The effect of uncertainty avoidance on lean implementation: A cross cultural empirical study involving toyota

Abstract

This study tests hypothesized relationships between Uncertainty Avoidance (UA) and the elements of Toyota Way-People Development, Continuous Improvement, and Operational Results-in a cross cultural context. The study uses responses obtained from 2196 Toyota employees engaged in logistics, sales and marketing functions in 22 countries. The study is important because scholars question the generalizability of Japanese management philosophies (these philosophies evolved in high UA and collectivist cultures) across diverse national cultures. The study confirms that there is greater level of acceptance of People Development, Continuous Improvement, and Operational Results in high UA cultures (e.g. Greece, Belize) than in low UA cultures (e.g. Denmark, Iceland). However, the effects of UA (mean score differences) were found to be practically small, suggesting good transferability of TW principles across international boundaries.