摘要：Lean manufacturing (Lean), as evolved from the Toyota Production System (TPS), has gained traction in many businesses as a tool for efficiency and improvement. However, the role of an executive or general manager within a Lean organization has not been clearly articulated in any official or proven way. This research looks at common approaches, theories, and problems concerning the role of the executive and how it can affect companies in their efforts to adopt Lean tools and principles. This research also analyzes a few internal documents from Toyota in order to ascertain how the role of the executive or general manager is expected to function within Toyota’s organizational and operational structure. Results showed very strong trends in the way Toyota presents and uses this role in maintaining Lean practices. Specifically, it was found that Toyota favors for its executives and managers a fair distribution of time between the office and the shop-floor, vertically-oriented training relationships with subordinates, and an emphasis on the culture and mindset behind the TPS.
关键词：Lean Manufacturing; Toyota Production System; Executive; Management; Leadership;Latent Semantic Analysis.
