Book Description
"Toyota is becoming a double threat: the world's finest manufacturer and a truly great innovator . . . that formula, a combination of production prowess and technical innovation, is an unbeatable recipe for success."
-- Fortune, February 2006
For the first time, an insider reveals the formula behind Toyota's unceasing quest to innovate and do more with less, a philosophy that has made it one of the ten most profitable companies in the world (and worth more than GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda combined). In a rare look into Toyota's ability to consistently achieve breakthroughs that outperform the competition, The Elegant Solution explains what Toyota associates have known all along: it's not about the cars. Rather, Toyota's astounding success is just the visible result of a hidden creative process that begins with a seven-digit number.
One million. That's how many new ideas the Toyota organization implements every year. These ideas come from every level of the organization -- from the factory floors to the corporate suites. And organizations all over the world want to learn how it's done. Now senior University of Toyota advisor Matthew May shows how any company can achieve an environment of everyday innovation and discover the kinds of elegant solutions that hold the power to change the game forever. World-class benchmarks like Lexus, Prius, Scion -- even Toyota's vaunted production system -- are simply shining examples of elegant solutions.
A tactical playbook for team-based innovation, The Elegant Solution delivers powerful lessons in breakthrough thinking in a provocative yet practical guide to the three core principles and ten key practices that shape successful business innovation. Innovation isn't just about technology -- it's about value, opportunity, and impact. When a company embeds a real discipline around tapping ingenuity in the pursuit of perfection, the sky is the limit. Dozens of case studies (from Toyota and other companies) illustrate the universal power and applicability of these concepts. A unique "clamshell strategy" prepares managers to successfully lead and sustain the innovation effort.
At once a thought-starter and a taskmaster, The Elegant Solution is a vital prescription for anyone wanting to truly master business innovation.
Customer Reviews:
The Elegant Solution.......2007-10-08
This is an excellent (and yes, elegant) overview of the Toyota quality "mindset." The book is a "must read" for for anyone interested in business strategy development. The book offers a readable summary of the principles of the Toyota Way with an emphasis on the development of the Lexus and Prius lines including practical examples of the elements of the approach advocated. When a company has amassed assets greater than GM, Ford, Chrysler, VW and Honda combined, their approach may be worth deeper study. I highly recommend this practical, important, and very readable book.
Nice stories, little new content.......2007-08-27
I excepted a lot from the elegant solution. It has been recommended by a lot of persons as a must read. Honestly, I was dissapointed. It's still an good book, but didn't find it as "classic" as people had suggested to me.
"The elegant solution" is about tools for creating innovation on your job. These tools are based on Toyota's tools and practices. The book is devided in three parts. The first part sets three general principles. The second part, by far the largest, provides the tools for innovation, the practices. The last part talks about implementing these practices.
The three principles are "the art of ingenuity", "pursuit of perfection" and "rhythm of fit". They were interesting principles, but not really new or shocking. Sometimes I found them even a little too vague.
The practices range from "thinking in pictures" to "master the tension". Each chapter shortly states the practice and explains the key ideas. After that it uses stories to clarify the practice. Lot's of stories are from inside Toyota. Some stories related to Lance Armstrong, a little too many in my opinion and they were somewhat boring. Anyways, in general, the stories were what made the book interesting.
The third part didn't provide very much content.
In summary, I enjoyed the book, for the stories. I didn't find the practices new and the book didn't provided me with any new insight that other lean books did not provide. The book was written a little bit too much in a "popular style" which annoyed me.
Worth reading for the stories. When wanting to know more on lean or toyota I'd recommend other books like "Toyota way" or "Lean product and process development".
Good nuggets, lots of fluff, some really sloppy thinking.......2007-08-22
I came to this book via the Shampoo Problem that's been floating around the internet these past couple of weeks (which he published in his Change This manifesto). The puzzle is this - a high-end health club puts nice shampoo in their showers, but customers keep stealing it. How do you implement a solution that takes no time to implement, doesn't inconvenience customers at all, and doesn't require any money? That's a lot of constrictions, but the author claims it can be done! (you can search for the answer yourself, I don't want to spoil your fun.)
The question itself reminded me of so many bad professors who would ask totally subjective questions and disregard legitimate answers until they found someone who agreed with them. "Who can give me an example of an apple that's tasty? Macintosh? No too sweet. Granny smith? No too bitter. Golden delicious? Why yes Bobby, you get a star."
This is the tone in my head while I read the book - condescending. Maybe he didn't write it that way, but that's how I'm reading it, and honestly, it fits. On page 21 he chides psychologists for loving "to explain our uniquely hardwired capabilities in hugely complex terms. Sixteen types, thirty-four strengths, etc." and then goes on to give his "easier, more elegant" (but no less arbitrary "four basic buckets of natural ability." (Four because the ancient Greeks loved the number four.) Of course, what he fails to mention is that the psychologists he's referring to all write for pop magazines like Cosmopolitan and their articles appear alongside such classics as "10 ways to improve your sex life" and "5 ways to tell if your man is cheating on you." He also never mentions the "four basic buckets of natural ability" again and they have absolutely no bearing on the rest of the book. (The book is filled with useless random made up facts like those.)
He also throws out sentences that have huge presumptions built in to them, but have absolutely no evidence to back them up. Stuff that, in a seminar you wouldn't want to question him on because "there is no right answer" or the facts are obscure enough that he could bluster his way though most arguments that weren't from an expert on the subject. In book form, though, and knowing better myself, I read this stuff and think "well there's a very poor and inaccurate description." Luckily there's an only 50% chance that even the next sentence will depend on you agreeing with that statement, much less the next page.
In a later section he rehashes "the scientific method" (I put it in quotes because he botched his basic characterization of it) and compares it to other four step iterative processes, mostly those developed by the military - Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA), Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), Observe-Orient-Decide-Act (OODA), Scan-Analyze-Respond-Assess (SARA), etc. and comes up with his own version, cleverly called IDEA - Investigate, Design, Execute, Adjust. It's not much different than the others, but it's his and he can teach it in seminars as his own. FWIW, "While Toyota officially recognizes only PDCA (not IDEA), they actually use all of these (methodologies) to some degree." (page 73-4)
Well of course they use all of the methodologies to some degree - they all describe the same basic thing, and very few organizations are so button-down that they actually only use a single methodology and follow it to the letter each time.
The very next sentence is "Let's look closer at the process." But that's pretty much the last time PDCA is mentioned in the book, the next section is about process in general and why it's good to "Insist on a common approach."
Another example of sloppy leaps in logic and condescending attitude is the Edsel. (page 93) Ford did their research and designed a car that people would want - except nobody wanted it. Why? "The problem was, all the research was based on a forty-year-old market belief... that buyers fell into one of four income segments: low, low-middle, upper-middle, and upper... Except markets don't think that way. When it comes to cars, consumers were thinking `lifestyle,' not income."
I like how he swaps an old marketing tool for a modern one as if that's the answer to all the world's problems. Lifestyle marketing was originated in the 70's and 80's as a result of - surprise surprise - new market research techniques developed by psychologists who were using statistical analysis more and more in their psychological research. (I wonder if he thinks those psychologists are too complex now.)
He also utterly fails to get into the concept of lifestyle marketing - he tells you why the Edsel failed, and what they should have done, (or his completely arbitrary and baseless versions of them) but what they should have done is literally one word. "lifestyle." Shame on Ford in the 1950's for not using an 80's marketing concept to understand how the market thinks. Why didn't they use the word "lifestyle" instead - then the Edsel would have been a huge success.
Hansei is another example of this sloppy, condescending thinking. "Hansei is the rigorous review conducted after action has been taken. It's a huge and absolutely vital part of learning. And with few exceptions, our Western culture is just plain miserable at it." Of course there's not one mention of the term "post-mortem" which is a western term and performs the exact same function. Sure most businesses don't do it (most businesses don't follow a lot of best practices), but don't pretend that Toyota or "Eastern culture" somehow invented the concept and that nobody in the west does it. If there's an existing best practice that we understand, then why not just tell us about it rather than pretending that it came from the fount of the Toyota godhead?
"Ford hadn't gone to the field to see what was actually happening. They remained in the office and believed the data. Big mistake. The Edsel was dead on arrival, a complete and utter failure."
Of course the next chapter is about how Toyota did the same basic thing, but managed to succeed. Their data told them that the youth of today would be the car buyers of tomorrow (startling, I know). The case study for the Scion reveals absolutely nothing about the techniques they used to study the market - it's the after report.
"Where are these kids going to buy the car? There's no time or money for new stores. That's a problem. That means they go to a Toyota store. Okay, so they'll know it's a Toyota. How do we get around that? Think? We don't. It's not the ugly stepchild. It's legit, but different. It's Scion, offspring of Toyota. Don't ignore the Toyota link, it's got cred...."
Note the use of the magical word "Think" in that paragraph. He totally neglects to address what "Think" means. Think is the Elegant part of the solution (he also likes the word "Intuitive" and uses it liberally), yet he doesn't describe it at all.
"Think" is where all the magic happens. Katie Lucas calls this the "Run really, really fast" step for "how to win a marathon" methodologies. It's the step where all the real difficult, nitty-gritty stuff magically happens. South Park summarizes it "Step 1: Steal underpants. Step 2...... Step 3: Profit."
Ostensibly the whole book is about that one word "Think" but the tools he provides - the IDEA loop, mind mapping, story boarding are nothing new, and the book is utterly lacking a cohesive whole. They're just scattered ideas, praised one second, and then dropped in the next chapter. He even mentions the Toyota "dashboard" which is a tool for getting a quick overview of a problem - except he (again) utterly fails in to a dashboard. "Dashboard" doesn't even appear in the index of the book, and if it did, the only occurrence would be on page 113.
Here's all the text on page 113. "Creative Visual Control - Visual control is an integral part of Toyota's methodology. The Project Management Office of Toyota's North American Parts Operation (NAPO) used creative visual `dashboards' to track performance in their Stretch Goals Initiative (see Chapter 9)."
Chapter 9 is on how to stretch goals, not about dashboards. He clearly states "Visual control is an integral part of Toyota's methodology" yet it's explained nowhere in the book in any depth.
In fairness, Toyota did do something Ford didn't do (or at least something he claims Ford didn't do) - they got to know their market. Really engage them and have a conversation with them. Learn about them, and let those learnings drive their product, and he does get into that in the book.
The main thrust of the book - if I can understand it all because it's couched in so many superlatives and it jumps from topic to topic so fast that it's really difficult to tease core themes out - seems to be something like: Move forward by getting hands-on experience with your product and your customers. Don't dictate strategy based on numbers alone, or build bureaucracies - get down and dirty and get to know the product you're selling and get to know the marketplace. Come up with grand "elegant" visions for the future, but innovate little by little - tiniest bit by tiniest bit. Listen to everyone and implement every good idea, then standardize it so that the whole company benefits. Don't let the numbers do all the talking; learn the context, the story behind the numbers. Which is a pretty good message, and he does give you some tools to do that, but the tools are often vague, and you feel that the real tools are mentioned only in passing.
The subtitle of the book is "Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation." If this book was about the "formula" for Coca-Cola, it would say something like "cola syrup and seltzer" and go on about the intuitive and elegant way they matched cola syrup to the bubbling process and created a dynamic new soft drink and how the other soft drink companies of the day - lemonade, sugar-water and apple-juice - failed to really understand the problem, which is why they didn't come up with the cola + seltzer combination first and why they lost so much market share. (If only apple juice had thought "lifestyle" instead of "income segment!")
Overall, it's an okay read and a decent introduction to the subject of business innovation, though for a book that's supposedly written by a guy who's on the ground floor with this stuff, I would expect a *lot* more meat and a lot less fluff. Get it if you think you'll like it, but don't expect as much as the other reviewers seem to be hinting at.
"Keep it lean. Scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow.".......2007-05-22
The subtitle of this book ("Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation") is not inaccurate but somewhat misleading. Although, yes, Matthew E. May has much of interest and value to say about the Toyota Production System, his attention is by no means limited to it and to the remarkable organization within which it was developed and within which it continues to flourish. Today, Toyota is one of the ten most profitable companies in the world and worth more than General Motors, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and Honda...combined. Obviously there are reasons for such extraordinary success but it would be incorrect to assume that other organizations can achieve the same success once they know what Toyota's "formula for mastering innovation" is.
What about this book's title? According to May, "Elegance isn't about being hoity-toity. It's not about lofty concepts and grand designs. It's not about beauty or grace, or anything to do with aesthetics - ugly is okay. Elegance is about something much more profound. It's about finding the `aha' solution to a problem with the greatest parsimony of effort and expense. Creativity plays a part. Simplicity plays a part. Intelligence plays a part. Add in subtlety, economy, and quality, and you get elegance...Elegant solutions relieve creative tension by solving the problem in finito as it's been defined, in a way that avoids creating other problems that then need to be solved. Elegant solutions render only new possibilities to chase and exploit. Finally, elegant solutions aren't obvious, except, of course, in retrospect."
Elegant solutions include library, paper money, pencil, wallet, wristwatch, icebox, mortgage, Social Security, credit card, cell phone, and auto leasing. These and other elegant solutions, as May correctly points out, "universally change the world's attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and habits." Efforts to formulate elegant solutions are guided and informed by three principles: ingenuity in craft, pursuit of perfection, and fit with society. "They're the raison d'etre at Toyota, and nonnegotiable."
Earlier, I suggested that this book takes a close look at the mindset and the process by which Toyota continues to formulate elegant solutions. In fact, the Toyota organization implements a million ideas a year. May also includes within his narrative dozens of non-Toyota cases that indicate that none of the individual concepts are new, or even unique to Toyota. All organizations that formulate elegant solutions have people at all levels and in all areas of operation who possess both an ability and a determination to collectively and completely master all of the concepts as "a way of life, not a program centered on select teams led by specialists with artificial agendas."
But what about much smaller organizations, especially those with severely limited resources? Decision-makers in those organizations will be delighted (and perhaps surprised) to find that May provides a wealth of material that they can immediately put to use, once they understand the "deeper principles" that he discusses in Part I and the "ten key practices supported by tools and techniques" that he discusses in Part II. Then in Part III, May explains "how to put the practices and tools together well to achieve a [desired] result." He helps his reader to track the course of an exemplary team through a day of searching for the elegant solution.
For me, some of the most interesting and valuable material is provided in Chapter 12, "Make Kaizen Mandatory," as May poses again (as he does in other chapters) a combination of Problem, Cause, and Solution:
Problem: Innovation is hit or miss.
Cause: Creativity is misdirected and mismanaged.
Solution: Embed the kaizen ethic.
After a brief review of the factors that came together to help embed the kaizen ethic in Japanese business ethic during the decade or so following World War Two, he goes on to explain that at companies such as Toyota, the key issue is that they view kaizen in terms of standards that are created by the individuals performing the work, and, that standards are dynamic, and not everything gets standardized. These companies establish a best practice, document the standard, and train accordingly. Then in the next chapter, May shares his thoughts about "the power of lean" thinking and execution that reduce (if not eliminate) inconsistency, overload, and (most important) waste. Here is another combination:
Problem: Too many, too much - of everything.
Cause: Assumption that more is better.
Solution: Start thinking lean.
Once again, when it comes to innovation and designing solutions, the emphasis remains the same: "whatever you do, keep it lean. Scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow."
And that is what elegance really is all about.
Easy Reading.......2007-03-25
A must read for learning how to implement and sustain continuous improvement enabking lean to become part of the compny's culture
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Inside the Mind of Toyota: Management Principles for Enduring Growth
Satoshi Hino
Manufacturer: Productivity Press
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The Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation
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Book Description
Toyota's sustained growth attracts the attention of economists and industrialists around the world eager to learn the secrets of Toyota's lasting success.
In Inside the Mind of Toyota: Management Principles for Enduring Growth, Satoshi Hino examines the source of Toyota's strength: the fundamental thinking and management structures that lie beneath the creation of its famed Toyota Production System. From the perspective of a professional with 30 years experience in the auto industry, Hino presents a fresh and detailed analysis of Toyota's essential management system, from its very beginnings into the 21st century.
This book:
Presents a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the Toyota management philosophy.
Clarifies the mechanisms used to transmit its winning system from generation to generation.
Gives a historical perspective on the structural anatomy of Toyota's management foundation.
Provides analysis emphasizing research, product planning, design, and development functions.
The ultimate goal is not simply to mimic Toyota's formula, but to learn from it and, in doing so, surpass it.
Book Description
For the professional manager or student of management, a comprehensive handbook of 16 Kaizen management practices that can be put to work. KAIZEN uses more than 100 examples in action and contains 15 corporate case studies.
Customer Reviews:
Kaizen Myth.......2006-08-04
For 25 years I have been teaching high level engineers and directors at Honda, Mitsubishi Fuso, Mazda and a host of auto part manufacturers.
Kaizen is a mythical term in modern day business practices. Japan's ability to produce high quality products across the board stems foremost from the from the cultural value of obedience to authority. From a young age people are taught to follow an authority figure. Combine this allegiance with a deftness to be meticulous - also instilled through the education system - and you have a workforce which can attain high product quality. Kaizen only works because of the docile obedience of the workforce, not because the theory is a magic bullet.
Excellent Book on Kaizen Concept.......2006-05-24
This is an excellent book on how production is organised in Japan. It explains the Kaizen concept of continuous improvement and its implementation, highlighting the essential differences between the production and operations management philosophies of the West with those of Japan. The foundation of the Kaizen method consists of five fundamental elements namely teamwork, personal discipline, improved morale, quality circles and suggestions for improvement.
This is a very enlightening book for those who want to understand the basic concepts of continuous improvement (as opposed to innovation or business process reengineering) in the production process and how this has been successfully applied in Japan. Some very successful companies like Toyota owe their success largely to the employment of this concept.
This is essential reading for those who wish to introduce Kaizen in their organisation. The book is written in a simple and easy to follow and understand style. However, the book is becoming a bit dated having been written two decades ago, and in any case, the spotlight nowadays has shifted to China, but nevertheless, this is excellent reading about a concept that is still delivering good value to those companies that are correctly employing it.
Excellent overview of Kaizen and TQC (Total Quality Control).......2006-03-21
This book is a must-read for process improvement and Quality Assurance professionals. Senior corporate management would also benefit from selections, especially the first chapter and the chapter on problem solving. The book outlines the key fundamentals, principles, requirements, and expectations related to Kaizen (continuous improvement), with a focus on the highest-level cross-functional goals of Quality, Cost, and Schedule (in that order) that ultimately drive profitability. Appendices, including summaries of 5S, old and new seven statistical tools, Deming Prize criteria, and Cannon company case study are as informative as the body of the book. On the down side, there is some significant repitition. Although the book is nearly 20 years old, it is timeless and as relevant as ever.
Kaizen- the strategies for future success.......2003-10-30
Kaizen, a Japanese word means improvement. How can Japanese enterprise success is the main topic in this book. Actually, Japan has been under economic recession for nearly 10 years. But the Japanese enterprise can still survive, and some enterprises are under the list of Fortune 500. There must be some secret behind.
This first version of this book is written in 1986, Japan at that moment still maintain a high growth, and Japanese enterprise takes a major role in the global business environment. The author found that the major reasons are due to their modification rather than innovation. And these management concepts were learned by foreign companies and used as a framework to develop their management structure. From this book, you will learn lots of the Japanese culture and Japanese management style.
Moreover, you also understand the history of management development. Most of the management concepts used in foreign countries are based on Japanese firm. Like the TQM, process oriented management, and strategies in R&D. So, after reading the book, you will learn the difference between western working culture and Japanese one.
Before writing this book, the author has done lots of primary research, and he try to summary all the findings and success factor of major Japanese enterprise, like Toyota, NTT. And all these companies now become the Global 100 companies. After reading this book, you will learn more about the success story of these enterprises, and you will also know that their history and culture as well.
But, there is some limitation, because the book has been written nearly twenty years before, the business environment is totally changed, the competition and the consumer behaviour have been changed, therefore some of the strategies are not applicable. Also, the failures of some Japanese enterprises during the economic recession also prove that some strategies mentioned here are not worked.
Kaizen is a good book for you to understand more about the Asia culture especially the Japanese firm culture. If you want to do business with Japanese partner, this book is a must to read.
Historical.......2003-03-03
Most American businesses no longer worry so much about the Japanese miracle. International focus has moved from Japan to China and back to Europe. Many Japanese companies are now looking to the US for recapitalization and management assistance.
So why is a book on Japanese management techniques still so relevant?
First of all, continuous improvement and lean manufacturing have become universal management tools, not strictly limited to one country. This book presents as good an introduction to the subject as any. With today's focus on execution, this topic are becoming even more current. (Dare I say topical?)
Additionally, understanding continuous improvement is still important in the context of broader corporate change. What are the strength and limitations of incremental changes versus more radical corporate moves? Read the book and learn more.
This book certainly won't turn a mediocre manager into a great leader, but Kaizen is a useful addition to the toolbox of any manager.
Book Description
Comprehensive guide to the culture, etiquette and communication of Japan.
Customer Reviews:
Passport Japan.......2007-01-19
My son was delighted with it. It contained the Japanese business etiquette information he was seeking.
Excellent! Concise! Direct!.......1998-06-27
For a first time American businessperson (woman, at that) it is a comprehensive and high-level look at doing business the Japanese way.
Book Description
Written by an experienced Japanese manager and an American scholar of organizational behavior, this book presents a series of apparent contradictions in Japanese business conduct. The authors show why behavior that appears inconsistent to the Westerner is perfectly congruous to the Japanese way of framing the context of the situation or using a particular model to guide behavior. The book is organized around six puzzles about Japanese business behavior that perplex outsiders. The authors unravel each puzzle in a systematic way to demonstrate why, from the Japanese perspective, the behavior is in fact appropriate and consistent. For each puzzle, the authors generate a set of specific insights that can be used in everyday business practice.
Customer Reviews:
solid and realistic intro to confusing behaviors.......2001-05-08
It is a sad commentary that, now that Japan is no longer viewed as ascendant, critical and better books are coming out than existed (or were known) previously. I think that we did not want to know about the flaws underneath the facades we constructed, though many of us suspected them.
This book takes a good, stark look at the arcana of dealing with Japanese businesses. It is a world where appearences are more important than realities, where superficial politeness hides brutal power relationships, and where the correctness of routine is more important than the reasons - strategic or otherwise - behind them. In practical terms, this reveals that what a lot of us thought about Japan in the 1980s was in fact meaningless ritual and blind procedure (following and copying), couched in nice terms ("tatemae") that so many of us took at face value. The reality underneath, the uglier side of things, is almost invariably truer than the nicer versions. And now that Japan is seen as a beleagered backwater, we have no problem believing the worst.
That makes this book VERY valuable. Unfortunately, it is written like an academic business book, which means its style is rather plain, rather than with the vividness of journalism. But that may be my own bias.
Best book available regarding Japanese management.......1999-11-08
Read this and come away with a much better understanding of the background and corporate orientation of your Japanese counterparts. Simply outstanding.
This is the first and last book you need to read on Japan........1998-09-17
My 10 years of experience with the Japanese (including 4 different Japanese companies) has provided me with endless cases of dumbfounded bewilderment at Japanese behavior. Upon reading Inside the Kaisha, I found succinct, clear explanations of Japanese thinking and behavior which totally agree with my life experiences. Hats off to the meticulous research and easy-to-read writing style!
A book about "what" and not the "why" of Japan.......1998-06-28
The author states in the first chapter: " As a trader, my job is to go into the market and try to make money. We still have almost two months before our fiscal year ends. Are you saying I shouldn't even make money because it will affect the budget?" "Yes:' answered the controller, "that's exactly what I'm saying!"
This is a statement about what happens but the author doesn't pause to ask or answer the question "Why does the budget have to be on target?" Anyone who has really worked in a Japanese company and who has some insight would give the readers more substance concerning the topic of Japan. Add this one to the list of "ho-hum" titles on this country and its culture.
a must-read for everyone who's interested in Japan.......1997-04-06
For a long time Japan business and society have puzzled even its own insiders, it is no longer so after this book. "Inside the Kaisha" describes a society where its people make their date-to-date decisions not based on a set of core values, but on model behavior which varies upon different context. Highly egalitarian from the outset, yet its language effectively enforce a caste system based on seniority and acquired social status. Japan's splendid economic success has spurred global imitations of its business behavior, yet outsiders often failed to understand its culture which is the primal driving force. This book successfully establish such link and I think its essential for everyone who's interested in Japan
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Yankee Samurai: American Managers Speak Out About What It's Like to Work for Japanese Companies in the U.S.
Dennis Laurie
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Made in Japan: The Methods, Motivation, and Culture of the Japanese, and Their Influence on U.S. Business and All Americans
Boye De Mente
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ASIN: 0844285064 |
Book Description
Every day, 700,000 Americans working in Japanese companies confront the "rice-paper ceiling." International business consultant Rochelle Kopp exposes this invisible obstacle to advancement at Japanese corporations, how it operates, and what you can do to "break through" it to improve your workplace relationships and career prospects. Along the way she details case studies that reveal the profound differences between Japanese and American work styles and cultures. If you work for a Japanese company, or plan to, you need this book. "A revealing, readable account of American-Japanese interactions in the workplace."-Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School
Rochelle Kopp is a Yale graduate with an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. She is Managing Principal of Japan Intercultural Consulting in Chicago.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent for individuals that work for a Japanese company.......2005-08-19
I currently work for a large Japanese and have identified many of the issues that were written in this book. Recognizing many of the issues that Americans have working for Japanese corporations is one thing, but understanding the many drivers is another. The book was 'right on' on so many issues is was scary. This truly is a must read for anyone that works for a Japanese company or wants to work for a Japanese company. Although at times it can be a bit redundant, the book was a easy read and very well written.
For American employees of Japanese corporations.......2001-02-08
In The Rice-Paper Ceiling: Breaking Through Japanese Corporate Culture, Rochelle Kopp notes that although more than 700,000 Americans are currently employed by Japanese companies, very few Americans are in top-level management positions with those firms. The explanation lies in the real but almost invisible barrier that prevents sufficient communication across the cultural divide. Due to differing attitudes toward work, goals, accountability, and a variety of other factors, American employees and Japanese bosses often have completely opposite assumptions about how things should get done. Japan's current economic slump (and the litigation pending against such companies as Mitsubishi) clearly show that Japanese managers are not infallible. Success comes from honest communication and mutual understanding of goals. Highly recommended reading for American employees of Japanese corporations, American governmental and economic policy makers, economists, as well as both Japanese and American corporate executives, The Rice-Paper Ceiling provides numerous practical and forward-thinking strategies for getting beyond the culturally induced conflicts as Rochelle Kopp provides a very highly recommended, insider's guide to what really goes on inside the Japanese corporate system.
An excellent introduction to Japanese corporate culture!.......1999-06-25
This well-written and thought-provoking book outlines some key differences between American and Japanese corporate culture--with a sense of perspective and a touch of humor. I highly recommend it to Americans working with Japanese firms...and it may be of interest to Japanese businesspeople wondering how younger Americans view their professional ethos.
Book Description
The only book to look at the uniquely delicate situation that confronts every Western business-woman, whether traveling to Japan or meeting Japanese clients at her home office. Using real-life anecdotes, cultural explanations, and extensive lists of tactics and dos and don'ts, Doing Business with Japanese Men tells women how to quickly establish their authority and work effectively. Included are practical discussions of preparation, meeting protocol, socializing, and gift giving, as well as tips on wardrobe, make-up, special health and safety concerns, and fending off unwanted attention.
Customer Reviews:
Doing Business with Japanese Men.......2004-08-30
Contains a great deal of information that may or may not be useful to anyone, male or female, doing business in Japan depending on the situation. Everything should be taken with a grain of salt. Seems to be focused on people in relatively large companies doing business with relatively large companies. Would have been enhanced by a thorough editing by someone familiar with Japan and things Japanese as it is marred by some obvious mistakes. Statements about "tea leaves" and "cookies" being used in a tea ceremony, "peanut sauce" being one of the two common sauces used in the shabu shabu dish, etc. make one wonder about the veracity of other statements.
Prepare for the worst! Japan is still male-dominated society.......1999-12-28
As a Japanese businesswoman working for some 20 years, I believe this book will help a lot for those women doing business with Japanese men. Especially those who are new to Japan. Unfortunately, Japanese business world is still male-oriented, and most of Japanese businessmen don't know how to deal with women in business. One of the Japanese businesswomen's complaints is, "Japanese men treat business women only in three manners. Treat them as their wives, daughters, or hostesses at the night bars. They just don't know how to treat them as a collogue or business partnerĀc" This book consists of actual experiences of many foreign women and how they dealt with. Those experiences are no exaggeration from my eyes. It will be a good preparation to know what you may confront in Japan.
Good.......1999-10-13
The title may ward of half of the population, and that is unfortunate. There are lots of great points that apply to business etiquette in general and are not unique to "women doing buisness" in Japan. The author implies that the foreign woman should take every advantage of her feminin charms on the helpless Japanese Industry, I would only suggest common sense.
Disappointing.......1999-05-10
I was so excited to see this title when I was sent to Tokyo (with 2 American men) on very short notice! I read this book cover-to-cover in preparation. When I got to Tokyo, I was surprised to experience a much more contemporary, advanced culture than had been described. For example, the attire suggestions were completely wrong (and sometimes contradictory). You won't go wrong with classic American business attire. I found that by paying close attention to your Japanese counterparts' mannerisms, being slightly more aggressive than usual (I live in NYC, that may be much more aggressive than I think!), and having someone well-respected introduce you to whomever you will be working with will be very helpful. It also would have been useful to learn more about the Japanese tendency to agree with you, when they really don't understand what you're talking about!
A must-have for any woman doing business with the Japanese.......1998-07-25
A friend loaned me this book, and within minutes, I knew I had to have a copy for myself. Particularly useful for the female executive, this book covers how to establish your authority (and how to handle Japanese men who ignore you and insist on talking to your male subordinates), how to dress, socializing, gift giving, the business card rituals, where the power seat is in the conference room, how to handle inappropriate behavior and sticky situations, communication and correspondence protocol, and numerous other subjects. I am appalled to discover how many mistakes I have made in my business relationships with Japanese companies, but now am sufficiently enlightened to avoid many in the future. If you are female and do business with the Japanese, whether in Japan or in your home country, you must have this book.
Amazon.com
The Japan we see most often is an image of a country teetering on the edge of depression, an economic system that's too hamstrung by its own cultural traditions to fully participate in the global economy. The endless train of trade delegations to and from Tokyo seem to attest to the cultural gap that exists between Japan and the rest of the world--but that's where the explanation usually stops. We're rarely privy as to the nature of the gap itself.
That's why Laura Kriska's book, The Accidental Office Lady, is so valuable. The book is a firsthand account of Kriska's two years in Japan working as a trainee for the Honda Motor Company. As a trainee, she takes on a variety of tasks, from serving tea and taking the coats of senior executives to working in one of Honda's auto factories. Along the way she confronts the rigidity of business life in Japan: "I felt the corporate walls forcing me into a mold as though I were trapped inside a Fisher-Price playhouse, in which each piece of furniture fit perfectly into its assigned space and had a single hole for a peg-shaped doll. I didn't want to be that doll, and the more threatened I felt, the more I wanted to resist." Kriska not only successfully resists, but finds that she's able to fit into the corporate world of Honda. Anyone contemplating the nuances of Japanese life--especially from a woman's perspective--will find this an insightful and entertaining read. --Harry C. Edwards
Customer Reviews:
Intelligent and Observant.........2007-09-28
Interesting, well-written account of just how big a difference there can be between 'the honeymoon period' and actually living and working in a foreign country as an everyday working stiff.
As someone else who's also had the 'privilege' of working for a Japanese company, I'm thinking that those who gave this book a low rating are 'Japan cheerleaders' who think that anyone who criticizes anything Japanese must be simply 'closed-minded' or have unreasonable expectations.
I spent a lot of time over there avoiding the ex-pat community and networking with Japanese folks who spoke zero English. Even after my immersion (or maybe because of it), I couldn't help but come to many of the same conclusions Ms. Kriska did. The pettiness, passive-aggressive behavior, sexism, and group-thinking is enough to drive one insane. Sorry, but treating women's role in society as 'babymakers' is not simply a 'cultural difference'; it's backwards thinking.
To be fair, there is another, pristine, sublime, side to the country which I don't have to tell you about if you've lived there long enough. It is a sum of good and bad elements, just like anywhere else. Just because we come from another culture does not make us out of line for criticizing it - if anything, it puts us in the ideal position as the detached yet embedded observer.
an engaging read.......2005-08-31
I enjoyed reading this story of one woman's experience of working in Japan. The writer's affinity for Japan remains clear despite the frustrations she encounters as the only American woman among thousands of Japanese workers. This book provided insight into the Japanese-American relationship that I haven't before seen. Overall this was a thoughtful, funny and engaging read.
naive to the max.......2004-02-12
Maybe because I live in Japan, this does nothing for me. Heard it all before and heard it told better. Reminds me too much of the bright-eyed bushy-tailed who come over expecting it to be geishas and cherry blossoms and find it's pink salons and garbage strewn on beaches. They only missed the Edo period by 500 or so years just like this book missed the mark on really telling a less whiny tale of woe. Have to agree with reviewer who wanted to strangle her because she reminded him(?) of so many non-Japanese here who just won't shut up.
Ugh........2003-11-10
My main complaint with this book:
Please, *please* can Laura Kriska stop whining?
You took the job, you didn't ask specifics (or so you say). You wanted a job in Japan, you didn't care. So when things go Japanese on you, why do you constantly complain?
For anyone interested in office lady politics or the reasons for the Japanese feminist movement this book is worth a read. There is information in there. I just really had to supress the urge to want to strangle the narrator.
Inspirational for anyone looking to effect change.......2003-03-14
Kriska not only paints a compelling picture of being the first American woman to work for Honda Corporation in Japan, but also provides a roadmap for anyone trying to get unstuck from a frustrating, demeaning position. With honesty and integrity she shows us her foibles and fumbles as she negotiates her way through the austere Japanese hierarchy and sexism in the workplace. By the end of the book, she has begun to master the subtle art of deference and found chinks in the armor of a huge corporation. She and the Office Ladies of the title manage to get the sexist policy of workplace uniforms for women only revoked at Honda. No small task given the steadfast nature of rules in Japan. This book is inspirational for anyone looking to effect change when the odds are against you!
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