Driving Down Costs: Toyota Takes Lean Efficiencies Beyond Japan

Until recently, Toyota had long been the world's top car-maker and it rose to that position by using lean production methods. Its Toyota Production System, which pivots on continuous improvement and respect for people, became a best-practice management phenomenon, copied by many in a wide range of sectors. But questions have arisen over such silver-bullet theories of business excellence. And what happens when a proven and spectacularly successful method is moved to a different business environment outside Japan? Researchers from the Australian School of Business have been exploring the upshot of Toyota's manufacturing shift to Thailand, a lower-wage economy with less consideration for its labour force.