My original study of Japanese automakers back in 1983 focused on supplier involvement in product development, focused on Toyota, Mazda, and Nissan. All three had similar approaches and were vastly different from American automakers at the time. The difference simply was one of working with trusted partners in Japan from the earliest stages of concept development to Americans controlling the design internally and treating suppliers as vendors shopping their wares and competing on price. It was clear even then that Toyota had a more defined and sophisticated approach to product development than the other two Japanese companies and that led to me delving more deeply into Toyota’s system with associates and students, leading ultimately to ...
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