Reference no: EM132265228
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The author has identified the Toyota Production System (TPS) as his selected quality improvement method in preparation for the Strategic Quality Implementation Plan assignment. TPS is a philosophy focused on continuous improvement that is constantly changing and evolving (Plenert, 2012).
Lean is the term identified to capture the essence of the less resource hungry TPS, which is based on the two pillars of just-in-time (JIT) and automation, and was coined by researcher John Krafcik from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology while working on the International motor Vehicle Programme in 1988 (Samuel, Found, & Williams, 2015; Toma & Naruo, 2017). This lean business philosophy focuses on shortened lead times by removing waste and concentrating on value-added processes and when implemented successfully, it enables a learning culture that is engaged in improving all aspects of the organization, including cost reduction while improving quality, and positioning a company to achieve tremendous growth (Sisson & Elshennawy, 2015).
The literature identifies a few of the recent developments in Lean from TPS. Samuel et al. (2015) articulated the theory of Swift, Even Flow that clearly describes and underpins Lean in response to the criticism of inadequate theory of the discipline. Magnani, Carbone, and Moatti (2019) contribute that the contextual factors of Lean are embedded in the human dimension based on Toyota's Respect for People principled motto referring to their building of people and not just cars.
The following have been revealed as best practices related to TPS. Customer focus concerns the need to capture long-term relationships with them and adding value to the process with things that directly thrill them through feedback obtained from them because all else is waste (Plenert, 2012; Toma & Naruo, 2017).
Strong leadership not only takes care of revenues through continuously improved quality, but also involves the humility of the leader to respect subordinates and gain their confidence through nemawashi because companies must have the basic foundation of trust (Plenert, 2012; Toma & Naruo, 2017). Continuous improvement, kaizen, assumes that all employees are responsible and involved in making constant and small improvement efforts to increase value and eliminate waste (muda) using the five whys technique (Plenert, 2012; Toma & Naruo, 2017).
Workforce focus values people, views them as family, and sees their better life as the company's reason for existence (Plenert, 2012; Toma & Naruo, 2017). Finally, lifelong learning and sound decision making based on the factual approach wrap up the best practices associated with TPS (Toma & Naruo, 2017).
Relating the significance of the methodology to practice in general, the keen focus on perfect quality and zero waste benefits both the organization and the consumer through cost reduction and satisfied customers.
TPS demands a focus on long-term performance over quarterly results with respect to waste reduction, zero defects, and customer satisfaction and the foundation of the approach values respect for people and teamwork (Chiarini, Baccarani, Mascherpa, 2018). TPS best practices and process improvement methodologies of organizational and management intervention have successfully been adapted and adopted across public as well as private organizations around the world (Samuel et al., 2015).
The major significance is the cultural change that must occur in the organization that makes TPS the culture, attitude, philosophy, and way of thinking along with the tools that support the culture, but the tools become stagnant while the culture adapts (Plenert, 2012).
Creativity, work engagement, innovative work behavior, and firm performance are improvements that are possible with successful TPS implementation.
In order to make this point TPS must first be connected to servant leadership because servant leadership has been shown to produce the listed improvements. The role of every employee to continuously look for opportunities to increase value very closely relates to the characteristics of stewardship and empowerment in servant leadership (Plenert, 2012; Spears, 2004).
The reason for the company's existence in TPS to give employees and their families a better life closely resembles the empathy, healing, and commitment to the growth of people characteristics of servant leadership (Plenert, 2012; Spears, 2004). The foundational aspect of trust in TPS is relative to listening, awareness, and humility required of the servant leader (Plenert, 2012; Spears, 2004).
Because TPS inhibits many of the intrinsic values of servant leadership, TPS could potentially experience similar outcomes of servant leadership such as employee creativity through self-efficacy beliefs, employee creativity while embracing the employee's inner life and sense of community, employee innovative work behavior through strengthened relationship of work engagement, and improved firm performance through motivated and empowered employees reaching full potential and feeling engaged, which benefits the wide range of stakeholders (Peterson, Galvin, & Lange, 2012; Rasheed, Lodhi, & Habiba, 2016; Williams Jr., Randolph-Seng, Hayek, Haden, & Atinc, 2017; Yang, Liu, & Gu, 2017). It is all to ultimately benefit community because business must be relational and communitarian in character (Van Duzer, 2010).
References
Chiarini, A., Baccarani, C., & Mascherpa, V. (2018). Lean production, Toyota production system and kaizen philosophy. The TQM Journal, 30(4), 425-438. doi:10.1108/TQM-12-2017-0178
Magnani, F., Carbone, V., & Moatti, V. (2019). The human dimension of lean: A literature review. Supply Chain Forum: An International Journal, , 1-13. doi:10.1080/16258312.2019.1570653
Peterson, S. J., Galvin, B. M., & Lange, D. (2012). CEO servant leadership: Exploring executive characteristics and firm performance. Personnel Psychology, 65(3), 565-596. doi:10.1111/j.1744-6570.2012.01253.x