Toyota took all of the good ideas they found in American companies (most specifically Ford) in the 1950s and added continuous improvement. Then they actually iterated with continuous improvement.
So I don't think it's fair to say that any of the ideas are outright stolen (I know you didn't say that either), because Toyota took them well past the starting point.
So I don't think it's fair to say that any of the ideas are outright stolen (I know you didn't say that either), because Toyota took them well past the starting point.