Building Lean Organizations: Unique Insights into the Lean Cultures of Toyota and Honda

• In Event: 2451 - Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 19. Processes of Control

Abstract

While the Toyota System of Production has been systematically analyzed and praised over the last decades, the research on the Honda culture remains somewhat a mystery due to the difficult access of researchers into plants and its culture of secrecy and confidentiality. This paper intends to fill this gap by offering unique insights into the lean cultures of Toyota and Honda, often considered ideal models of lean production. Based on in-depth case studies including numerous factory visits and more than 150 interviews with workers from the Toyota and Honda plants in the US, we attempt to offer an in-depth analysis into the organizational cultures of Toyota and Honda. This article has strong practical implications for companies aspiring to become lean since lean types of organizations are spreading rapidly from the auto industry to more sectors of the economy becoming the dominant model of organizing of our times.

Authors

• Darina Elena Lepadatu, Kennesaw State University

• Thomas Janoski, University of Kentucky