The Toyota way of global knowledge creation the 'learn local, act global' strategy

Abstract

This paper presents insights from two case studies of Toyota Motor Corporation and its way of strategic global knowledge creation. We will show how Toyota's knowledge creation has moved from merely transferring knowledge from Japan to subsidiaries abroad to a focus of creating knowledge in foreign markets by local staff. Toyota's new strategy of 'learn local, act global' for international business development proved successful for tapping rich local knowledge bases, thus ensuring competitive edge. In fact, this strategy finally turned Toyota from simply being a global projector to a truly metanational company.