The Story of NUMMI – Shifting

an Organizational Culture

By Jason Gomez, Claudine Barjak & Aaron Hickman

 What is NUMMI?

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New United Motor Manufacturing Inc.
The NUMMI plant was a historic alliance by two automobile
●

manufacturers General Motors and Toyota Motor Corporation.

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For Toyota, the joint venture was an opportunity to test its
ability to use its production methods in an American setting.
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For GM, it provided a way to learn how to build cars more
efficiently using Toyota's "lean" production system.
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NUMMI plant was located in Freemont, CA.
The Original GM Freemont Plant

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Work conditions at the original GM Freemont Plant were
terrible.
One reason behind the bad work conditions is because the
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United Auto Workers (UAW) union was very powerful.

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It was said that you could find anything at the Freemont Plant
from drugs to sex and gambling.
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Absenteeism was a major issue. GM would have to
sometimes get people off the street to work the assembly line.
●
Quality of cars was not a concern, only focus was on the
number of cars produced.
 Original GM Freemont Plant
(cont'd)
●
The Scientific Management
Perspective – The view
that employees are pieces
of an engine or parts of an
industrial whole and as
such are treated as
economic objects without
deference to individual
attitudes, feelings, values
and needs.
 The NUMMI Plan...

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Use the Freemont, CA Plant
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Fly GM workers (groups of 30)
to Japan for training
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Adopt system in US
Labor agreement between
●

NUMMI and UAW.

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Produce quality small vehicle
together.
 10 Communication Strategies to
Build Organizational Culture
Articulate the primary mission and values with an overarching
●

metaphor.
●
Develop an employee orientation program to emphasize mission
and values.
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Develop a common image or template for all messages, websites,
speeches, and meetings.
●
Match employee self-interests with organizational goals.
●
Provide opportunities for employees to be heard.
●
Change elements in the culture as needed, taking a gradual but
continual approach
10 Communication Strategies to
Build Organizational Culture
(cont'd)
●
Demonstrate trust by doing what you say you will do.
●
Support innovation and accept the risks of temporary failure.
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Be flexible and adaptable in communication style.
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Empower others by listening to and encouraging them.
 What is the “Toyota Way”?

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The Kaizen way
●
Japanese for “improvement” or
“change for the better”.
●
Kaizen is the philosophy that
focuses on continuous
improvement of processes in
manufacturing and
management.
●
Toyota encouraged employees
to provide feedback for process
improvement.
Assembly Line Comparison Chart

●
The GM Way; ●
The Toyota/NUMMI Way;
●
Focused on quantity instead ●
Focused on quality instead
of quality of quantity
●
Had the attitude of “Never ●
Okay to stop the assembly
stop the assembly line” line if there was a problem
Model of Intercultural
Communication (GM)
 Model of Intercultural
Communication (Toyota)
 Total Quality Management

●
Refers to a movement that drives productivity and morale
through adhearance to values, customer service and
market-driven responses, and continuous improvement as a
means of achieving organizational success.
Problems to Adapting to Cultural
Diversity
●
Ethnocentrism – a sense of egotism and selfishness about a
person's own culture, whereby he or she elevates that
culture to a status above all other cultures.
●
Prejudice
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Communication Style Expectations
●
Cultural Values
●
Interaction Rituals