This book is close look at the evolution of the Toyota automobile company into the second largest in the world, after GM. It explains how the leaders of the company developed the famous Toyota system of production that has been widely studied and imitated.

PART I: Emergence and Functions of the Total Manufacturing System 1: An Evolutionary Framework for Manufacturing 2: System Emergence at Toyota: History 3: System Emergence at Toyota: Reinterpretation 4: The Anatomy of Manufacturing Routines: An Information View PART II: Emergence and Functions of the Three Subsystems: Supplier, Development, and Production 5: Evolution of the Black Box Parts Supplier System 6: Evolution of Product Development Routines 7: Evolution of Toyota's New Assembly System 8: Conclusion: Toyota as a "Prepared Organization" Appendix A. The Evolutionary Framework: Generic and Specific Appendix B. The Basics of Toyota-style Manufacturing Notes References Index

"This is much more than a book about Toyota or a book about manufacturing....The book contains important contributions to the theory and practice of organizational learning that will be equally interesting to the practitioner and the academic."--Journal of Product Innovation Management "...the book reveals the ways a very successful, if not the most successful, automobile manufacturing company operates on various levels....useful for those in business."--Choice "This is much more than a book about Toyota or a book about manufacturing....The book contains important contributions to the theory and practice of organizational learning that will be equally interesting to the practitioner and the academic."--Journal of Product Innovation Management "...the book reveals the ways a very successful, if not the most successful, automobile manufacturing company operates on various levels....useful for those in business."--Choice