There is an interview in HBR with Katsuaki Watanabe, who is the head of Toyota. Toyota is about to become the #1 car company in the world (in March of 2007 Toyota had a profit of $13.7 billion, compared to GM’s los of $1.97 billion and Ford’s loss of $12.61 billion).
It’s a great interview. Watanabe expresses such a clear understanding of what Toyota is and who he is as a leader. He was asked about Toyota getting into “emerging markets” that demand low-cost vehicles.
I told our engineers, let us not focus on developing low-cost automobiles; let us develop technologies and processes that will allow Toyota to manufacture all our vehicles at lower costs.
Yet another example of how critical word choice can be. And it also illustrates that as we tackle new opportunities, we must have the discipline to stay true to our strategy.
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As a former Toyota employee, I can tell you that Toyota is absolutely a role model for Respect for People and absolute Excellence in how to run a business. Great post.
Posted by: Pete Abilla | September 04, 2008 at 08:47 PM