Hello, thank you for joining us today in this video. I want to review one of my favorite books, “The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Most Significant Manufacturer.” Now, I’m a real petrolhead. I love cars of all different types – sports cars, four-by-fours, estate cars, you name it.

I’ve owned about 30 cars over the years. In about 15 years, my two favorite manufacturers are BMW from the 1980s and 1990s. I’m not so keen on modern stuff, and Toyota is one of my favorite manufacturers simply because of their reliability. I love the classic look of Toyotas from the 80s and 90s. So, why would I talk about this book?

What initially got me interested in this book was that I was looking into cars and discussing with friends what makes Toyota more reliable than other cars. For example, a Toyota Corolla can be more reliable than options costing much more, like a Volvo Phantom. So, I was curious to explore what makes Toyota one of the world’s top manufacturers.

This book is divided into three parts, examining the 14 principles of the Toyota management system. Now, I’ll briefly list the chapters and then delve deeper into a few chapters or segments that I find particularly interesting.

Part One:
1. Chapter One: The World-Class Power of the Toyota Way – Using Operational Excellence as a Strategic Weapon.
2. Chapter Two: How Toyota Became the World’s Best Manufacturer – The Story of the Toyota Family and the Toyota Production System.
3. Chapter Three: The Heart of the Toyota Production System – Eliminating Waste.
4. Chapter Four: The 14 Principles of the Toyota Way – An Executive Summary of the Culture Behind TPS.
5. Chapter Five: The Toyota Way in Action – The Development of Lexus.

Lexus was Toyota’s attempt to compete with Mercedes and BMW in the luxury car market, and it’s interesting to see how they did it.

6. Chapter Six: The Toyota Way in Action – New Century, New Fuel, New Design Processes – The Prius.

Part Two: The Business Principles of the Toyota Way – Section One: Long-Term Philosophy
7. Chapter Seven: Principle One – Base Your Management Decisions on a Long-Term Philosophy, Even at the Expense of Specific Short-Term Financial Goals.
8. Chapter Eight: Principle Two – Create Continuous Process Flow to Bring Problems to the Surface.
9. Chapter Nine: Principle Three – Use a Pull System to Avoid Overproduction.

Toyota used a just-in-time production system to eliminate waste and improve cost-efficiency.

10. Chapter Ten: Principle Four – Level Out the Workload.
11. Chapter Eleven: Principle Five – Build a Culture of Stopping to Fix Problems to Get Quality Right the First Time.
12. Chapter Twelve: Principle Six – Standardizing Tasks – A Foundation for Continuous Improvement and Employee Empowerment.
13. Chapter Thirteen: Principle Seven – Use Visual Control to Ensure No Problems Are Hidden.
14. Chapter Fourteen: Principle Eight – Use Only Reliable, Thoroughly Tested Technology That Serves Your People and Processes.
15. Chapter Fifteen: Principle Nine – Add Value to the Organization by Developing Your People and Partners.
16. Chapter Sixteen: Principle Ten – Develop Exceptional People and Teams Who Follow Your Company’s Philosophy.
17. Chapter Seventeen: Principle Eleven – Respect Your Extended Network of Partners and Suppliers by Challenging and Helping Them Improve.
18. Chapter Eighteen: Principle Twelve – Go and See for Yourself to Fully Understand the Situation.

This chapter emphasizes the importance of leaders understanding their organization’s operations by immersing themselves in it.

19. Chapter Nineteen: Principle Thirteen – Make Decisions Slowly by Consensus, Fully Considering All Options, and Then Implement Decisions Swiftly.
20. Chapter Twenty: Principle Fourteen – Become a Learning Organization Through Relentless Reflection and Continuous Improvement.

This chapter underscores the significance of learning from mistakes and finding new strategies for improvement.

The book concludes by discussing how the Toyota Way is implemented in the workplace. I highly recommend reading this book; you can find a link in the description to purchase it. I even used it during my postgraduate studies to discuss working philosophy, and my teacher found it fascinating. Click the link below to get your copy. Until next time, take care, and we’ll speak soon. Bye-bye.