Hybrid Branch Plants: Japanese Lean Production in Poland's Automobile Industry
研究了日本精益生产在波兰汽车工业中形成的混合型分支工厂，分析了四种工厂在车间和工厂管理六个维度上的差异，揭示了混合化是适应本地环境的实践组合探索。
Abstract This article examines hybrid branch plants created by an interaction of the routines and conventions of the parent company with those of local institutions. We argue that hybridization is a search for an appropriate mix of practices that ensure viability in local circumstances, rather than necessarily the transfer of established “best” (parent‐company) practices. Conceptually, hybridization is interpreted as learning‐based (and bargaining) processes that are inherent in the evolution (internationalization) of firms in which alternative trajectories are possible. Empirically, the article examines the recent transfer of lean production to Poland's automobile industry and comparatively and qualitatively analyzes four hybrid branch plants in terms of six dimensions of shop‐floor and factory management. Given the explosion of Japanese foreign direct investment in recent decades, its competitive strengths, and the importance that Japanese firms attach to learning processes, lean production is an important case study for hybridization. The four cases illustrate different types of hybrid behavior with different consequences for corporate and local performance.