. These capabilities lead to effective responses to major crises like this one, and in normal times to decentralized and group-wide problemsolving permitting continuous improvements in firm and group performance, under the omnipresent yet largely invisible leadership of Toyota. 2002-07-18T14:23:52Z 2002-07-18T14:23:52Z 2002-07-18T14:23:53Z http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1457 en_US IMVP;167a 1346330 bytes application/pdf application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Toyota supplier management collaborative research Beaudet, Alexandre Nishiguchi, Toshihiro Self-Organization and Clustered Control in the Toyota Group: Lessons from the Aisin Fire |
| title | Self-Organization and Clustered Control in the Toyota Group: Lessons from the Aisin Fire |
| title_full | Self-Organization and Clustered Control in the Toyota Group: Lessons from the Aisin Fire |
| title_fullStr | Self-Organization and Clustered Control in the Toyota Group: Lessons from the Aisin Fire |
| title_full_unstemmed | Self-Organization and Clustered Control in the Toyota Group: Lessons from the Aisin Fire |
| title_short | Self-Organization and Clustered Control in the Toyota Group: Lessons from the Aisin Fire |
| title_sort | self organization and clustered control in the toyota group lessons from the aisin fire |
| topic | Toyota supplier management collaborative research |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/1457 |
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