Behind Toyota surpasses GM

The competition between GM and Toyota is, in the final analysis, the competition between the American-style elite team and the Japan-style all-member competition. It is the competition between the elite team of thousands of people and the powerful army of hundreds of thousands of people. Wen/3A Liu Chengyuan, Chairman of Enterprise Management Consulting Company

According to the newspaper, in 2007, the domination of the world auto industry will officially change hands. Toyota will replace General Motors, the world's largest automaker since 1931, and become the world's largest. According to Toyota's forecast, the company will manufacture 9.34 million vehicles in 2007, surpassing the level of 9.2 million vehicles of General Motors in 2006. GM has not released its forecast for 2007 production, but it will close several factories and cut thousands of workers in the last two years. The production in 2007 will either fall or remain flat. Therefore, the president of Toyota said confidently, "Exceeding GM is not a goal, but a result."

Toyota has always been a low-profile "follower", while GM is a high-profile "leader". The result is that followers have defeated leaders! How did Toyota beat GM? It is easy to make this problem clear on the surface. For example, Toyota's success can be attributed to Japanese dedication, Japanese attention to detail, high quality of Japanese industrial workers, Toyota people invented lean production, and so on.

Here, we find an interesting phenomenon. That is, when American enterprises succeed, our experts and scholars, including Americans themselves, can be very excited to find extremely high-sounding reasons, such as strategic success, brand success, capital operation success, magic president, and so on. Most of the "magic presidents" themselves can also make a lot of "reputation" capital from then on, and make a lot of dollars by selling books and speeches.

However, in the face of the success of Japanese enterprises (most of them are successful), the above praise words are basically useless, and neither the academic school nor the western school can say anything.

Toyota people's understanding of strategy is very "superficial", and some thoughts can even be called "farmer consciousness"; Toyota is "petty" in brand packaging, which is not as good as some of our domestic enterprises willing to spend money on advertising; Toyota people are not good at (capital) operation, and many of the money they can earn is not earned; Toyota has no magic president, and many of us probably don't know who is the current president of Toyota; Toyota has never raised the "biggest" goal, but has been down-to-earth. Like Toyota, there are a number of outstanding Japanese enterprises such as Ricoh, Canon and Fuji Xerox.

It can be seen that the success of Japanese enterprises is often different from that of American enterprises. It is usually caused by extremely internal factors. It is for this reason that the success of Japanese enterprises makes experts and scholars difficult to find high-sounding "reasons for praise". However, if we can't see the inherent advantages of these enterprises, we can't get inspiration from their success.

I have been paying close attention to and studying a number of continuously successful Japanese enterprises, such as Toyota and Ricoh, and found that their management ideas contain a lot of oriental cultural characteristics and the philosophy of our ancestors. Because their management ideas are not new, researchers are not interested. Keep a low profile, be modest, do not make things public; Be pragmatic, rigorous and do everything to the letter; Persistence, persistence and pursuit of perfection; Equality, respect and advocate full participation. These ideas and propositions do not seem novel, but they are the business principles that the silent winners such as Toyota and Ricoh have adhered to for a long time.

These qualities and internal advantages possessed by Toyota, Ricoh and other enterprises are exactly what our manufacturing managers lack most and need to understand and learn most. In view of this, the author makes an objective analysis based on his own experience, hoping that readers can experience it.

Keep a low profile, be modest and show off

Toyota people are famous for their low profile. The president of Toyota has not forgotten to tell his employees that they should walk on their right side (the main road faces the sky on each side, but how many people still remember the rules after success?). When the eyes of the whole world are focused on Toyota, Toyota people remain silent and continue to do their own things silently. They have only one goal, that is to "make the best car in the world efficiently".

I have been in Ricoh for 10 years and deeply realized the importance of this principle. Ricoh President himself rarely appeared in the spotlight. Even though he won the National Business Performance Award of Japan twice in the past decade, he still kept a low profile. He also often warned employees that they should put down the "Ricoh" shelf and learn to use their personal strength (ability and influence) to communicate with people around them (especially suppliers and people in the community). In the evening, we should carry the brand of "Ricoh" for entertainment, and maintain our taste. We should not ruin the reputation of "Ricoh" because of personal debauchery. As the saying goes, "We can get more help if we lose". This character has a profound impact on the operation of enterprises, especially the spirit of equality and reciprocity in the transactions with suppliers, which ultimately makes suppliers become an important cornerstone of the success of Toyota and Ricoh. This is an advanced supply chain management concept. Where some "smart" people seem really not smart, it is precisely the important ideological basis for their success.

On the contrary, those Japanese enterprises who think they are completely westernized and learn to make public do not live well. The most typical example is SONY. I like SONY products very much. However, some changes in SONY in recent years are worrying. What I see are three aspects. One is that SONY usually requires to use English in internal meetings (I have participated in the meeting, and communication efficiency and accuracy are reduced, and it is easy to cultivate employees' sense of superiority). The other is the management of suppliers. In the past, there was less support from their own people, which was replaced by strict "review and performance appraisal" (learn from Americans); The third aspect is that SONY people have also begun to learn to make public like Americans (the sense of superiority is followed by publicity), and the boss of a different region will have to publicize it all over the world. Some people may say that SONY's decline in recent years and these changes may be coincidental, but I would say that there is an inevitable link between them. I believe that SONY people will deeply reflect on their unprincipled Westernization in the future

Be pragmatic, rigorous and do everything to the letter

Successful Japanese enterprises are practicing an idea called "Three Realism", that is, scene, object and reality. That is to say, when solving problems, we should go to the "scene", confirm the "real thing", carefully explore the "reality", and put an end to all bureaucratic practices such as building cars behind closed doors or holding meetings behind closed doors. This pragmatic and rigorous work attitude not only creates first-class product quality, but also cultivates the pragmatic and rigorous work style of employees.

In Ricoh, we changed the "three realizations" into "five realizations", and added "cash" and "cash recognition" in addition to the three realizations. It is to require managers and employees to conduct economic (amount) evaluation on any event (good is called "improvement", bad is called "failure"), confirm and summarize, and cultivate employees' strong cost awareness. Doing things without compromise is often reflected in the attention and pursuit of details.

There are many specific methods of tri-existence and attention to details. For example, the manufacturing manager's desk is next to the production line; The meeting is held at the scene of the problem rather than in the conference room; The top leader will often communicate with front-line employees; Managers at all levels pay special attention to cultivating good habits of employees. In today's era of general impetuosity and opportunism, it is very important to establish a pragmatic, rigorous and uncompromising attitude.

Persistence, persistence and pursuit of perfection

People find that Japanese culture lacks revolutionary spirit, but they emphasize continuous improvement while paying attention to inheritance. Therefore, improvement and continuous pursuit of excellence have become the main channel for Japanese to improve their management level. If the revolution may be accompanied by bloodshed and risk, then more improvement can bring happiness.

In order to continuously improve and pursue perfection, Japanese enterprises have extracted many effective tools and methods from practice, such as 5S, TQC, QCC, TPM and JIT. In order to achieve an excellent culture of improvement through the use of these management tools, it is impossible to do without perseverance, perseverance and continuous pursuit of perfection. The Japanese will spend their lives doing 5S management, TPM and lean production. However, the managers of our enterprises often expect to find a quick way to cut the throat. As a management consultant, I often encounter customer requirements. Can you help us manage quickly (3 months? 6 months?).

The basic work of 5S is religious in Japanese enterprises, and it is an important part of the work. TPM started in the 1970s, but today many Japanese enterprises are still pursuing it. Lean production was proposed by Toyota people, and it has become a magic weapon for manufacturing enterprises to continuously improve their management level.

If I think that the Japanese are "conservative or stereotyped", I suggest that they be regarded as "persistent and persistent". To create a culture of continuous pursuit of perfection in the enterprise, it is impossible without persistence and perseverance. What many of our managers lack is this "persistence and perseverance".

Equality, respect and advocate full participation

The United States is a typical elitist country in the world. The elite leads the country, and the elite dominates the country's enterprises. Unlike the elitism of the United States, Japanese enterprises advocate team strength more, respect the personality and ability of front-line employees more, and try to explore their wisdom.

Labor relations in American enterprises are relatively tense, because employees can only compete with the management team by relying on the labor union. The labor-capital relationship in Japanese enterprises is basically positive, because both sides can understand the role of each other more. In Japanese enterprises, they insist that the quality of products is designed and manufactured by front-line employees (designers and front-line workers). It is not managers but employees who really create value. Managers can only realize their own value in the process of serving front-line employees. This is also one of the important ideas of lean production. The greatest thing about Toyota is that it has been trying to explore the wisdom of front-line employees every day for decades, and has spared no effort in cultivating workers' awareness and skills.

It can be seen that the competition between GM and Toyota is, in the final analysis, the competition between the American-style elite team and the Japan-style all-member competition, and the competition between the elite team of thousands of people and the powerful army of hundreds of thousands of people. As long as this kind of competition is on the same platform (the scale difference is not too big), it is doomed to win or lose. Of course, the author's assertion may only apply to the manufacturing industry. It may have little reference significance for the software industry or speculative industry.

 丰田超越通用的背后

    通用与丰田之间的竞争，归根到底是美国式精英团队与日本式全员参与的竞争，是数千人的精英团队和数十万人的强大军团之间的竞争。文/3A企管顾问公司董事长刘承元

据报载：2007年，世界汽车业的统治权将正式易手。丰田汽车将取代自1931年以来一直占据全球首位的汽车制造商通用汽车，成为世界第一。根据丰田的预测，该公司2007年将制造934万辆汽车，超过通用汽车2006年920万辆的水平。通用汽车没有公布对2007年产量的预测，但通用将在最近两年关闭数家工厂，裁减数千工人，2007年产量要么下跌要么持平。所以，丰田总裁自信地说:“超过通用不是个目标，而是个结果。”

　　一直以来，丰田是一个低调的“追随者”，通用是一个高调的“领导者”。结果是，追随者战胜了领导者！丰田是怎样战胜通用的？从表面说清楚这个问题是很容易的，比如，丰田的成功可以归结为日本人敬业、日本人注重细节、日本产业工人素质高、丰田人发明了精益生产……等等。

　　在这里，我们发现了一个有趣的现象，那就是，每当美国企业成功的时候，我们的专家学者也包括美国人自己都可以十分兴奋地找到极其冠冕堂皇的理由，比如战略成功、品牌成功、资本运作成功、神奇总裁等等。“神奇总裁”自己大多也可以从此大捞一把“名声”资本，并通过卖书、卖演讲捞一把美金。

　　可面对日本企业的成功（成功的日本企业大多如此），以上这些赞美之词基本上都用不上，而且学院派和西洋派基本上都无从下“口”。

　　丰田人对战略的认识十分“肤浅”，有一些思想甚至可以称之为“农民意识”；丰田在品牌包装方面“小家子气”，还不如我们国内一些企业舍得花钱做广告；丰田人不擅（资本）运作，许多能挣的钱放着不挣；丰田没有神奇总裁，我们许多人大概还不清楚丰田的现任总裁是谁；丰田从来就不提“最大”的目标，而是扎扎实实地埋头做事情。像丰田这样做事的还有理光、佳能、富士施乐等一批优秀的日本企业。

　　可见日本企业的成功往往不同于美国企业的成功，它通常是极其内在的因素带来的。正因为此，日本企业的成功让专家学者们为寻找冠冕堂皇的“赞美理由”为难。但是，如果看不到这些企业的内在优势，那我们就无法从他们的成功中获得启示。

　　本人长期关注和研究丰田、理光等一批持续成功的日本企业，发现他们的管理思想中蕴含着大量的东方文化特质以及我们老祖宗的哲学思想。正因为他们的管理思想不新，所以研究者不感兴趣。低调、谦逊，做人不事张扬；务实、严谨，做事不折不扣；执着、坚持，追求尽善尽美；平等、尊重，主张全员参与。这些理念与主张看上去并不新颖，却正是丰田、理光这些默默的成功者长期坚守的经营原则。

　　丰田、理光等企业所具备的这些品质和内在优势，恰恰是我们制造业管理者最缺乏的和最需要了解和学习的。鉴于此，笔者结合自身的经验做一客观剖析，希望读者能够有所体会。

　　低调、谦逊，做人不事张扬

　　丰田人的低调是出了名的。丰田总裁至今还不忘告诉他的员工，走路要走属于自己的右边（大路朝天各走一边，但是又有多少人在成功之后还记得规矩？）。当全世界的目光都在关注丰田的时候，丰田人却不动声色，继续默默地做自己的事情。他们只有一个目标，那就是“高效率地做世界上最好的车”。

　　我在理光10年，深深体会这种做人原则的重要性。理光总裁自己就极少在聚光灯下露面，即便在最近十年内两次获得日本国家经营绩效大奖，他还是低调如常。他还经常告诫员工，白天工作要放下“理光”的架子，要学会用个人的实力（能力和自身的影响力）去与周边的人（特别的供应商和社区的民众）交往。晚上，要扛起“理光”的牌子消遣，要保持品味，千万不得因为个人的放荡坏了“理光”的名声。有道是：“得道多助，失道寡助”。这种品性对企业的经营具有深远的影响，特别是与供应商的交易中体现平等、互惠的精神，最终使得供应商成为丰田、理光成功的重要基石。这可谓先进的供应链管理理念。在一些“聪明”人看上去实在是不精明的地方，却恰恰是他们获取成功的重要思想基础。

　　相反，那些自认为彻底西化了的，学会张扬的日本企业却活得并不太好，最典型的例子是SONY。我本人十分喜欢SONY产品。但是最近几年SONY的一些变化却令人担忧，我看到的有这样三个方面，一个是SONY内部开会的时候通常要求使用英语（我参加过，沟通效率和沟通精度降低，而且容易培养员工的优越感），另一个是对供应商的管理，从前那种自家人的扶持少了，取而代之的是严格的“审核和绩效考核”（学美国人）；第三个方面SONY人也开始学会了像美国人那样张扬（优越感之后就是张扬），换一个区域老总就要在全世界广而告之。有人会说，SONY近年的走下坡路和这些变化可能是巧合，但是我要说，它们之间有着必然的联系。相信SONY人未来一定会对自己无原则的西化进行深刻的反省……

　　务实、严谨，做事不折不扣

　　成功的日本企业都在实践着一个叫做“三现主义”的思想，即现场、现物、现实。就是说，解决问题的时候要到“现场”去，确认“现物”，并认真探究“现实”，杜绝一切闭门造车或关门开会等官僚主义做法。这种务实、严谨的工作态度不仅造就了一流的产品品质，更重要的是培育了员工务实、严谨的做事风格。

　　在理光，把“三现主义”变为“五现主义”，除了三现之外还加入了“现金”和“现认”。就是要求管理者和员工对任何一个事件（好的叫“改善”，不好的叫“失败”）要进行经济（金额）评估，并进行确认总结，培养员工强烈的成本意识。做事不折不扣很多时候表现在对细节的关注和追求上。

　　三现主义和关注细节的具体做法有许多，比如制造管理者的桌子就在生产线的旁边；开会就在发生问题的现场而不是在会议室；最高领导者会经常与一线员工交流；各级管理者特别注意培养员工良好的习惯等等。在普遍浮躁和机会主义盛行的今天，树立务实、严谨和做事不折不扣的态度十分重要。

　　执着、坚持，追求尽善尽美

　　人们发现，日本文化中缺乏革命精神，但是他们却在重视传承的同时，强调持续改善。因此改善和不断追求精益成了日本人提升管理水平的主通道。如果说，革命可能伴随着流血和风险，那么改善更多的时候却可以带来快乐。

　　为了持续改善和追求尽善尽美，日本企业从实践中提炼出了许多有效的工具和方法，如5S、TQC（全面质量管理）、QCC（品管圈）、TPM（全面生产管理）、JIT（准时制）等。为了通过利用这些管理工具成就卓越的改善文化，没有执著、坚持和持续追求尽善尽美的精神是做不到的。日本人会用一生做5S管理、做TPM，做精益生产。而我们企业的管理者却常常期望快速找到一剑封喉的办法，作为管理顾问，我就经常遇到客户要求，能不能帮我们快速（3个月？6个月？）做好管理。

　　5S这项基础工作在日本企业里是宗教一样的东西，它是工作的重要组成部分。TPM是1970年代开始的，但是时至今天许多日本企业还在乐此不疲地追求。精益生产由丰田人提出，它成为了制造型企业持续提升管理水平的法宝。

　　如果认为日本人“保守或古板”的时候，我建议将之视为“执著和坚持”。要在企业内造就持续追求完美的文化，没有了执著和坚持是万万做不到的。而我们的许多管理者缺的就是这份“执著和坚持”。

　　平等、尊重，主张全员参与

　　美国是世界上典型的精英主义国度。精英领导着这个国家，精英主宰着这个国家的企业。与美国的精英主义不同，日本企业更崇尚团队力量，更加尊重一线员工的人格和能力，并设法发掘他们的智慧。

　　美国企业内的劳资关系相对紧张，因为员工只有依仗工会才能与经营团队抗衡。而日本企业中的劳资关系基本上是积极的，因为劳资双方能够更多地认识对方的作用。在日本企业里，他们坚持认为，产品的品质是一线员工（设计者和一线工人）设计和制造出来的，真正创造价值的不是管理者，而是员工。管理者只有在服务一线员工的过程中实现自身的价值。这其实也是精益生产的重要思想之一。丰田的最伟大之处，在于数十年如一日设法发掘一线员工的智慧，在培养工人的意识和技能方面不遗余力。

　　可见，通用与丰田之间的竞争，归根结底是美国式精英团队与日本式全员参与的竞争，是数千人的精英团队和数十万人的强大军团之间的竞争。只要这种竞争放在同一个平台上（规模相差不是太大），胜败是注定了的。当然，笔者的断言也许只适用于制造业。对软件业或投机性产业，可能没有什么借鉴意义。

(This article is an original article by Zhuge Changqing, and the pictures are selected from the Internet. Welcome to forward it, and please indicate the source for forwarding)

Introduction to Zhuge Changqing: Zhuge Changqing, the inheritor and promoter of traditional Chinese culture, is willing to "learn from sages, promote virtue, revitalize China and benefit the world" together with people with the same ideals in the world.

(Zhuge Changqing: zhuge8031@163.com ）

Zhuge Changqing mailbox：

zhuge8031@163.com

Zhuge Changqing's Chinese Dream

Learn from sages and carry forward virtue

Revitalizing China for the benefit of the world

 （本文是诸葛长青原创文章，图片选自网络。欢迎转发，转发引用请注明出处）

诸葛长青简介：诸葛长青，中国国学传统文化传承弘扬者，愿与天下志同道合者一起“学习圣贤、弘扬善德、振兴中华、造福世界”。

（诸葛长青：zhuge8031@163.com）

Zhuge Changqing mailbox：

zhuge8031@163.com

  诸葛长青中国梦  

学习圣贤 弘扬善德

振兴中华 造福世界

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