The A3 Report as Knowledge-Accomplishing Activity: A Practice-Oriented Analysis of Situated Organizational Problem Solving

Abstract

The A3 report is a lean practice innovated by Toyota motor company. The A3 report, a growing trend in organizations, is promoted as a communication tool, but it has not been studied from a communication perspective. In this study I interview twelve professionals who use A3 reports in their work and identify the ways in which A3 reports enable and constrain organizational communication. This study illustrates the communicative enactment of knowing and identifies how the A3 report structures organizational problem solving and creates knowledge-accomplishing activity. The A3 report constrains information through its concise 11 by 1 7 inch paper size and enables knowledge production through discussion and the Japanese consensus-building concept of nemawashi. I submit that organizational use of the A3 process creates bridges between communities of practice and allows organizational actors to span traditional boundaries and engage in knowledgecreating conversations, thus furthering understanding of the communicative constitution of the organization.