Japan’s reputation for flawless manufacturing quality and efficiency transformed the country’s postwar economy, changed business practices world-wide and spawned a library’s worth of management manuals and business advice books. “Now, the model is cracking,” writes The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 5, 2018).
Kobe Steel, Mitsubishi Materials, and Subaru have all just admitted to manipulating quality inspections. Takata declared bankruptcy last year after supplying 50 million defective vehicle air bags in the U.S. Mitsubishi Motors has admitted covering up vehicle faults and falsifying fuel-economy data. Nissan says its Japanese factories let unqualified employees perform final quality inspections. Indeed, Japanese brands have been bested by U.S. car makers in the past 2 years.
The scandals call into question one of the world’s most influential theories of management and manufacturing. Japan’s model, celebrated in publications such as HBR, hinges largely on the concept of kaizen, or “continuous improvement.” Kaizen means eliminating unnecessary activity, reducing excess inventory and using teamwork to fix problems when they arise. It also places enormous responsibility on the line workers (called genba) at the factory-floor level to manage daily operations and generate innovation. The genba have traditionally been guaranteed jobs for life in return for dedication. But many Japanese companies can no longer afford the luxury of lifetime employment for factory craftsmen.
At Kobe Steel, quality-checking staffers became the first targets of layoffs because they didn’t appear as busy as production-line workers. Line workers were told to make quality checks themselves, and some checks were outsourced after the company suspended hiring. Workers involved in data falsification felt they had no choice because they needed to keep production moving.
(Japan, nonetheless, remains a manufacturing powerhouse, ranking 3rd in manufacturing output, behind China and the U.S. and just ahead of Germany).
Classroom discussion questions:
- Explain the concept of kaizen.
- Why is the Japanese system facing a crisis?