The Toyota Case - The Harvard Business

About the Toyota Case

The Harvard Business School case—the Toyota Production System—should be answered in the following way. You could talk about what Toyota Production System is and really you can do it in a broad sense, but I’d like you to focus on two questions:

• What aspects of Toyota Production Systems are very much in tune with the cultural norms in U.S. society and what aspects are not?
• Watch the short episode of Lucille Ball, “I Love Lucy,” at the Chocolate factory (search on YouTube or Google as there are numerous copies available). Evaluate the process and the system using the Toyota Production System (this exercise is used at the Harvard Business School).

1. Discuss why Lucy and Ethel’s work is undesirable from the following viewpoints: a) System, b) Pathways, c) Connections, d) Activities, and e) Making Improvements. You will have to imagine that there are other departments at the Chocolate factory and they have their own functions.
2. Related to the previous question, suggest the characteristics of desirable work in a factory or a supply chain.
3. Discuss from a manager’s perspective how one could fix the production system (use TPS terminology). Include any relevant data, flowcharts, or support materials to enhance your answer.