SangM.LeetellsofameetingwithtwoJapanesebusinessmeninTokyotoplanajointU.S.-Japaneseconferencetoexplore U.S.andJapanesemanagementsystems.Aslunchtimedrewnear, hishosts told him with much delight that they wished toshowhimthe"mostproductiveoperationinJapan."

Lee describes the occasion: "They took me to a sushi shop,the famous 100 Yen Sushi House,in the Shinzuku area ofTokyo. Sushi is the most popular snack in Japan.It is a simple dish,vinegared rice wrapped in different things,such asdriedseaweed,rawtuna,rawsalmon,rawredsnapper,cookedshrimp, octopus, fried egg, and so on. Sushi is usually preparedsothateachpiecewillbeabouttherightsizetobeputintothemouth with chopsticks.Arranging the sushi in an appetizingandaestheticwaywithpickledgingerisalmostanartin itself.

"The 100Yen Sushi House is no ordinary sushi restaurant.ItistheultimateshowcaseofJapaneseproductivity.Asweenteredtheshop,therewasachorusof/ratsai,awelcomefromeveryone working in the shop- cooks,waitresses,the owner,and theowner's children.The house features an ellipsoidshaped serving area in the middle of the room,where insidethreeorfourcookswerebusilypreparingsushi.Perhaps 30stoolssurroundedtheservingarea.WetookseatsatthecountersandwerepromptlyservedwithacupofMisoshiru,whichisabeanpastesoup,apairofchopsticks,acupofgreentea,a tiny plate to make ourown sauce, and a smallChina piece toholdthechopsticks.Sofar,theservicewasaverageforanysushihouse.Then,Inoticedsomethingspecial.Therewas a conveyorbeltgoingaroundtheellipsoidservicearea,likeatoytraintrack.OnitIsawatrainofplatesofsushi.Youcanfindanykindofsushithatyoucan thinkof-fromthe cheapestseaweed or octopus kind to the expensive raw salmon or shrimpdishes.Thepriceisuniform,however,100yenperplate. Oncloser examination, while my eyes were racing to keep up withthe speed of the traveling plates, I found that a cheap seaweedplatehadfourpieces,whilethemoreexpensiverawsalmondishhad only two pieces. I sat down and looked around at the othercustomersatthecounters.Theywereallenjoyingtheirsushiandslurpingtheirsoupwhilereadingnewspapersormagazines.,

"I saw a man with eight plates all stacked up neatly.As he got up to leave, the cashier looked over and said, '800 yen,please.' The cashier had no cash register, since she can simply count the number of plates and then multiply by 100 yen.As the customer was leaving, once again we heard a chorusofArigatoGosaimas(thankyou)fromalltheworkers."

Lee continues his observations of the sushi house operations: "In the 100 Yen Sushi House, Professor Tamura [one of his hosts] explained to me how efficient this family-owned restaurant is. The owner usually has a superordinate organizationalpurpose such as customer service, a contribution to society, orthe well-being of the community. Furthermore,the organizational purpose is achieved througha long-term effort by all the membersoftheorganization,who areconsidered'family.'

"The owner's daily operation is based on a careful analysis of information. The owner has a complete summary ofdemandinformation about different types of sushi plates,and thus he knows exactly how many of each type of sushiplate he should prepare and when.Furthermore, the wholeoperation is based on the repetitive manufacturing principlewithappropriatejust-in-time and quality control systems.For example, the store has a very limited refrigerator capacity (we couldsee several whole fish or octopus in the glassedchambers right in front of our counter).Thus, the store usesthe just-in-time inventory control system.Instead of increasing the refrigeration capacity by purchasing new refrigerationsystems,the company has an agreement with the fish vendor todeliverfreshfishseveraltimesadaysothatmaterialsarrivejust-in-time to be used for sushi making. Therefore, the inventory cost is minimum. Inthe100Yen Sushi House, workersand theirequipmentarepositionedso closethatsushimakingispassed on hand to hand rather than as independent operations. The absenceof walls of inventory allows the ownerandworkerstobeinvolvedinthetotaloperation,fromgreeting the customer to serving what is ordered. Their tasks are tightly interrelated, and everyone rushes to a problemspot to prevent the cascading effect of the problem throughouttheworkprocess.

"The 100 Yen Sushi House is a labor-intensive operation,which is based mostly on simplicity and common sense ratherthan high technology,contrary to American perceptions. I wasvery impressed.As I finished my fifth plate, I saw the sameoctopus sushi plate going around for about the 30th time.Perhaps I had discovered the pitfall of the system. So I askedthe owner how he takes care of the sanitary problems whena sushi plate goes around all day long, until an unfortunatecustomer eats it and perhaps gets food poisoning. He bowedwith an apologetic smile and said, 'Well, sir, we never let oursushi plates go unsold longer than about 30 minutes.' Then hescratched his head and said,'Whenever one of our employeestakes a break,he or she can take off unsold plates of sushi andeither eat them or throw them away. We are very serious aboutoursushiquality."

Questions (40 Points)

2. What competitive advantages do 100 Yen Sushi House offer?
4. What are the priorities /opportunities that we must solve or go after?
6. What is the problem statement?
8. What is your recommended competitive strategy to improve the process?
10. What is your functional strategy to support the competitive strategy?