Learning from Toyota: how action learning can foster competitive advantage in new product development (NPD)

New product development and commercialization are essential to entrepreneurial growth and international competitiveness. Excellence in this area is strongly supported by individual and organizational learning efforts. By analyzing how Japanese car manufacturer Toyota organizes learning, this paper evaluates the potential of action learning to manage organizational change in the area of new product development (NPD). The indications of the study are that action learning represents an efficient strategy to manage continuous change necessary for the successful innovation of products and processes. Additionally, workers at Toyota involved in learning practices similar to action learning are personally committed to their jobs and satisfied with their careers. The findings also suggest that action learning offers a valuable toolkit approach to anticipate and rapidly react to external shocks and changed market conditions. Managers are able to revise and restructure work organization by reconciling grown bundles of unique capabilities with new skill requirements to cope with strategic challenges.