This document provides an overview of Toyota's knowledge management systems. It discusses both tacit and explicit knowledge approaches used by Toyota, including quality circles to share tacit knowledge among production workers. It also describes Toyota's Production System (TPS) and how Toyota establishes a shared network identity through various groups and processes to facilitate knowledge sharing within its supplier network.

1. TOYOTA’S KNOWLEDGE
MANAGMENT SYSTEMS
UDHAI
MANJOT
ANKUR
SAURABH
SAMPREET

2. CONTENTS
 History
 Knowledge management methodology
 TACIT KNOWLEDGE APPROACH
 EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE APPROACH
 TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM-TPS
 The Toyata supplier network
 Social identity theory
 "Ideas for Good"

3. ASSIGNMENTS
 SAURABH- INTRODUCTION
 UDHAI- KNOWLEDGE EXTRACTION
 MANJOT- THEORIES
 ANKUR- TOPOLOGIES AND SUPPLY CHAIN
 SAMPREET- CASE STUDIES

4. ABSTRACT
 Toyota's management philosophy has evolved from
the company's origins and has been reflected in the
terms "Lean Manufacturing" and Just In Time
Production, which it was instrumental in developing.
 Toyota's managerial values and business methods are
known collectively as the Toyota Way.
 Toyota has long been recognized as an industry
leader in manufacturing and production.

5.  TMC, is a
Japanesemultinational automaker headquartered
in Toyota, Aichi, Japan.
 In 2010, Toyota employed 300,734 people worldwide,
[2]
and was the third largest automobile
manufacturer in 2011 by production behind General
Motors and Volkswagen AG.
 Toyota sold 4.97 million cars in the first half-year 2012,
more than GM or Volkswagen.[3]
Toyota is the eleventh
largest company in the world by revenue.
 In July 2012 the company reported that it had
manufactured its 200 millionth vehicle.

6. Knowledge Management at
Toyota
 According to analysts, Toyota's success in both the
local and global markets was based on its gaining a
competitive advantage through implementation of
innovative and path-breaking ideas on its production
floors.
 TPS worked on the basic idea of maintaining a
continuous flow of products in factories in order to
adapt flexibly to changes in demand.
 TPS linked all production activities to real dealer
demand through implementation of Kanban, JIT and
other quality measures...

7. TOYOTA WANTS TO TRANSFER
KNOWLEDGE OF ITS PRODUCTION SYSTEM
TO NEW EMPLOYEES
 Such as the factory recently opened in Valenciennes,
France, Toyota typically selects a core group of two
to three hundred new employees and sends them for
several months training and work on the assembly line
in one of Toyota’s existing factories.
 After several months of studying the production
system and working alongside experienced Toyota
assembly line workers, the new workers are sent back
to the new factory site.

8. TOYOTA WANTS TO TRANSFER
KNOWLEDGE OF ITS PRODUCTION SYSTEM
TO NEW EMPLOYEES
 These repatriated workers are
accompanied by one or two hundred
long-term, highly experienced Toyota
workers, who will then work alongside all
the new employees in the new factory
to assure that knowledge of Toyota’s
finely tuned production process is fully
implanted in the new factory.

9. TACIT KNOWLEDGE APPROACH-
QUALITY CIRCLES
 At the end of each work week, groups of Toyota
production workers spend one to two hours analyzing
the performance and problems in quality or
productivity.
 Each group proposes “countermeasures” to correct
identified problems, and discusses the results
 Through personal interactions in such Quality Circle
group settings, Toyota employees share their ideas for
improvement, devise steps to test new ideas for
improvement, and assess the results of their tests.

10. EXPLICIT KNOWLEDGE APPROACH
 Documenting the tasks that each team of
workers and each individual worker is asked to
perform on its assembly lines.
 These documents provide a detailed
description of how each task is to be
performed, how long each task should take,
the sequence of steps to be followed in
performing each task, and the steps to be
taken by each worker in checking his or her
own work

11. TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM-TPS
 A production system which is steeped in the philosophy of "the
complete elimination of all waste" imbuing all aspects of
production in pursuit of the most efficient methods.
 The Toyota Production System (TPS) was established based on
two concepts:
1. The first is called "jidoka" (which can be loosely translated as
"automation with a human touch") which means that when a
problem occurs, the equipment stops immediately, preventing
defective products from being produced;
2. The second is the concept of "Just-in-Time," in which each
process produces only what is needed by the next process in
a continuous flow.

12. TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM-TPS

13. The Toyata supplier network
 Japanese
automobile
makers are
more and
more
productive, US
is lagging
 WHY?
 Dyer and
Nobeoka:
"Creating and
managing a
hihg
performance
knowledge-
sharing
network: the
Toyota case"

14. Knowledge sharing routines
 What is knowledge?
 Explicit knowledge or information
 Tacit knowledge or know-how
 Dilemmas associated with knowledge sharing
 how can self-interested network members openly share
valuable knowledge?
 how to prevent free-rider problems?
 how to maximize the efficiency of knowledge transfers?

15. Overcoming knowledge sharing dilemmas
 Creating a network 'identity' through network-level
knowledge-sharing routines
 Network `rules' for knowledge protection and value
appopriation
 Creating multiple knowledge-sharing processes and
sub-networks in the larger network

16. Why create an 'identity'?
 Social identity theory (Tajfel and Turner,
1986)
 Categorization: We put others (and ourselves) into
categories.
 Identification: We associate with certain group (our
ingroups), which serves to bolster our self-esteem.
 Comparison: We compare our groups with other groups,
seeing a favorable bias toward the group to which we
belong.

17. Social identity theory
 Experiment:
 Rabbie and Horwitz (1969) “The arousal of ingroup-
outgroup bias by a chance win or loss.” Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 13: 269-277.
 Randomly assign individuals to a blue and a
green group
 Individuals were unknown to each other and
were told that they would not meet again
 Based on the toss of a coin a price was given to
one group
 Group members evaluated each other more
positively and were more willing to cooperate
with each other than non group members

18. How did Toyata create a network 'identity'?
 Toyota's network is known (labeled) as
the `Toyota group'.
 Toyota creates a shared network identity
by developing multiple groups
 The supplier association
 Toyota's operations management consulting division
 Voluntary small group learning teams (jishuken)
 (Interfirm employee transfers)

19. Supplier association
 Kyohokai: Toyota's supplier association was
established in 1943
 Suppliers must be close to each other
 Tokai (150 members)
 Kanto (65 members)
 Kansai (29 members)

20. Supplier association
 Suppliers association has general (high level)
meetings every other month
 Quality committees.
 Excellent plant tours allow network members
to visit `best practice' plants
 Quality management conference held once
a year
 lectures from directors, senior managers + six
success ful supplier cases of quality
improvement

21. Consulting teams
 Toyota's Operations Management Consulting Division
(OMCD)
 6 senior executives, 50 consultants
 Direct free `on-site' assistance for suppliers
 periods ranging from one day to many months
 on average suppliers are visited about 4 times a year with
an average visit lasting 3 days
 emergent problem solving: cross divisional problems
solving teams helping a supplier
 What kind of social capital is this according to
Coleman?

22. Voluntary learning teams
 Jishuken: 60 of the key suppliers `voluntary study
groups'
 Each group consists of roughly 5-8 suppliers
 geographic proximity
 no direct competitors in the same group
 level of experience with Toyota
 Groups are reorganized every 3 years (Why?)
 After determining theme, the group visits each
member to develop suggestions
 Member of OMCD monitors (to assist and to learn)

23. Voluntary learning teams (II)
 Jishuken are reported to be very valuable (especially
in transmitting tacit knowledge)

24. Network rules for knowledge
protection
 Creating an identity isn't enough to solve sharing and free
riding problems
 Toyota sets a norm/rule by sharing its own knowledge
 eliminating the notion that there is `propriety knowledge'
 Suppliers must be willing to open their plants to other
network members to other network members
 reciprocal obligations: We will help you, but in return, you must
agree to help the network.
 reciprocity norm is enforced by implicit threat of withdrawal of
business

25. Network rules for knowledge
protection
 Tacit rule about value appropriation
 The recipient of knowledge may appropriate
100 percent of the savings in the short run,
but over time will be expected to share a
proportion of those savings with the network
 Compare Toyota practice with the GM consultancy
teams (PICOS)

26. Creating multiple knowledge sharing processes
How to
maximize
efficiency?
Toyota
established
variety of
bilateral and
multilateral
processes,
each designed
to facilitate
different types
of knowledge

27. The creation and evolution of
Toyota's US knowledge sharing
network
 1988: Toyota begins producing cars in Georgetown,
Kentucky
 Suppliers had virtually now contact with each other,
how did Toyota implement its knowledge
management ?
 Phase 1: Developing weak ties among suppliers
 Phase 2: Developing strong ties with Toyota
 Phase 3: Developing strong ties among suppliers

28. 1. Developing weak ties
1989 Toyota initiates supplier association (BAMA)

29. 2: strong ties with Toyota
Free of charge well trained consultants made available
to BAMA members

30. 3: strong ties among suppliers
Toyota divided suppliers in small learning teams
-no competitors
-rotation
-equal capabilities

31.  One large network with core firm
as hub
 Bilateral relationships
 Weak ties/arm's lenght relations
 Structural holes
 Explicit knowledge
 Members motivated to
demonstrate commitment
 Power game
 self-interest
 independence
 closed formal contracts
 Large network plus multiple
nested networks
 Multi-lateral relationships
 Strong/embedded ties in nested
networks with core firm
 Dense network
 Both explicit and tacit
knowledge
 reciprocity; benefits of
participation outweigh isolation
 Trust game
 fairness
 interdepence
 open informal contracts

32.  Two types of network
benefits
 Resource sharing
 Access to knowledge
spillovers
 Direct ties
 knowledge sharing
 complementary skills
 scale economies
 Indirect ties
 knowledge spillovers
Ahuja: Collaboration networks, structural
holes, and innovation.

33. Effects of direct ties
 The more direct
ties, the higher the
innovation
output
 Knowledge sharing
 Complementarity
 Economies of scale
 High maintenance costs

34. Effects of indirect ties
 The more
indirect ties, the
higher the
innovation
output
 Information
gathering devices
 Screening device
 low maintenance
costs

35. Toyota Introduces its Optimized
Global Manufacturing and Supply
System

36. (Innovative International
Multi-purpose Vehicle) project
 In the summer of 2004 Toyota crossed the threshold to a new
age of global production with the launch in Thailand of the
Hilux Vigo pickup truck, available in standard cab, extra cab
and double cab models.
 Toyota initiated the IMV project to create an optimized global
manufacturing and supply system for pickup trucks and
multipurpose vehicles to satisfy market demand in more than
140 countries worldwide
 Toyota IMV Launch Video - YouTube.FLV

37. CROWD SOURCING-A NEW
INITIATIVE
 Essence of crowdsourcing
 The riddle of knowledge creation
 Radical Innovation via illiteracy
 End of and era –”engineering of the
consent”
 Setting up new dimension for mediocrity

38. "Ideas for Good"
 Corporate crowdsourcing experiment comes to us
from Toyota.
1. Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS)
2. Hybrid Synergy Drive® (HSD)
3. Solar Powered Ventilation System
4. Touch Tracer Display
5. Advanced Parking Guidance System (APGS)

39. References
 http://www.toyota.com.au/toyota/company/operati
ons/toyota-production-system
 http://www.toyota-
global.com/company/vision_philosophy/toyota_prod
uction_system/
 https://www.google.co.in/#hl=en&sugexp=les
%3B&gs_rn=1&gs_ri=hp&tok=qUo-
i120hCn5uycMCxflPw&cp=9&gs_id=17&xhr=t&q=toyot
a+production+system&pf=p&output=search&sclient=
psy-
ab&oq=toyota+pr&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_p
w.r_cp.r_qf.&bvm=bv.1357700187,d.bmk&fp=accaa25
72706106f&biw=1280&bih=675
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota
 http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/news/12/04/0406_3.html

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