Purpose – This study aims to describe how a work team adapted to its fluctuated and severe environment by changing from “lean” to “over-lean” mode. To do this, the author investigated the relations among productivity, the vertical division of labor, and group leaders' behavior in a...

Shorter development lead times, other things being equal, contribute to competitive advantages in many of today's industries where market needs and available technologies are difficult to predict, rapidly changing or diversified and where novelty is highly valued in the market. In this paper, we...

The present situations and future prospects of the Japanese automobile industry are discussed. Selected topics in this paper include the following: analyses of the basic product-industry characteristics of the automobile (e.g., product architecture); the mature of the dynamic competition in the...

This paper analyzes the modularization in the world auto industry. The modularization in the industry has involved architectural changes in product, production, and supplier systems with each region (Japan, Europe and the U.S.A.) emphasizing different purposes and aspects. As an attempt to...

The subject of this study focus on the car industry which is becoming an important element for the development of Chinese economy. The realistic comparison is conducted on their various adaptation behaviors to environmental change & management resource, the way of changing former organization...

This paper explores basic concepts of architectural strategy, or application of the concept of product-process architecture to strategic management and industrial policy-making, as well as the issue of measuring architecture. First, the paper discusses definitions and types of product...

The purpose of this paper is to examine the adaptation of the lean production system in China. In a large context of worldwide Japanization, the Chinese firms paid more attention to and introduction the Toyota production system earlier than American and European firms. First Automotive...

This paper describes the recent developments of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Australia(TMCA), re-interpreting its pattern of competitive activities as an emergent global strategy. By emergent global strategy the author means a pattern of strategic activities that does not necessarily follow a...