{"id":18794,"date":"2019-01-15T09:36:55","date_gmt":"2019-01-15T09:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alj.com\/en\/?post_type=perspective&p=18794"},"modified":"2022-03-21T11:14:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-21T11:14:01","slug":"lean-management-expert-takao-sakai-discusses-benefits-kaizen-thinking-deliver-saudi-arabian-businesses","status":"publish","type":"perspective","link":"https:\/\/alj.com\/en\/perspective\/lean-management-expert-takao-sakai-discusses-benefits-kaizen-thinking-deliver-saudi-arabian-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"Lean management expert Takao Sakai discusses the benefits ‘Kaizen thinking’ could deliver to Saudi Arabian businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Takao Sakai, a Lean management expert and author of The Secret Behind the Success of Toyota<\/em>, visited Riyadh in December 2018 to attend the inaugural Four Principles Kaizen Awards<\/a>. \u00a0In an exclusive interview with Opening Doors<\/em>, Mr. Sakai explained his family links to the Toyota Way; how Kaizen principles can help to deliver success for businesses across Saudi Arabia; and the key moves any organization can make to secure enduring profitability as the fourth industrial revolution<\/a> approaches.<\/p>\n

Q: Your great grand-uncle, Dr Kotaro Honda, worked with the founder of Toyota, Kiichiro Toyoda, from its earliest days to the 1950s. \u00a0How proud are you to be delivering the message of the Toyota Way all these decades later?<\/strong><\/p>\n

About 80 years ago, when Toyota Motor Company was a tiny start-up in rural Mikawa province, in Japan, Kiichiro Toyoda had every reason to give up. \u00a0He faced difficulties with finance, technology and available talent. \u00a0Technology was the major bottle-neck. Japan had been trying to catch up with the West since the late 19th<\/sup> Century, but it still lacked the knowledge for industrial-scale production. \u00a0Kiichiro went to see Professor Honda, my great grand-uncle, in Tohoku University, to ask whether it was possible for the Japanese automobile industry to catch up with Ford and GM, who dominated at the time. \u00a0Dr. Honda, who was from the same province as Toyoda, replied: \u201cOf course we can,\u201d<\/em> reflecting the \u2018can-do\u2019, entrepreneurial spirit of Mikawa culture.\u00a0 Honda went on to help Kiichiro personally in his efforts to achieve his business ambitions, and he also sent many of his colleagues and students to work with Toyota. \u00a0Today, more than 80 years later, Toyota has global revenues of US$ 260 billion and profits of US$ 20 billion.<\/p>\n

Toyota still has that Mikawa spirit of creating something from nothing. \u00a0We believe in and nurture the power of people\u2019s creativity and intelligence to create and deliver value for society.<\/p>\n

The Kaizen principles behind what became known as \u2018The Toyota Way\u2019 have not changed for centuries.\u00a0 It is a very practical and universal philosophy. \u00a0It can be applied to any business, in any industry, delivering real value while simultaneously creating profit and steady growth. \u00a0Our way works in any country or society, adopting a scientific approach that sees facts first and regards people as assets to help create value and profit. \u00a0I am proud to have the chance to spread this idea around the world.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Do you think Dr. Honda would be surprised at just how far the Toyota Way has spread around the world?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, of course. \u00a0But I also think he understood the universal application of his ideas right from the outset.\u00a0 Dr. Honda helped a variety of industries in the 1930s and 1940s, not only to provide knowledge and innovation, but also to nurture and enable talented individuals to tackle problems and drive innovations for their respective industries. \u00a0He nurtured leaders who can think and use knowledge purposefully.<\/p>\n

In the Kaizen philosophy, this is called Hito-zukuri – the process of creating people who can think by themselves to keep delivering better products and process. \u00a0In the end, it is people\u2019s knowledge and creativity that create value for us, and that concept is universal in today\u2019s knowledge-based era.<\/p>\n

Dr. Honda also said that \u201ceverything needs to be purposeful\u201d <\/em>and Kiichiro Toyoda\u2019s idea was always purposeful. \u00a0He wanted to \u201cfill every road in the world with cars made by Toyota.\u201d<\/em> \u00a0His mission was clear. \u00a0Eighty years later, if you see the current state of the world\u2019s roads, Kiichiro\u2019s vision was realized to some extent. \u00a0But Dr. Honda and Toyoda would still say \u201cit is not yet enough \u2013 we need more.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Q: Has the way Lean management is implemented changed or advanced over the years you\u2019ve been involved? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, it has.\u00a0 Lean management in the West tends to focus on the Toyota Production System (TPS) and the Gemba concept of continuous improvement. \u00a0But The Toyota Way<\/em> includes other aspects of business, such as market research, product planning, design, product development, and research planning.<\/p>\n

In Japan, I teach the entirety of the management system. \u00a0Some companies then quickly understand that Gemba will not always bring them to the ideal state \u2013 the real Toyota Way includes value creation by design and development (TPD) alongside value-mapping techniques (TPS). \u00a0Product- and service-level design and development are critical to make a whole company\u2019s lean system.<\/p>\n

Q: \u00a0What are the biggest differences you\u2019ve seen between the start of your career and now?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I began my career in Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Corporation (NTT) just as the internet was starting to emerge. \u00a0Back then, NTT had the largest market value of any company in the world.<\/p>\n

I suggested to the head of the lab that NTT should establish a new organization to create tech products to sell in the internet era, using Toyota\u2019s engineering system to create and deliver the value and profit. \u00a0But at the time, nobody could understand why we would do that.<\/p>\n

Today, for many start-ups around the world, the de-facto standard organization structure is the Heavy Weight Product Management (HWPM) system \u2013 a term coined by Kim B. Clark at the Harvard Business School to describe Toyota\u2019s Chief Engineering system. \u00a0And today I\u2019m still explaining to old-fashioned Japanese companies the same things that I said to NTT all those decades ago.<\/p>\n

Finally, though, some companies are now starting to implement the full Toyota Motor Corporation management system, not just Gemba, to try to make their organization better.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 What, in your opinion, elevates Lean management above other business improvement methodologies?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Great question \u2013 and one that\u2019s very important, because I\u2019ve seen so many cases of Western-style business improvement methodologies that are harming Japanese companies. \u00a0That\u2019s why I wrote my book about Toyota\u2019s real management system.<\/p>\n

Lean management is still very important. \u00a0Everybody in every organization needs to learn Lean thinking and techniques. \u00a0But Western-style business improvement methodologies, which are still widely taught in business schools, need alternatives. \u00a0The Toyota total management system, including TPD, is the strongest candidate.<\/p>\n

The Toyota management system is based on focusing on the process to create value for the customer \u2013 and that involves both people and machines. \u00a0For example, in a factory setting the production machinery is designed by production technology engineers who have the knowledge to create the product duplication process with minimum cost and capital. \u00a0The machine operator will also do kaizen of his assigned process to make it better. \u00a0Someone\u2019s job is not just do what they are told to do, but instead to contribute to create the ideal process for the best possible outcome. \u00a0The same principles are then applied across every aspect of the business and over time the organization accumulates new knowledge and capability to grow.<\/p>\n

This accumulated organizational knowledge is the real asset of your company \u2013 but it is not represented in its financial statements.<\/p>\n

In Toyota management thinking, intangible assets such as people and processes are regarded as real asset. \u00a0The focus is to accumulate organizational knowledge about product, process and people\u2019s capability \u2013 the three key intangible assets of every business. \u00a0Toyota is successful because it creates intangibles through purposeful organizational effort.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 What makes Lean management such an appropriate fit for the Middle East?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toyota management is versatile, scientific and objective. \u00a0It also encourages people\u2019s creativity, and organizational knowledge accumulation, to keep delivering value for the customer. \u00a0This system can be applied to any organization, in any culture, in any country.<\/p>\n

By investing its wealth from the oil industry into the people that produce products, services and experiences that will sell in the world market today and for decades to come, the Middle East can further strengthen its position. \u00a0Knowledge-based industries can be built anywhere: Toyota started from nothing in the most rural area in the center of Japan.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Do Lean principles need to be adapted to the Saudi Arabian context, or can the same principles be applied everywhere?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I am quite new to the Saudi Arabian context, so I need to learn about the people and culture, but I can say that the Toyota Way is very versatile. \u00a0American, Chinese, Korean, European and Latin American business have all used it successfully. \u00a0I\u2019d highly recommend every organization in every country to learn this sort of value-creation science.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 As technology and things like artificial intelligence advance, do you think Lean management will remain as relevant to businesses over the next 20 or 30 years as it has over the last 50 years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No matter what technology becomes available, it is people who create the value and buy the value. \u00a0Technology is a tool, a means to create the value. \u00a0The Toyota Way is very versatile for the information\/knowledge value era.<\/p>\n

Q:\u00a0 Have you been aware of the work Four Principles have been doing across the Middle East, and how encouraged were you by the quality of winners at the Four Principles Kaizen Awards?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been very impressed by Four Principles and the work it is conducting, and I’m pleased that the Four Principles Kaizen Awards were a major success.\u00a0 The winners all understood the underlying concepts of Lean management.\u00a0 Hopefully, together we can help them to reach the next level in their Lean management journey over the next few years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":20235,"template":"","tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTakao Sakai - Benefits of 'Kaizen thinking' | Abdul Latif Jameel\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lean management expert Takao Sakai discusses the benefits \u2018Kaizen thinking\u2019 that can help to deliver success for businesses across Saudi Arabia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alj.com\/en\/perspective\/lean-management-expert-takao-sakai-discusses-benefits-kaizen-thinking-deliver-saudi-arabian-businesses\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Takao Sakai - 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