Chris,
I believe that success needs both inspired leaders a inspired
collaboration. A collaborative model such as Toyota will fail without
good leaders. About 4 years ago I had dinner in Detroit with the
Japanese and US design directors of Toyota. I asked them why they had
been more successful than other Japanese vehicle manufactures and I
was told that their business model that integrates design with other
activities and obsessive desire for continuous small improvements were
what differentiated them which would support Ken's posting.
Rob
On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 10:02 AM, Chris Rust <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> ben jonson wrote:
>
>> This suggests that success in global markets goes beyond traditional
>> "systems thinking", such as 'Fordism'. That is, "systems thinking" becomes
>> culturally challenged which, moreover, may suggest that pluralist design
>> education, rather than uniform business education (MBAs) is better equipped
>> to meet many of the current global challenges. This, at least, ought to
>> please some if not all readers on the PHD-DESIGN list.
>
> I think Ken's reasoning in introducing the "Toyota Manufacturing System" was
> precisely because it is a social phenomenon within a manufacturing
> community, rather than a development that seems to change consumer
> perceptions and behaviour. IKEA probably use the Toyota System which can be
> called "post-Fordist".
>
> The Toyota system is a challenge to the idea of geniuses or heroic
> innovators because it depends on communities of practice. The various
> elements that contribute to the system, particularly the Kanban approach to
> demand-driven manufacturing, the continuous improvement ethos, cellular
> manufacturing and the culture described by Nonaka and Takeuchi in "The
> Knowledge Creating Company" all depend on democratic efforts by groups of
> ordinary workers to shape and manage their contribution and a culture of
> consensus. Its success depends on the knowledge, skills and experience of
> those workers.
>
> You might say that somebody came up with the idea (clearly Deming had a lot
> to do with it) but it also owes a lot to the traditional village culture in
> Japan where the role of the headman was to mediate between the farmers and
> get them to form a consensus over sharing the water for rice growing,
> otherwise the farmers at the top of the hillside would grab all the water -
> by sharing they maximise the village's rice crop.
>
> That culture has transplanted in recent years, although maybe it has found
> more fertile ground in Europe than the USA. I have found it immensely
> interesting as a designer because it completely changes the questions we
> have to ask ourselves about designing for manufacture.
>
> best wishes from Sheffield, a pre-Fordist manufacturing city
> Chris
>
> ...............................................................o^o
> Professor Chris Rust FDRS
> Head of Art and Design Research Centre
> Sheffield Hallam University, S1 2NU, UK
> +44 114 225 6772
> [log in to unmask]
> www.chrisrust.net
>
> Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future
> of the human race. - H. G. Wells
>
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