In 1955 the Japanese productivity centre issued three guiding principles:
1. Productivity improvement will increase employment.
2. Labour and management must co-operate.
3. The benefits should be distributed fairly amongst workers, managers and customers.
At the time there was much industrial strife in Japan. Very few people believed in these principles. However, they had not much else to try. They also had nothing to lose. Within a short time people were reporting improvements in productivity. As the benefits were achieved top management stood by the commitment to give the first cut to the labour force, and then to take a cut themselves and thirdly to ensure that the customer felt the benefit of improved productivity.
The impact on motivation and performance are recognised world-wide.