Notes from Toyota-Land : An American Engineer in Japan

Darius Mehri

ISBN 10: 0801442893 / ISBN 13: 9780801442896

Edité par Cornell University Press Aug 2005, 2005

A propos de cet article

Neuware - In 1996, Darius Mehri traveled to Japan to work as a computer simulation engineer within the Toyota production system. Once there, he found a corporate experience far different from what he had expected. Notes from Toyota-land, based on a diary that Mehri kept during his three years at an upper-level Toyota group company, provides a unique insider's perspective on daily work life in Japan and charts his transformation from a wide-eyed engineer eager to be part of the 'Japanese Miracle' to a social critic, troubled by Japanese corporate practices. Mehri documents the sophisticated 'culture of rules' and organizational structure that combine to create a profound control over workers. The work group is cynically used to encourage employees to work harder and harder, he found, and his other discoveries confirmed his doubts about the working conditions under the Japanese Miracle. For example, he learned that male employees treated their female counterparts as short-term employees, cheap labor, and potential wives. Mehri also describes a surprisingly unhealthy work environment, a high rate of injuries due to inadequate training, fast line speeds, crowded factories, racism, and lack of team support. And in conversations with his colleagues, he uncovered a culture of intimidation, subservience, and vexed relationships with many aspects of their work and surroundings. As both an engaging memoir of cross-cultural misunderstanding and a primer on Japanese business and industrial practices, Notes from Toyota-land will be a revelation to everyone who believes that Japanese business practices are an ideal against which to measure success.

N° de réf. du vendeur 9780801442896

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Notes from Toyota-Land : An American Engineer in Japan
• Éditeur: Cornell University Press Aug 2005
• Date de parution: 2005
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 0801442893
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9780801442896
• Reliure: Buch
• État de l'article: Neu
• Dimensions: 233 L x 158 H x 21 P (en millimètres) 233 millimètres de largeur par 158 millimètres de hauteur par 21 millimètres de profondeur
• Poids: 513 grammes

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

In 1996, Darius Mehri traveled to Japan to work as a computer simulation engineer within the Toyota production system. Once there, he found a corporate experience far different from what he had expected. Notes from Toyota-land, based on a diary that Mehri kept during his three years at an upper-level Toyota group company, provides a unique insider's perspective on daily work life in Japan and charts his transformation from a wide-eyed engineer eager to be part of the "Japanese Miracle" to a social critic, troubled by Japanese corporate practices.

Mehri documents the sophisticated "culture of rules" and organizational structure that combine to create a profound control over workers. The work group is cynically used to encourage employees to work harder and harder, he found, and his other discoveries confirmed his doubts about the working conditions under the Japanese Miracle. For example, he learned that male employees treated their female counterparts as short-term employees, cheap labor, and potential wives. Mehri also describes a surprisingly unhealthy work environment, a high rate of injuries due to inadequate training, fast line speeds, crowded factories, racism, and lack of team support. And in conversations with his colleagues, he uncovered a culture of intimidation, subservience, and vexed relationships with many aspects of their work and surroundings. As both an engaging memoir of cross-cultural misunderstanding and a primer on Japanese business and industrial practices, Notes from Toyota-land will be a revelation to everyone who believes that Japanese business practices are an ideal against which to measure success.

À propos de l'auteur

Darius Mehri is a Ph.D. student in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.