Toyotism and Brahminism : Employee relations difficulties in establishing lean manufacturing in India

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the cross‐cultural reasons underlying the extreme industrial unrest experienced during the first seven years of Toyota’s operations in India. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs a case study approach using data obtained from 30 personal interviews, field notes, observations, and internet media sources. Findings – The paper reports how Toyotism shares three common features with Brahminism – renunciation, performance, and perfection – and how antipathy towards the manner in which these features were implemented in India caused significant resistance amongst the production workforce. Research limitations/implications – The paper has implications for academics and practitioners in helping to understand how employee relations, unrest and antagonism towards lean manufacturing practices are closely related to cross‐cultural issues prevalent in host countries. Originality/value – The concept of Brahmanism in Indian employee relations is under‐researched in comparison with other aspects of Indian culture and antipathy towards the concept as a source of resistance to the implementation of lean systems needs to be better understood.