Toyota culture and why they can't build
07-26-2006, 09:40 AM
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Toyota culture and why they can't build
Book: NOTES FROM TOYOTA-LAND: An American Engineer in Japan, by Darius Mehri. Ithaca, New York
Toyota is booming, but its PR department has had its hands full with a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit in the United States -- and now this damning insider's revelations about coercive work practices, unsafe production lines and mismanagement.
Darius Mehri, an Iranian-American, worked for three years at a subsidiary of Toyota as a computer-simulation design engineer. His story is one of growing disenchantment as he discovers the grim realities of work in Japan's industrial heartland. Along the way he challenges many shibboleths about corporate paternalism, harmony, consensus, kaizen (continuous improvement) and the vaunted Toyota Production System.
This keenly observed account imparts considerable firsthand information about current workplace practices, one that is reminiscent of Satoshi Kamata's bleak assessment in "Japan in the Passing Lane" (1973). Thirty years on Mehri observes that "the same unsafe work environment, the same oppressive mechanisms of worker control, and the same power manipulations."
Mehri finds much of the literature about Japanese management practices and production processes way off the mark. He believes Japanese management is deeply flawed and conveys his experience of blatant disregard for workers' well-being, disorganization and authoritarian practices. Intrusive monitoring of workers, bullying and public humiliation is standard practice among ladder-climbing executives eager to squeeze as much work as possible out of their subordinates. The "diligent and disciplined Japanese worker" is here portrayed as corporate cannon fodder.
"Notes from Toyota-Land" asserts that rigid hierarchies and institutionalized overwork are the bane of Japanese firms and their employees, stifling communication, imposing top-down consensus and substituting perspiration for inspiration. Overwork resulting from mandatory sabisu zangyo (unpaid overtime) saps productivity and undermines morale and health. Better designs are routinely ignored by upper-level managers because "Rank was more important than reason."
Clearly Nizumi (the fictitious name of his firm) is not a very congenial place to work. Unless of course you are a Romanian refugee; his colleague said he felt at home in the factory because it was just like the communist dictatorship at home where everyone watched each other and forced each other to abide by the regime's orders.
The ideology of firm as family does not jibe with Mehri's observations about inadequate concern for worker safety. Many of his foreign friends on the production lines regaled him with horror stories about unsafe workplaces and dangerous practices. Because foreigners can be hired at a pittance under the fiction of "training visas," many manufacturing firms employ as many as possible. Unfortunately, there is not much training going on, subjecting these "trainees" to considerable risk.
In an interview, Dr. Shinya Yamada, a leading occupational health and safety expert, explains that "hiding injuries is a long-standing, pervasive and hidden rule at most corporations in Japan." Firms wish to burnish their safety records to avoid being named and shamed by the government and to minimize medical expenses. If the injured employee is awarded worker's compensation, meaning that the injury is not the worker's fault, then the company is responsible for all medical expenses.
Workers thus face pressure not to file injury reports knowing that they risk losing both their claim and their jobs.
Mehri depicts enterprise unions as lapdogs of management. He witnessed the outcome of negotiations that resulted in one additional vacation day per annum. Satisfaction with this rare "victory" evaporated when he realized that the extra holiday was implemented by making daily work hours 5 minutes shorter. Since these official working hours were routinely ignored, management could win kudos without making a substantive concession.
"Every last person I interviewed, including the union leader Kurasawa, said the union was weak and in no way represented the voice of the workers," Mehri writes. "It was universally acknowledged that the primary role of the union was to rubber-stamp management decisions."
Mehri is unimpressed with how Japanese engineers solve problems. He notes: "They had been educated to engage in an inductive process, while as an American-educated engineer, I had been trained to use deduction. Deductive reasoning and abstract ideas were crucial to who I was as a Westerner . . . . It occurred to me that the inductive process, along with the authoritarian hierarchy and a disinclination to engage in debate, was one reason why Nizumi was rarely innovative. When it came to the details of the design, the Japanese were brilliant, but when it came to creativity, they were disappointing."
Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0060709a1.html
Toyota is booming, but its PR department has had its hands full with a high-profile sexual harassment lawsuit in the United States -- and now this damning insider's revelations about coercive work practices, unsafe production lines and mismanagement.
Darius Mehri, an Iranian-American, worked for three years at a subsidiary of Toyota as a computer-simulation design engineer. His story is one of growing disenchantment as he discovers the grim realities of work in Japan's industrial heartland. Along the way he challenges many shibboleths about corporate paternalism, harmony, consensus, kaizen (continuous improvement) and the vaunted Toyota Production System.
This keenly observed account imparts considerable firsthand information about current workplace practices, one that is reminiscent of Satoshi Kamata's bleak assessment in "Japan in the Passing Lane" (1973). Thirty years on Mehri observes that "the same unsafe work environment, the same oppressive mechanisms of worker control, and the same power manipulations."
Mehri finds much of the literature about Japanese management practices and production processes way off the mark. He believes Japanese management is deeply flawed and conveys his experience of blatant disregard for workers' well-being, disorganization and authoritarian practices. Intrusive monitoring of workers, bullying and public humiliation is standard practice among ladder-climbing executives eager to squeeze as much work as possible out of their subordinates. The "diligent and disciplined Japanese worker" is here portrayed as corporate cannon fodder.
"Notes from Toyota-Land" asserts that rigid hierarchies and institutionalized overwork are the bane of Japanese firms and their employees, stifling communication, imposing top-down consensus and substituting perspiration for inspiration. Overwork resulting from mandatory sabisu zangyo (unpaid overtime) saps productivity and undermines morale and health. Better designs are routinely ignored by upper-level managers because "Rank was more important than reason."
Clearly Nizumi (the fictitious name of his firm) is not a very congenial place to work. Unless of course you are a Romanian refugee; his colleague said he felt at home in the factory because it was just like the communist dictatorship at home where everyone watched each other and forced each other to abide by the regime's orders.
The ideology of firm as family does not jibe with Mehri's observations about inadequate concern for worker safety. Many of his foreign friends on the production lines regaled him with horror stories about unsafe workplaces and dangerous practices. Because foreigners can be hired at a pittance under the fiction of "training visas," many manufacturing firms employ as many as possible. Unfortunately, there is not much training going on, subjecting these "trainees" to considerable risk.
In an interview, Dr. Shinya Yamada, a leading occupational health and safety expert, explains that "hiding injuries is a long-standing, pervasive and hidden rule at most corporations in Japan." Firms wish to burnish their safety records to avoid being named and shamed by the government and to minimize medical expenses. If the injured employee is awarded worker's compensation, meaning that the injury is not the worker's fault, then the company is responsible for all medical expenses.
Workers thus face pressure not to file injury reports knowing that they risk losing both their claim and their jobs.
Mehri depicts enterprise unions as lapdogs of management. He witnessed the outcome of negotiations that resulted in one additional vacation day per annum. Satisfaction with this rare "victory" evaporated when he realized that the extra holiday was implemented by making daily work hours 5 minutes shorter. Since these official working hours were routinely ignored, management could win kudos without making a substantive concession.
"Every last person I interviewed, including the union leader Kurasawa, said the union was weak and in no way represented the voice of the workers," Mehri writes. "It was universally acknowledged that the primary role of the union was to rubber-stamp management decisions."
Mehri is unimpressed with how Japanese engineers solve problems. He notes: "They had been educated to engage in an inductive process, while as an American-educated engineer, I had been trained to use deduction. Deductive reasoning and abstract ideas were crucial to who I was as a Westerner . . . . It occurred to me that the inductive process, along with the authoritarian hierarchy and a disinclination to engage in debate, was one reason why Nizumi was rarely innovative. When it came to the details of the design, the Japanese were brilliant, but when it came to creativity, they were disappointing."
Source: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-b...0060709a1.html
07-26-2006, 09:48 AM
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Purple sky,
Apparently you've never visited Europe. Those French and Spanish, in particular have a pretty darn comfortable work life. They may not make as much money per capita, but they have pretty sweet hours.
Apparently you've never visited Europe. Those French and Spanish, in particular have a pretty darn comfortable work life. They may not make as much money per capita, but they have pretty sweet hours.
07-26-2006, 09:53 AM
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Originally Posted by QUIKAG,Jul 26 2006, 09:48 AM
Purple sky,
Apparently you've never visited Europe.
Apparently you've never visited Europe.
But from the laws protecting and giving American workers rights and stuff, hence I think American work force has it best.
07-26-2006, 09:53 AM
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Good read. The evolution of Toyota and their shift in product line has been an interesting study in culture and brand identity.
It will be interesting to see if Toyota is able to handle the problems that will arise from their increasing growth over the next decade.
It will be interesting to see if Toyota is able to handle the problems that will arise from their increasing growth over the next decade.
07-26-2006, 10:02 AM
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Originally Posted by Purple_sky,Jul 26 2006, 09:53 AM
But from the laws protecting and giving American workers rights and stuff, hence I think American work force has it best.
07-26-2006, 10:36 AM
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Originally Posted by QUIKAG,Jul 26 2006, 09:48 AM
Purple sky,
Apparently you've never visited Europe. Those French and Spanish, in particular have a pretty darn comfortable work life. They may not make as much money per capita, but they have pretty sweet hours.
Apparently you've never visited Europe. Those French and Spanish, in particular have a pretty darn comfortable work life. They may not make as much money per capita, but they have pretty sweet hours.
Sam
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07-26-2006, 12:18 PM
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Other interesting tidbits from some people:
"Its unrelated, but I was reminded of Japan's practice of hunting whales under the guise of "scientific research", where the meat ultimately ends up in restaurants and in customers' mouths, and yet it is somehow legitimized in this way.
On the other hand, I have only praise for life as a College student in Japan, but working there as a Gaijin fluent in Japanese for a Japanese company and living by their rules (long hours of unpaid overtime) was what drove me out. Sure, I could have stayed and taught English on mostly my own terms (with a sponsor), and could have avoided all of the bad aspects of working in Japan in that way, but I saw no future in that."
"This is how nearly EVERY Japanese company operates.
Many don't realize this, but the worker suicide rate in Japan is the highest in the industrialized world. Workers are pushed and bent until they finally break under the pressure. You toe the line and SHUT UP and do your job. To do otherwise is to dishonor your superiors and your company--and in Japan, honor is valued above all else.
OSHA would have a field day in any Japanese company. Americans working for Japanese companies Stateside don't have a lot of these problems as the American government has laws in place that prevent them from making their plants unsafe, and from working them to death. (Americans also don't value honor nearly as much as the Japanese do, nor the fierce loyalty, and if things start to suck they usually start looking for a new job)"
"More like the culture itself. The Japanese culture is a collective culture, meaning your role in the society is usually more important than your role as an individual. If you can't do your job as a worker, or as a student, or as a parent, then you feel either the invisible or the explicit pressure of the society needing you to get back on track. As a worker, if you can't perform what your job or your supervisor requires of you, then you fail as a worker within the society. Suicide is a possible way out... extreme, but still. The pressure of what the society expects of you is very intense and it's always present.
The supervisors feel the same social pressure as well, not just the underlings. That's why you read Japanese executives and CEOs "voluntarily" resign all the time in the newspaper."
"True. But its funny - I often got the sense or heard offhand remarks that led me to believe Japanese working for foreign companies were looked down on, like they took the "easy way out" -- or perhaps it was just jealousy. "We Japanese work hard". There's a lot of that "We Japanese - do this, or that" kind of talk, and the people who work for American companies aren't living up to their "duty" as Japanese to endure harsh working conditions and / or extremely long (and often unproductive) work hours.
The worst was "tsukiai zangyo" (Overtime Together). Its the idea that if most members of your group are staying (or, say a co-worker working across from you), even if you have nothing particular to justify working unpaid overtime hours on, you stay with them just to be there -- until 10PM or 11PM 5 days a week, if need be. The sad thing is that most of the people involved in Tsukiai Zangyo probably are thinking about going home, but don't want to be the first to leave."
"If you go out to the countryside such as farms or small fishing villages in Japan, the Japanese culture of spending time with family after 6PM is much stronger. You wake up at the crack of dawn, do your work, and get back to have dinner with the family, much like many other cultures. From what I gather it was much the same when Japan was in its industrial boom days. Its the more modern, Tokyo white collar culture that pushes the work-until-you-drop mentality, and with a new generation of more "selfish" youth that takes Japan's middle class living standards for granted, I'm wondering if they will repeat the long hours that their white collar fathers endured "for the company"."
"It's not a Toyota thing. It's not a Honda thing. It's a cultural thing, as many have already stated. In Europe it's the other way around- long stretches of time off in the middle of the day and catering to the worker. There is no 'right' and no 'wrong'- it's just the way the society works."
"Its unrelated, but I was reminded of Japan's practice of hunting whales under the guise of "scientific research", where the meat ultimately ends up in restaurants and in customers' mouths, and yet it is somehow legitimized in this way.
On the other hand, I have only praise for life as a College student in Japan, but working there as a Gaijin fluent in Japanese for a Japanese company and living by their rules (long hours of unpaid overtime) was what drove me out. Sure, I could have stayed and taught English on mostly my own terms (with a sponsor), and could have avoided all of the bad aspects of working in Japan in that way, but I saw no future in that."
"This is how nearly EVERY Japanese company operates.
Many don't realize this, but the worker suicide rate in Japan is the highest in the industrialized world. Workers are pushed and bent until they finally break under the pressure. You toe the line and SHUT UP and do your job. To do otherwise is to dishonor your superiors and your company--and in Japan, honor is valued above all else.
OSHA would have a field day in any Japanese company. Americans working for Japanese companies Stateside don't have a lot of these problems as the American government has laws in place that prevent them from making their plants unsafe, and from working them to death. (Americans also don't value honor nearly as much as the Japanese do, nor the fierce loyalty, and if things start to suck they usually start looking for a new job)"
"More like the culture itself. The Japanese culture is a collective culture, meaning your role in the society is usually more important than your role as an individual. If you can't do your job as a worker, or as a student, or as a parent, then you feel either the invisible or the explicit pressure of the society needing you to get back on track. As a worker, if you can't perform what your job or your supervisor requires of you, then you fail as a worker within the society. Suicide is a possible way out... extreme, but still. The pressure of what the society expects of you is very intense and it's always present.
The supervisors feel the same social pressure as well, not just the underlings. That's why you read Japanese executives and CEOs "voluntarily" resign all the time in the newspaper."
"True. But its funny - I often got the sense or heard offhand remarks that led me to believe Japanese working for foreign companies were looked down on, like they took the "easy way out" -- or perhaps it was just jealousy. "We Japanese work hard". There's a lot of that "We Japanese - do this, or that" kind of talk, and the people who work for American companies aren't living up to their "duty" as Japanese to endure harsh working conditions and / or extremely long (and often unproductive) work hours.
The worst was "tsukiai zangyo" (Overtime Together). Its the idea that if most members of your group are staying (or, say a co-worker working across from you), even if you have nothing particular to justify working unpaid overtime hours on, you stay with them just to be there -- until 10PM or 11PM 5 days a week, if need be. The sad thing is that most of the people involved in Tsukiai Zangyo probably are thinking about going home, but don't want to be the first to leave."
"If you go out to the countryside such as farms or small fishing villages in Japan, the Japanese culture of spending time with family after 6PM is much stronger. You wake up at the crack of dawn, do your work, and get back to have dinner with the family, much like many other cultures. From what I gather it was much the same when Japan was in its industrial boom days. Its the more modern, Tokyo white collar culture that pushes the work-until-you-drop mentality, and with a new generation of more "selfish" youth that takes Japan's middle class living standards for granted, I'm wondering if they will repeat the long hours that their white collar fathers endured "for the company"."
"It's not a Toyota thing. It's not a Honda thing. It's a cultural thing, as many have already stated. In Europe it's the other way around- long stretches of time off in the middle of the day and catering to the worker. There is no 'right' and no 'wrong'- it's just the way the society works."
07-26-2006, 11:33 PM
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It's not the long hours that causes lack of productivity. It's inefficiency that leads to long hours, and the management which allows or even encourages employees to make up for inefficiency by working late.
I am currently seconded to a professional services firm in Seoul and have experienced first hand exactly what the writer is talking about - even down to the comments re the strange logic.
The only way I can explain it is that Asian guys are laden down with a lot of somewhat useless information they have to memorise for their exams. They are constantly quoting what they read 5 years ago in some legal journal. But when you review the final report, it's exactly the same as what they told me over lunch. It lacks creativity, frequently impractical and dare I say it, slightly unprofessional. Perhaps it's because I don't share the same thought process.
From my experience, American and Australian (not the English, the lazy gits) lawyers are far more efficient generally presumably because the management sees the need to get the most out of their employees (high salaries or not).
I am currently seconded to a professional services firm in Seoul and have experienced first hand exactly what the writer is talking about - even down to the comments re the strange logic.
The only way I can explain it is that Asian guys are laden down with a lot of somewhat useless information they have to memorise for their exams. They are constantly quoting what they read 5 years ago in some legal journal. But when you review the final report, it's exactly the same as what they told me over lunch. It lacks creativity, frequently impractical and dare I say it, slightly unprofessional. Perhaps it's because I don't share the same thought process.
From my experience, American and Australian (not the English, the lazy gits) lawyers are far more efficient generally presumably because the management sees the need to get the most out of their employees (high salaries or not).
07-27-2006, 02:14 AM
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A counter point - If Japan isn't innovative - why is it that most of the electronic technology is developed there. Why is it that Honda's engineering is consider to be so innovative. What about Toyota's Hybrid technology. I sure don't see Germans or Americans who have come up with Hybrid technology.
However, you know Japan has issues when families sign up for 50 or 75 year mortages. Japan is producing at its max capabilities.
That's why we have Korea, China and India to lean on.
However, you know Japan has issues when families sign up for 50 or 75 year mortages. Japan is producing at its max capabilities.
That's why we have Korea, China and India to lean on.