MV EverGiven ship blocks Suez Canal and strains global supply chains ..

On Tuesday 23 March 2021, early morning in strong winds that gushed across the 193 km long Suez Canal, the lifeline of global maritime trade connecting Asia and Europe, MV EverGiven (pictured on the right) commissioned in 2018, with a capacity of 20,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) with a draught of 15.7 m, length 399.94 m and width 59 m was rocked in the canal and got itself wedged and stranded on the northern coast blocking passage of other ships. 

Simulation (click here) of what happened on the morning of Tuesday 23 March '21 in a portion of the 193 km long man-made 151 years old Suez Canal. Suez Canal accounts for 12% of all marine global trade and 30% global container traffic, connecting Red Sea and Mediteranean Sea, fully passing thru Egyptian territory.

Ships plying in this route between North Atlantic and Indian Ocean on average save almost 9000kms distance and 8-10 sailing days than going around Cape of Good Hope around tip of Africa ...

The 200,000 DWT (2,40,000 Tonnes Gross Tonnage) MV EverGiven plying under the banner of Taiwan based Evergreen Shipping line from Rotterdam, Holland to Asia got stranded, leading to a pileup of roughly 200 ships on either side, which could take couple of weeks for a recovery and millions of dollars. The cost incurred is only due to delay of delivery of goods and not material damage.

Ever Given is a Golden-class 200,000 T DWT container ship, among the largest container ships in the world, carrying about 20,000 (Twenty Foot Equivalent) TEU containers. It is owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha, and time chartered and operated by Taiwanese container transportation and shipping company Evergreen Marine - wikipedia

The Suez Canal is an important man made waterway connecting the continents of Asia and Europe that reduces the travel distance between the two continents around Cape of Good Hope by almost 9000 kms and about 7-10  days of sailing. 

There are many other ships, at least two hundred of them that are caught in the Suez Canal (pic 4) and this is blocking the passage of goods from Asia to Europe and back. About $200 billion of India based merchandise was also involved.  The global oil prices will be the first to be affected. If the ships plan to reverse and go via the Cape of Good Hope, it is going to take another 10-12 days and fuel, increasing costs.

Among the solutions being proposed, emptying the ship of its 20,000 TEU containers and pulling it by tugs at high tide to help rescue it out of the canal banks where it has been caught looks possible.

If that is not practical, stronger tugs should pull it from the northern end to release it to the canal waters.  At present global maritime experts and engineers are breaking their head on how to tide over the crisis that has entered the sixth day by Sunday 28 March. One of the rescue efforts being planned is dredging on either side of the ship using 200ft long cranes.

The Dead Weight Tonnage DWT (weight of fuel, load, ballast, crew included) of the EverGiven is 200,000 T and net Tonnage is 100,000 T. Even if the 100,000 T cargo is emptied from the ship, trying to set free the stranded huge container ship is going to be a herculean task. About 40 ships get added daily to the 200 long queue of ships waiting for Suez Canal passage.

 

Time is of greatest concern here. Was it a pilot error, bad weather or engine failure that led to this mishap, it is still not clear. 

 

For the total 350 container ships expected to be stranded in the Suez waters in coming three days, their precious cargo of about $10 billion daily is getting delayed affecting availability, on time delivery and costs. Oil ships have also been stranded which may raise global oil prices this week or next, till oil supplies are restored.  

 

With about 20,000 ships passing through the canal annually, the Suez is the most valuable shipping lines in the world where almost $1 trillion worth goods get transported in the Asia Europe trade annually. The pile up is costing the world almost $3 billion daily, in terms of fuel, rent, delay etc. 

How is Suez Canal different from Panama Canal ? Click here ..

Click here for a case study on the Evergiven Suez Canal incident ..

George..

How can data create competitive advantage ?

In the modern world it is data that matters for any digital organisation to survive. Data gives it the fodder or fuel to work on. When this data becomes unique and difficult for others to copy or add value, the data gives great value to the organisation and gives it the undeniable competitive advantage.

If the value of this data does not hold for long, the competitive advantage can be lost, so can the rate at which the value deteriorates.

This write up tries to address this issue of how an organisation can use the data effectively to give it the competitive advantage over others and remain competitive in the market.

Data in large quantity can give indications of unheard of trends by Big Data analysis,  Large quantities or small quantities of data, it is important to understand how the value of this data appreciates or depreciates over time, leading to gaining or losing competitive advantage for an organistion.

While going through the article (click here) HBR of Jan '20 by Andrei Hagiu and Julian Wright, the competitive advantage created by data is analysed in detail.

1. Value added by customer data relative to the stand alone value of the offering - customer data is what adds value to any digital application. The more data gets added, if it can lead to more value for the organisation, the application can have competitive advantage over its competitors.

2. Rate at which the marginal value of the data enabled learning changes - if the rate at which the marginal value of the data added keeps decreasing at a slower rate, the competition will find it difficult to catch up.

3. Rate at which the relevance of the user data depreciates is low - if the data becomes obsolete fast, the application does not have any competitive advantage against its competitors, any competitor can come and disrupt the system

4. Is the data proprietary ? - if the data is proprietary and cannot be copied by competitors, the firm can remain in the competition for a longer period of time

5. Is it hard to imitate product improvements based on consumer data ? - if the product improvement based on consumer data, for eg. Google Maps analysing user density on road and hence diverting traffic to less dense traffic roads to reduce travel times being momentary, is hard to imitate by competitors, hence the competitive advantage can be maintained.

6. Does the user data help improve the product for other users ? - the network effect gives great value for all users, the app which networkds with more stakeholders thus offers more value than those which network with less number of stakeholders

7. How fast can insights of user data be added into the products or service ? - if the insights of user data can be incorporated into the product or service at a faster rate than the competitors, the organisation  can remain ahead of competition.

An organisation that has the strategy of retaining the competitive advantage over its competitors by the efficient use of data can lead the market and dominate it for a long time and give great value to its customers in the long run. 

George ..

Have world religions lost their relevance during Covid time ?

As of 24 March 2021, globally 2.73 million deaths related to Covid 19 virus have happened. (2,730,000). (Data comes from Wikipedia, government health ministries, The New York Times, and other authoritative sources, as attributed),

Of all the nations that have suffered badly, the top 5 are (total deaths in blue and WHO mortality rates, deaths per 100,000 population, in red)

United States (543 K, pop 329 million, 165 )

Brazil             (295 K, pop 213 million, 139 )

India              (160 K, pop 1370 million, 12 )

Russia           (93,812, pop 145 million, 65 )

France          (92,908, pop 68 million, 137 ).

Why did all our Gods ditch us during the past 12 months as to cause this misery on planet earth ? Is it because of their helplessness ?

Indians were praying, banging their plates and vessels on the roads to please the Gods but to no avail. India lost 160,000 people to the 80 nanometre Covid 19 virus.

People across the world have gone back to natural foods, vegetables, fruits and physical exercises to keep the body fit and healthy, besides practicing yoga, homeopathy and Ayurveda.

30,000 years ago, when the first worship to the unknown Gods and natural forces happened around the world till this day, we have depended too much on man-made Gods. And at the time of our greatest need, these same man-made Gods ditched us. 

With no guilt of having misled the flocks all this while, unashamed religious leaders are standing in the queue to get vaccinated against the virus. Why did this thing happen ? Who was tricking whom ? Have religions lost their relevance ?

Only Science which helped develop a vaccine could help humanity. Many versions and formulations of the vaccine are being used across the world to contain the virus.  With development of Science over the past millennia we got to know more about ourselves, our environment, the natural events and the mysteries around us. As long as the events around us  remained beyond our understanding and comprehension, it was good to hold on to a Supreme being. But as we have come a long way, 4560 million years since planet earth was formed, to know more about the world around us, we have come to know more about life and natural events and have become less dependent on the Supernatural being.

But some of our religions specifically Christianity still hold on in the hope of salvation and it keeps the flock together, lest the spiritual soldiers and workers lose their livelihood and hopes of extravagance and luxury. 

Religions have become areas of materialism and power, unqualified people play dirty politics and exploit the badly informed masses. It is high time we stop this petty politics resorted by a group of religious leaders on poorly informed believers under their control.

Religious leaders should also stop this public exploitation and come forward to make people aware of their rights, teach, practice and spread Science, show how Science in future can take the world together.

In fact, Yuval Noah Harari in his book Homodeus talks of Dataism and algorithms which will be holding people together (click here) and not Gods. Have Gods lost their identity and relevance ?

George 

How can we use water wisely ?

The infographic on the right gives an idea of the amount of water that is needed (water footprint) to get a kilogram of fruits, vegetables, butter, cheese, chocolates etc. The graphic tells us that tomato consuming 214 kgs for each kilogram is the least damaging and chocolate is the most damaging taking up almost 17,196 kgs of water for a kilogram of chocolate. 

An information of the water footprint of the different eatables helps us to decide what foods to promote and what to avoid. Water is  scarce resource on planet earth with just 3% being fresh water and most of it in the icebergs of the polar regions.

How can we use water wisely ? There are two ways by which we can use water wisely, First is to prevent wastage of water. The existing water resources will help us to conserve. Avoid water pipe breaks. The second is to innovate ways in which water is used, reducing the consumption etc.

Andrew Winston and Bill DSarni in HBR of Jan 2011 titled Innovation in Managing water (click here), mentions about the losses of water that happen in our daily lives. As per data from ITT a global water treatment and transporting company, it is said in US from where we have accurate data available on water distribution and consumption, daily there are 650 water mains breaking incidents happening across US resulting in losses of $2.6 billion a year. 1.7 trillion gallons of potable treated water is wasted yearly which is equivalent to the use of 68 million homes.

While human efforts at avoiding pipe breaks, pilferage etc is strictly being monitored across the world, only innovations can bring really brilliant uses and purification of water to the limelight. 

GE is one of the world pioneers in understanding the importance of bringing fresh water into our lives and is constantly trying to come up with innovative equipment and technology to use energy to purify water. With better technology, the energy to purify a fixed quantity of water will reduce.

What are the interesting innovations happening in water purification ?

• Aguavia developed a nano membrane that is 67% energy reduction and 50% cheaper. 
• Blackgold biofuels generates energy from waste water streams generating renewable energy resources from pollution liabilities
• FogBusters treats petroleum, biofuel and food processing wastewater “better, faster, cheaper, cleaner and greener” while capturing the FOG (fat, oil and grease) to make into biodiesel.
• NLine Energy, Inc. converts wasted energy found in water transmission and distribution systems into renewable energy.
• Puralytics, uses photochemical processes work to break down or remove contaminants from water.
• Water Resources Management Co. helps water utilities realize the full benefits of their investments in advanced meter reading, system control and asset management.

The basic purpose of this article is to stress that as much as prevention of water wastage, developing innovative methods to clean impure water is necessary if we are to survive in this world.

George

Why am I wary after reading Yuval Noah Harari's books ?

I do enjoy reading and writing, but Yuval Noah Harari's classic books, Sapiens, Homodeus and 21 ideas for the 21st century have really disturbed me. How could a barely forty year old history professor in 2011 in Tel Aviv have such a profound understanding of the past and insight into the future? Only the first two books of Harari are discussed here.

The first book of Harari, Sapiens gave an excellent account of the past 75,000 years of the planet earth, human evolution and how Homosapiens took over other human species like Neanderthal, Homoerectus etc.. 

In three stages covering the cognitive revolution from seventy five thousand years back to agricultural revolution about ten thousand years back and then to the scientific revolution spanning the past five hundred years, Homosapiens have successfully passed through these stages, the many events and reached this point in time looking promisingly into the future. 

Harari's second book Homodeus talks of what is in store for Sapiens for the next ten thousand years. It was Fear of the unknown that made us believe in Gods and religions, say from thirty thousand years back. In the future with enough complete knowledge of the world around us, unknown parameters have little influence over the algorithms that govern our daily life, data and information processing capability will decide our growth.

Dataism will continue to be the dominant faith and principle dominating human evolution. The data processing capability of physical artificial systems over natural biological systems will ensure the survival or decay of human civilization. Will it later lead to the domination of machines over man ?

The first two books look at human mind evolution until now and into the future for the next couple of thousand years. Though the picture into the future is a bit scary and fearful, a proper correct balanced understanding of what can happen from Harari's perspective gives us a feeling of some comfort and solace.

But can a different perspective of the future, like the influence of extra terrestrial intelligence (ETI), which is not discussed in the book, take us totally off track ? Only time can tell. 

George 

Role play on Kochi International airport challenges

This morning we did a role play on the challenges faced by Kochi International airport in its renewable energy drive in the MBA sem 2 operations class. 

Student Role play descriptions

 Scenario 1

One of the busiest airports in India in terms of international traffic, Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) runs fully on solar energy. This airport has emerged as the pioneer in embracing sustainability. The Cochin International Airport grabbed global attention during the devastating Kerala floods, as it had to be shut down for 15 days in a row. 

We, a group of three students from ll Semester, Operations Management (Batch 2020-22) performed a role play on a case study based on Cochin Airport. The problem which we needed to cater to was “Climate change and the threat of floods pose an existential threat to Cochin international airport”. The roleplay was done in the form of 3 stakeholders; Customer, Employee, and Management. 

The first part of the roleplay consisted of what problems could Cochin International Airport encounter with their solar panels in times of changing climatic conditions and floods due to heavy rainfalls. 

It started with the customer enquiring to the employees of the airport whether it would be a safe idea to travel to and fro from CIAL during extreme rainy seasons as it could affect the airport that runs entirely on solar power, in a bad way.  

The customer inquired whether the airport was well equipped to handle the heavy rainfall and whether its solar panels could sustain the functioning of the airport. The employee listened to the customer and made sure to take this issue up with the management so that the customer could be better educated about the entire running of the airport. 

After a brainstorming session, we came up with certain solutions to the problem. A few of the ideas are listed below-

•    Solar Panels generate electricity by absorbing photons from sunlight. On a cloudy day, the photons particles are less, this could be substantiated by increasing the number of solar installations to cope up with such vagaries of nature and ensure uninterrupted energy supply.

•    Installation of lightning rods to prevent any potential damage to the solar panel by lightning strikes. We also proposed that there might be a way to convert lightning into a usable form of energy which could be uncovered through research work.

•    Installation of the Solar Panels on steep roof infrastructure with panel sealing would help mitigate the issues of damage by waterlogging.

 ==============================

Scenario 2 : Cochin International Airport Case Study / Role Play

The challenge given to our team was that there was shortage of power/electricity at the airport and at the same time there was a problem with the availability of land for installation of further solar panels.

Through the method of role play we were able to analyze the problem through the perspective of not just one but multiple stakeholders of the organization (airport).

We came up with solutions based on the details and scenarios mentioned in the case.

Our proposal was to initially stop supplying excess electricity that is produced, to the state government and use it for the purpose airport operations itself. This was obviously a short-term solution.

For the long term, we came up with a plan to increase the area of the airport in order to install new solar panels and also for the purpose of making optimum utilization of the already existing space, we suggested the installation of solar panels on the roof.

In order to compensate the owners of the lands that would be bought for the purpose, apart from the price of the land, we would also offer them employment in solar panels maintenance related tasks in the airport.

Another alternative for the long term is that we can work on harnessing electricity from the tidal energy, which is also a sustainable approach.

During the class, we enacted out the situation and took into consideration various stakeholders like customer, airport management staff, airport management authority, a representative from the government aviation ministry.

We were able to understand the case much more and in in more depth while we discussed how the problem and the solution could be enacted out in the role play.

It was a good learning experience!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

The above are two write ups by the students on the Kochi airport role play.

The learning was simply great ..

George..

Why do EVs have a higher range in city driving than highway driving ?

It is interesting to know why EVs have a higher range in city driving than highway driving - normal logic tells us that frequent acceleration and deceleration wastes power and energy, but frequent deceleration in the city leads to the process of regeneration that charges the battery resulting in an improved mileage. 

In highway driving driver maintains a constant speed, rarely decelerates and hence battery is not recharged ..

https://www.autocarindia.com/auto-features-amp/why-evs-have-a-higher-range-in-the-city-and-not-the-highway-420208

A huge space debris is coming down ..

On the right we see the International Space Station that has been up there since year 2000 continuously occupied as a space collaboration initiative of the countries of US, Russia, European Space agency, Canada and Japan.  Sadly India and China, the two most populous countries of the world and the next two super powers do not find a pride of place in the ISS initiative.

Why has this lapse happened on the part of global space powers ? Especially when both India and China have even reached the planet of Mars on their own initiative.

Space debris has always been a problem in the interstellar space and this time it is at the low earth orbit. About 2.9 T space debris (20 year old 48 units of Nickel Hydrogen batteries) that powered the International Space Station released by end 2020 is set to hit earth around the first six months of 2023. 

This old battery has been up there at 408 km attitude since 2000 for 20 years. It is said it will take another 2.5 years for it to enter earth;s atmosphere. Once it enters atmosphere, it will mostly burn down before it reaches the earth, 

It has been replaced by 24 units of  the more efficient Lithium ion batteries.

The same Li-ion batteries power your mobile phones and laptops, thanks to Yoshino, Whittingham and  Prof. JOHN Goodenough who shared the 2019 Chemistry Nobel prize for its invention.

How long will this space collaboration last ? We are not sure. But the ISS is a great example of international space collaboration between the countries that matter especially US and Russia.

Some facts on ISS : (from wikipedia)

The International Space Station is a modular space station in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies:NASA, Roscosmos, JAXA, ESA, and CSA. The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. Wikipedia

View on Maps: google.com/maps/space/iss
Orbital speed: 7.66 km/s; (27,600 km/h; 17,100 mph)
Orbits per day: 15.54
Days in orbit: 22 years, 3 months, 15 days; (7 March 2021)
Orbital inclination: 51.64°
Orbital decay: 2 km/month

ISS has a life upto 2024, another 3 years more, but the life can even be extended upto 2028. Will the world collaborate , this time not forgetting India and China on another global space collaboration, we have to wait and see. Or will India and China on their own launch their own permanent space stations to the wonderment of the existing five powers ? 

Click here for a Popular Mechanics article on what is the future of ISS and other space stations countries may launch ? 

George..

Going Green - how to be carrying it out and winning too ..

Most of us rush to implement green projects as we are aware of the competitive advantage it brings to us in the long run. 

 Click here for the HBR paper Growing Green .

Is it that easy ?

Before going green, the three most important questions we need to ask of the green project are the following

Is it feasible ?

Is it desirable ? and 

How would it be implemented ?

Finally after having decided to go green, how would you make the transition to your advantage.

Click here for the HBR paper Winning in the green frenzy ..

Can solar power plants turn power positive ?

It was a great news to read that Adani Green's Kamuthi solar project in TN turns water positive.

https://www.aninews.in/news/business/adani-greens-kamuthi-solar-project-turns-water-positive20210311164248

Largest container ships ..

Largest container ships HMM Algeciras click here

List of top 10 container ships of 2020 .. click here 

How container ships are stacked  click here

Case study on recycling used shipping containers click here

What makes Aravind Madurai excel in eye care ?

In a study published in HBR of 2010, carried out by Prof. Vijay Govindarajan, Tuck School of Business and Prof. S Manikutty from IIM Ahmedabad, (click here) five factors were identified as being responsible for the success of Aravind Eye care.

First it is the extremely high levels of efficiency, while an ophthalmologist in an eye hospital does almost 1-2 cataract surgeries per day, an Arvind hospital eye doctor does about 15 cataract surgeries a day, almost 10x.

Secondly so many surgeries are done daily in the hospital, besides the high level of medical expertise of the doctors, the Intra-ocular lens that the hospital manufactures on its own, it is able to sell at $5 apiece, while an imported IOL would cost anywhere above $80. The low cost of the lens helps support cheap surgeries and thus results in increased cost efficiencies in a vicious cycle.

The third factor is the economies of scale and assembly lines concepts that are taken from the industry helping increase operational efficiency, besides organising outreach camps nearer to the customer to generate the necessary demand. 

While Aravind Hospital does not invest much in advertising or other frill activity, it invests heavily in the latest state of the art machinery in the hospital and top world class training and exposure for its doctors and nurses, which is the fourth factor.

The fifth factor is the value set imparted by the founder Dr. V Govindaswamy in eradicating needless blindness from the country that has helped the hospital in offering more than 50% of its surgeries to the needy people in society free of charge and giving world class trainig to medical personnel from other hospitals at very low rates.

A later article by Prof. Vijay Govindarajan in HBR of January 2012 points of the audacious nature of Aravind's goals and how the hospital has managed to rise above expectations. Click here .. The benefits of lower costs of labour and process innovation steps have helped Aravind steal the limelight and become one of the world's top and high quality eye care centre.  

I have been asked by MBA students, would the Aravind eye care system have survived in another culture or country ? According to me, the high population always ensures a high demand for Aravind services. The high poverty levels in society puts pressure on the system to offer high quality low cost services to the masses, pushing the system to continuously strive for innovative methods of functioning and service delivery. 

George 

Toyota visit on first of March 2021 ...

It was a great visit to Toyota on March 1, 2021 from Alliance University, Bangalore. The visit was initiated by Surekha Madam. Her passion and interest never faded throughout the 5 hour visit. We reached Bidadi around 8.45 AM.

After initial security checks etc we were inside the Toyota premises at Bidadi by 9.15 AM.

We were taken to the Toyota Technical Training Institute (TTTI) situated inside the campus. While we were going to TTTI, Miyawaki forests which are intense greening drives undertaken by Toyota under the leadership of Prof. Miyawaki himself, could be seen on either side. Of the 434 acres campus 25 acres are part of the Ecozone where the Miyawaki forests are grown.

After exchanging initial pleasantries and tea/coffee, we were taken around the TTTI to showcase Toyota's capabilities in training its 10th pass interns with holistic development to take up positions inside the factory. 

Toyota is extremely proud of the fact that it is sending individual entries in the World Skills Competition and has been winning prizes, recognitions and accolades over the years. 

(left) Alliance team with Surekha madam, Sajan Mathew, Sajan (from Toyota), George Easaw, Reeba Madam.

 

We were also taken to the different training areas and labs where the Gurukul students were preparing for the Skills competition which included Robotics, IoT and 3D Machining areas.

The visit next took us to the shopfloor. The pressing, painting, chassis fitting, trimline and final assembly areas were shown around. The importance of Takt time and how it changes with variability in customer demand was stressed heavily by the Toyota team. We were also taken to the final rollout testing area too where after checking for any water leakages, the vehicle is checked for any loose bolts and nuts etc before being taken to the tracks for extensive road tests on the vehicle condition. 

Mr. Sajan Edakkal from TTTI at Toyota accompanied us throughout the visit and was very helpful with clearing all our doubts. Mr. Bhat from TTTI and Mr. Jagadeesh from the HR dept spared their valuable time to be with us, guide us and clear all our queries.

The main purpose of our visit was to explore joint areas of collaboration and training for faculty and internship opportunity for students. Reciprocating our interest we look forward to a Toyota team visiting us in the campus this weekend or next to take the discussions forward.

The final part of the visit included a visit to the high quality ISO 21000 certified mess hall. (click here for my earlier writing on Toyota getting the coveted ISO 21000 certification). Due to the Covid scare only very less management staff are coming to campus as they are having WFH option. The regular workers are working in two shifts during this Covid time.

George.

The contradictions that drive Toyota ..

We have heard of the Toyota Production and the 8 step Toyota Business Process. 

How does Toyota thrive in the midst of contradictions ? It is a great story spread over a century, when Sakiichi Toyoda went to US at the beginning of the twentieth century  and studied the US Supermarkets. He thought of ways to make the Toyoda textile mills textile output error free by carefully planning Jidoka (human automation) on looms to stop when the cotton fibre broke.

Click here for the 2008 HBR paper on the contradictions that drive Toyota's system.

There are three forces of expansion and three forces of integration.

The forces of expansion are 

• setting impossible goals
• local customization
• experimentation 

The forces of integration are 

• values from founders
• up-and-in people management
• open communication
  

Any organisation would need the forces of expansion and forces of integration to keep it properly focused and planning to grow. 

Setting impossible goals are being in every line of automobiles in the market is not the right strategy as per Micheal Porter, but Toyota believes in setting such impossible goals for its employees.

Toyota believes in customising its products in each country it enters with the result they remain highly customer focused with many models to choose from.

Any big goal is broken down into smaller ones and then experimentation is done on these small goals. Failure is not fatal, but leads to organisational learning, provided the employee follows the follow instruction culture.

Looking at the forces of integration, these help give the company a sense of direction and purpose.

The founders values include 

• continuous improvement
• respect for people and their limitation
• teamwork
• humility
• putting customers first and 
• importance of seeing things firsthand

People management  is very unique in Toyota. Any person who is incompetent is not sent away, instead is retrained with on-the-job training and put on the task, this ensuring employment for life, an alien concept in other automobile companies.The training it imparts to employees helps instill humility in them. 

Open communications enable information flows freely across the hierarchies, across functions and seniority, outside the organisation to suppliers, customers and dealers. Employees listen to opinions and comments in an open environment. The employees are encouraged to seek information from the source itself than having it from other sources, avoiding confusion and uncertainty in the communication.

The above six forces that tend to expand the company and unite it together are very vital to the success story of Toyota. These factors ensure the company stays on track of Continuous Improvement and Respect for People which forms the main two foundational principles of Toyota. 

The author has been interacting closely with Toyota plant in India, Toyota Kirloskar Motors in Bangalore since 2011 and is very much aware of the Toyota culture and contradictions as outlined above.

George.