Lessons from Japanese production management

In the late 1970s, most studies on Japanese management paid attention to general management practices and the sociocultural environment. Recently, however, a new practical approach puts the focus on the Japanese just-in-time system because production practices are less culture driven and thus are more easily adopted than general management practices. Analyzing the trend in studies on Japanese management, especially JIT, three distinguishable patterns emerge: (1) the Theory Z period, (2) the ‘JIT as a Japanese phenomenon’ period, and (3) the zero-inventory westernized period.