4 For the many suppliers to the automotive industry in Australia, who make so many different parts, from seats to plastic components (e.g. Toyota had nearly 50 per cent of the parts sourced by local suppliers) losing their three end- use customers (Ford, GMH and Toyota) must have been a major disruptive shock. Even with some three to four years of notice of the closures, what would you have done if you were running a family-owned business that supplied parts to the local automotive industry, once the closures were announced in 2014?

By 2014, Toyota had become a very successful global automaker with 53 overseas manufacturing companies in 28 countries and regions, and vehicles sold in more than 170 countries and regions. Toyota was seen by many industries and researchers as a benchmark of 'world's best practice' in operational excellence, which in Toyota was referred to as the Toyota Production System (TPS).

More generally, Toyota built on the core values created by its founders and had implemented its Toyota Way philosophy since 2001, based on two pillars of respect for people and continuous improvement, driving customer value creation and constantly pursuing perfection. These approaches have raised Toyota to a point where its vehicles were viewed by many customers as being high in their 'value proposition', based on reliability and durability, especially at the competitive price points that were offered to customers.