Change Management Within Toyota We

Change Management

Within Toyota we can see evidence of many different types of organizational change mechanisms. These flow from a couple of change perspectives, the contingency perspective and the systems perspective. The former focuses on change within the boundaries of existing environmental circumstances; the latter takes the view that change must be undertaken by every part and subsystem of the organization.

In Toyota, the systems perspective is predominant. There are two key systems that Toyota has in place that exemplify a systems perspective. The first is in the Toyota Production System, which the company implemented following a visit to Detroit in the 1950s. This was one of the first major examples of wholesale organizational change and was enacted throughout the organization. Part of this involved a system of empowering workers, gaining buy-in throughout the organization, and reconsidering the worker as a fluid part of a machine, capable to performing different tasks at different times but always within the greater functionality of the factory itself (Prujit, 2000).

Another example of Toyota's use of the systems perspective is in its concept of soikofu. The concept is a formal incentive program for employee suggestions. With an estimated adoption rate of 95%, these suggestions form small changes to the organization each day. Over time, these changes become a driver for broader organizational change (Ahis, 2001). Toyota constantly evolves, influenced by its environment and a steady stream of reactions to that environment. For soikofu to work, the system as a whole must be viewed as an interaction of dynamic parts, the core belief of the systemic perspective.

Toyota also works within the contingency perspective. For example, a major organizational change occurred when they entered the American market. Toyota needed to shift their outlook in order to enter the market and become established. Production was not an issue, since they were producing in Japan at the time, but their marketing required a shift of focus. Smith, Andrews and Blevins (1992) illustrate how Toyota took an environmental perspective to this change, identifying and capitalizing on the need to present a competitive advantage to the American market. The use of competitive analysis is an example of taking a contingency outlook to the issue of change and problem solving.

Ford (2002) illustrates that often organizations base future behavior on past performance. This view is at the core of the contingency perspective, and has been taken at time by Toyota. For example the Toyota Production System itself is an example of incorporating the contingency perspective. In designing and implementing the system, Toyota worked within the constraints of their employee's ability, as demonstrated in the past, and focused on the internal strengths of those employees and their own production processes that they could leverage. TPS was entirely designed to fit within the boundaries of Japanese culture and technology at the time, based on past knowledge.