Lean is the term the Western world has come to use for the Toyota Production System (TPS). Created by Taiichi Ohno, TPS aims to reduce the time between a customer order and payment for the delivery of a vehicle by “reducing the non-value adding wastes.” While so much of Toyota’s success has been attributed to the mechanics of TPS, there is more to it than that. Jeffrey K. Liker, professor of industrial and operations engineering at the University of Michigan and author of The Toyota Way, states that “Toyota’s continued success ... stems from a deeper business philosophy based on its understanding of people and human motivation.” While 21st-century technology leaders may not be in the business of manufacturing cars, I think we can all agree that they are in the business of leading people!
Use this link to download the full article on from the January 2017 issue of the Cutter Business Technology Journal.
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