Effect of Toyota Production System on openness to change
Tomomi Hamada, Chikako HironakaPurpose
This study aims to examine how practices rooted in the Toyota Production System (TPS) foster employees’ openness to change through cultural mechanisms. Drawing on the competing values framework (CVF), the authors propose that TPS principles – typically associated with discipline and control – can enhance adaptability by encouraging participation in kaizen activities and responsiveness to small changes.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data were collected from 880 shop-floor employees in the Japanese automotive industry. A mediation model was tested using structural equation modeling to examine the relationships among prerequisites for TPS, kaizen activities, responsiveness to small changes and openness to change.
Findings
Prerequisites for TPS practices were positively associated with both kaizen activities and responsiveness to small changes, which in turn significantly enhanced employees’ openness to change. The results indicate that TPS routines function not only as operational controls but also as cultural mechanisms that normalize continuous adjustment, learning and adaptability in daily work.
Practical implications
Managers can cultivate a change-receptive workforce by reinforcing disciplined routines while encouraging participation in improvement activities and responsiveness to small deviations.
Originality/value
This study extends TPS and organizational culture research by providing an empirically validated cultural explanation of how discipline-oriented practices can simultaneously embed multiple CVF orientations and foster employee-level adaptability. It demonstrates how TPS practices indirectly shape openness to change through continuous improvement and responsiveness to incremental change.