The Nissan Report: An Inside Look at How a World-Class Japanese Company Makes Products That Make a Difference - Hardcover

Behind the scenes
I think, as anthropologist-editor, that this is the first book of a downloaded on-line computer conference. The participants were located in the US, Europe, and given travel schedules, Asia and Africa as well. My role was mostly backstage - to shape the questions, now and then encouraging a reluctant conferee. The actual editing removed the computerese and ordered responses more logically than the herky-jerky real-time flow of conversation with some folks responding to comments made a while back. Now, 5 years after publication, I can say that the book has had significant impact, both in and out of the auto industry. It has been cited in Congressional testimony, as well as in strategic planning sessions of major auto manufacturers in the US, Europe and Japan (there is a Japanese translation). Other industrial sectors have used it to help define the specifics of their commitment to corporate responsibility, and some of the companies criticized in the book have written me pretty unfriendly letters.