Rio Bravo IV - Operations Management: Questions regarding Case of Rio Bravo IV - A Report of the Plant Manager

Rio Bravo IV - Case Analysis Question 1. Are there any justifiable reasons for this response by NUMMI/Toyota people? Or was it just nit-picking? Yes, there are justifiable reasons. In the Japanese culture, quality is the one of the most important determinates in choosing a supplier. They had specific standards that they developed and applied throughout their entire organization, they expected the same from their supplier (Garbage in - Garbage out premise). They saw promise …

…We must take into account their expectations in their culture in order to provide them with a high quality product. The ability for an organization to adapt to a foreign culture's demand gives a firm a marketable competitive advantage. Many times these firms that have such "high" demands only want the best possible product. By learning their "best practices" and adapting to a customer's needs a firm gains needed information on the changing global environment.