2018 Volume 7 Issue 2 Pages 69-74
This paper uses case study of water leak problem-solving which I observed at a Japanese automotive transplant in China. It identifies the characterized behaviors by examining the process of the problem-solving activity and reveals the organizational learning culture influencing on the problem-solving capabilities. Water leak problem in this case supposedly had multiple sources and needed to be resolved with cooperation among individuals from multiple functional departments. The individuals in the problem-solving cooperation team include shop floor supervisors and engineers from different functional departments. They get the problem information from the inspection members directly as soon as the problem occurred and act totally based on the “Go and See” and Logical Verification Principle which is a kind of culture in the Japanese plant. I also found that they showed the interpersonal trust and mutual respect to each other, and no one hides information related to the problem, no one blames members or department for the mistake in the problem-solving process. This kind of climate is defined as psychological safety. Psychological safety in this cooperation team is generated from the learning culture transplanted from the Japanese plant, which has been infiltrated into the individuals at the transplant.
