IIMs must Teach about Japanese Competitiveness, says Maruti Suzuki Chairman

New Delhi (26/03/2023): Maruti Suzuki Chairman RC Bhargava claimed that Japanese competitiveness can be an ideal case study for Indian manufacturers and should also be taught at prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) in a chat with Ravi Krishnan.

Bhargava was questioned about his viewpoint on Japan and the lessons Indians can learn from Japan, to which he replied that all the competitiveness in the manufacturing industry moved to Eastern nations like Japan, China, Korea, etc., which have all become the manufacturing giants of the world after the Second World War.

He further said that we have continued to look to the western countries for manufacturing systems, when the real competitiveness can be learned from countries like Japan.

Bhargava questioned India’s understanding of manufacturing and said, “How many people studied or understood how Japan became competitive? Why is Japanese competitiveness not taught at the IIMs? Why don’t we use that as a manufacturing case study as to why Japan became so competitive than the countries like the US, which gave it technologies?”

Since the early 1980s, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. has controlled over 40% of the domestic passenger vehicle industry in India. He said that Maruti inculcated the Japanese competitiveness in their company right from 1983. Further adding, he said that due to this the company became one of the biggest manufacturers of the country.

During his chat the Chairman also commented on topics such as investments, GDP and his principles being a socialist.