Toyota Teamwork and the Prius Case;

If you watch a movie set in the future, you may see car that are fueled by the sun water or even garbage. Those scenarios seemed improbable and even laughable 10 years ago, but the birth of the Toyota Prius has changed the way we think about alternative power for vehicles. When the Prius hit the market in 2000, it became the car of the future; a gasoline-eclectic hybrid that could be purchased at the consumer level. Creating this futuristic car was no easy feat. The Toyota Prius design team realized early on that it was on its own. We had to invent something completely original, states Satoshi Ogiso, The team's chief power train engineer. We'd have to build it from scratch, blueprint and all the team knew it would take countless hours and strong teamwork to create this innovative piece of machinery.

The Prius might not have existed were it not for the tenacity of its engineering team. For years Toyota had toyed with idea of creating a car with a gasoline electric motor. However, the idea was a continuous source of conflict. Engineers believed that this type of car would be the solution to the world's problem with carbon emissions and executives saw other issues. They believed that the premium price, about USS25000, would not be worth it to their average consumer. Akihiro Wada, Toyota's executive vice president sided with the engineers. He asked the team to develop a concept model of the Prius for the 1995 Toyota Motor Show. It was a lofty goal to achieve, especially in Only 12 months.

Wada's decision to listen to the engineers instead of the executives may be unusual in most corporate settings, but it is a common practice at Toyota. In fact, in Toyota's list of guiding principles, "foster corporate culture that enhances individual creativity and teamwork value, while honoring mutual trust and respect between labor and management" is listed as number five. The confidence Wada showed in his design team provided the motivation the team needed to have the concept model ready on time. Impressed with the results, Toyota president Hiroshi Okuda put the Prius into production.

The original 10-person Prius design team quickly grew to thousands. The team encountered many problems while trying to turn a concept into a fully functional product. The battery was the main issue. The team had to come up with a way to make a battery that was big enough to power a car engine but not so big that it would overheat. The production of the engine became an ongoing process of trial and error. The first prototype wouldn't even start the second only went 530 feet (100 meters) before puttering to a stop. However, the constant stream of failures and setbacks did not thwart the design team's mission. After gathering vital input from all engineers involved and testing meticulously for months, all the design kinks were worked out. In October 1997 Toyota revealed the Prius: a five passenger car that could get 66 per gallon (almost 4 liters per 100 kilometers).

The car was not an immediate success during its first few years on the market. However, after celebrities such as Leonardo Di Caprio and Cameron Diaz purchased the Prius sales gained tremendous momentum. "It's the hottest car we've ever had." stated Jim Press, president of Toyota Motor North America. The Prius design team proved it could lower carbon emissions while raising Toyota's sales. The team's hard work and innovation even prompted Time magazine to name it "Heroes of the Environment."

How do they solve the following problems? (Questions)

Why do you think the Toyota Prius design team was so motivated to create the car? What needs were being fulfilled in the development and production process? Where do you think it would fall in Herzberg's motivator-hygiene model of the workplace?

Review Toyota's guiding principle above. What style of leadership does this principle encourage?

Since the design of the Toyota Prius was completely new to all members of the design team, how do you think the phenomenon of groupthink affected the process? Why do you think the Toyota Prius design team was ultimately successful?