Yet despite their efforts to install some German-style structure within the amorphous
management culture of the Japanese firm, the German managers acknowledged the merits of the
Japanese approach. One put it thus: “A German worker can do anything provided he has a
checklist. The Japanese say they can do anything without the book. The advantage of the
Japanese approach is that, if a problem comes up that is not in the book, the Japanese will try to
do something.”