Number of words: 140

Tetsuo Agata,in the later years of his long career, doubled as general manager of Toyota’s huge Honsha plant in the Toyota City complex and as the company’s overall manufacturing guru. Before that, he lived for years in America and has many American friends. One was a senior manager with Dow Chemical, and they often talked about their respective employers. For Agata, Toyota was best summed up for him by his friend, who observed that Toyota people such as Agata always “kept outside the comfort zone.” Whenever they hit one target, they set another. In other words, the world-beating TPS is but the most visible aspect of a company culture of relentlessly embracing change, tackling challenges, and pursuing excellence.

Excerpted from Page 129-130 of ‘Zoom: The Global Race to fuel the car of the future’ by Iain Carson and V Vaitheeswaran