Can we Adopt the Toyota Kata for the (Re-)Design of Business Processes in the Complex Environment of a Manufacturing Company?

Abstract

Innovation is the key to the success of manufacturing companies in an increasingly complex business environment combining volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) characteristics. In manufacturing companies, innovation predominantly involves temporarily destabilizing value-adding processes that are designed and optimized for stability. The Toyota Kata is a holistic management philosophy that strives for stability by providing cybernetic routines. These routines or katas support people in solving complex socio-technical problems in unstable environments. This contribution investigates the adoption of those problem-solving routines for innovating business processes and provides insight into a case in the manufacturing industry.