Learning from Honda

The case of the Honda Motor Company has been cited frequently in the strategic management literature. A review reveals that Honda's strategy has been used to illustrate and support apparently contradictory positions on a series of conceptual dichotomies, namely analytical planning versus learni...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of management studies 1999-01, Vol.36 (1), p.25-44
Main Author: Mair, Andrew
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Automobile industry
Business studies
Core competencies
Learning
Management
Management research
Management techniques
Market positioning
Organization theory
Organizational learning
Personnel management
Planning methods
Strategic management
Studies
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Summary:The case of the Honda Motor Company has been cited frequently in the strategic management literature. A review reveals that Honda's strategy has been used to illustrate and support apparently contradictory positions on a series of conceptual dichotomies, namely analytical planning versus learning, market positioning versus resource‐based and, within the last of these, core competencies versus core capabilities. A critical analysis of this literature reveals empirical inaccuracies and a focus on Honda's strategic successes to the neglect of its failures. More significantly, explanations and general strategy implications are couched in terms of reductionist one‐sided theories, a tendency which is only deepened when strategy thinkers debate ‘the meaning of Honda’. This theoretical approach is particularly ill suited to Honda, an important strategic capability of which appears to be precisely the reconciliation of dichotomous management concepts. Western strategy thinkers have therefore missed the opportunity to develop a more appropriate and productive paradigm for learning from Honda.
ISSN:0022-2380
1467-6486
DOI:10.1111/1467-6486.00124