Management of Operations in Nissan: Resilience Strategies Case Study

This case study examines Nissan's response to the devastating 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis in Japan. The assignment details the resilience strategies implemented by Nissan to mitigate the impact on its operations and supply chain. Key strategies included seismic retrofitting of manufacturing plants, establishing a Global Disaster Control Headquarters, training employees for crisis management, cross-functional collaboration, and innovative power consumption strategies. The case highlights Nissan's proactive approach in prioritizing employee safety, ensuring business continuity, and adapting to the challenges posed by the disaster. The company's quick recovery and effective management of disruptions serve as a model for operational resilience in the face of major crises. The assignment draws upon the provided case brief and references to analyze the effectiveness of Nissan's strategies and the lessons learned from the experience.

Running head: MANAGEMENT OF OPERATIONS IN NISSAN
MANAGEMENT OF OPERATIONS IN NISSAN
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Table of Contents
Resilience Strategies used by Nissan.........................................................................................2
References..................................................................................................................................4

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Resilience Strategies used by Nissan
The automobile company of Nissan was the second largest manufacturer of vehicles
in the country of Japan and contributed to the economy of the country at large (Lee, 2019).
However, according to the forecast of a renowned economical firm the crisis in Japan that
comprised an earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear crisis, the result of all the catastrophic
incidents will hamper the production of the mentioned company and its contemporaries at a
significant rate. Although, the automobile organization of Nissan made sure that they take
precautions against such incidents in advance, and thereby emerged out as a successful
organization even after the crisis.
Just after 15 minutes of the Earthquake hit in the Great East Japan, the company
arranged for a setup in its head workplace at Yokohama, the ‘Global Disaster Control
Headquarters’, a place where it can manage all operations about ensuring safety for its
employees as well as gather information about disaster management. Apart from this, the
company had already developed some resilience strategies in its operational undertakings that
proved to be effective during the time of crisis and ensured continuity in the business
activities. The chief operational officer, Mr Toshiyuki Shiga, headed the Committee of
disaster management. According to him, the first resilience strategy developed by Nissan was
to implement the seismic retrofitting and relevant requirements in the manufacturing plants
that were located in the earthquake-prone areas.
According to the officer, the company of Nissan prioritised employee safety no matter
how disastrous the situation is. The company shifted its communication from emails to web
access regarding any kind of safety issues, after which it started all its business operational
recovery (Stevens, Pil & Holweg, 2017). The recovery did not take much time or harassment
because the company was well prepared with its strategies. The drills that was incorporated

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for the purpose of seismic retrofitting and the simulations relevant to crisis operations helped
in forecasting the natural calamity as well as its after-effects and thereby respond to it with
optimum strength.
The second resilience strategy incorporated by the company was to accumulate its
trained employees in the headquarters’ committee such that they can analyse the crisis and
take necessary actions immediately. The company had been training its employees about the
drilling such that they can handle such disastrous situations with expertise (Godwin, Aguh &
Umeozokwere, 2018). Hence, these employees were the ones who saved the company by
working together professionally, with full focus and concentration. As per the company’s
instructions, the employees who were gathered from different sites to combat this situation
assisted each other cross-functionally as well as cross-regionally. No matter whatever
department they belonged to, all they tried to do was maximise the production and gather
revenue by manufacturing the frequently selling models.
The company strategized even in utilising the power consumption. The areas that
could not provide sufficient power supply, the company decided to produce electricity in-
house or to carry out their operations at night (Babich & Hilary, 2019). They implemented
changes in the workweek too. These were the measures taken by the company to overcome
the crisis of power supply during the natural disaster.

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References
Babich, V., & Hilary, G. (2019). Distributed ledgers and operations: What operations
management researchers should know about blockchain technology. Manufacturing
& Service Operations Management.
Godwin, H. C., Aguh, P. S., & Umeozokwere, A. O. (2018). Modeling and Optimization of
Operational Costs of Nissan Urvan Vehicles of a Fleet Operator. Journal of
Engineering Research and Reports, 1-14.
Lee, J. Z. (2019). Corporate Governance and Company Performance of Nissan Motor
Corporation.
Stevens, M., Pil, F., & Holweg, M. (2017). On the evolution of buyer-supplier relations: The
case of dismantling relational contracting at Nissan. Working paper.