Dynamic capabilities for strategic team performance management: the case of Nissan

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain how hoshin kanri (policy management) is used as a higher order dynamic capability at Nissan. The paper also seeks to examine the role of top executive audits as part of the FAIR strategy execution process to develop core competences as part of team management. Design/methodology/approach – The research used semi‐retrospective ethnographic case summaries recorded by an active manager involved in the implementation process of the researched organizational phenomenon. These documented observations were triangulated against internally published company reports and those made public, and any externally published documentation about Nissan. Findings – The paper finds that the use of a top executive audit (TEA) as a part of hoshin kanri , works as a high‐order dynamic capability according to Teece et al. . Hoshin kanri is premised on a strong reliance on teamwork, and the effectiveness of teams is a major contributory factor to organizational performance. It works well because TEAs are a special form of organizational audit of lower‐level operations against top‐level strategy (i.e. it is a strategic review framework). Originality/value – How Nissan's business philosophies and methodologies are managed as core capabilities is explored. TEAs, as a key component of hoshin kanri , are examined as a strategic team performance management system.