Against All Odds: The Story of the Toyota Motor Corporation and the Family That Created It: Yukiyasu Togo, William Wartman
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
One would certainly expect that a book co-written by the head of Toyota’s U.S. sales division would present a sanitized version of the history of the Toyota Motor Corporation. That suspicion aside, the work is an interesting and complex history of the founding and phenomenal growth of the Toyota Company. The reader will learn how the Japanese car industry struggled against the pressure of foreign imports, the devastating effects of World War II, and the lack of manufacturing materials and skills. The development of the company’s manufacturing process and other innovations it had to initiate to survive are discussed at length. The writing is well done and easy enough for general readers. Industry experts will probably not find anything new here, but for the merely curious the book provides solid insight into the Japanese automobile industry.
- Kenneth M. Locke, Radford, Va.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
The much-touted concepts of kaizen (continuous improvement) and kanban (just in time) become clearer as the history of Toyota Motor Corporation–both here and in Japan–unfolds. Wartman begins with the 1853 demands of Commodore Perry to open up Eastern ports to trading and ends with the debut of the Lexus. In between, there’s the story of the Toyota family, starting with inventor Sakichi, who defied his village background to found the Toyota Loom Works and instructed his son Kiichiro to pursue the dream of the automobile. Straightforward, nonjudgmental chapters cover such topics as Toyota’s near bankruptcy, competition with Honda and Nissan, the U.S. mandate to reduce car emissions, and the joint venture with GM. Unfortunately, the lack of dialogue makes for some ho-hum reading; the determination to succeed and the risk-taking mind-set, however, provide lessons for would-be entrepreneurs. Barbara Jacobs