Abstract

The case looks at how Kaizen was adopted by Toyota Motor Corporation to improve productivity and efficiency in its production systems. The case examines in detail the labor crisis faced by Toyota in the early 1990s and how the company used Kaizen to modify its assembly line and wage systems in order to make them human friendly. The case also details the concept of Kaizen and the pre-requisites for its successful implementation in an organization.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Concept of Kaizen and pre-requisites for its implementation in an organization.

Keywords

Kaizen, Toyota Motor Corporation, productivity, efficiency, production systems, labor crisis, Toyota, 1990, assembly line, wage systems, human friendly, pre-requisites, successful implementation