Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse the cross-cultural reasons underlying the extreme industrial unrest experienced during the first seven years of Toyota's operations in India.Design methodology approach - The paper employs a case study approach using data obtained from 30 personal interviews, field notes, observations, and internet media sources.Findings - The paper reports how Toyotism shares three common features with Brahminism - renunciation, performance, and perfection - and how antipathy towards the manner in which these features were implemented in India caused significant resistance amongst the production workforce.Research limitations implications - The paper has implications for academics and practitioners in helping to understand how employee relations, unrest and antagonism towards lean manufacturing practices are closely related to cross-cultural issues prevalent in host countries.Originality value - The concept of Brahmanism in Indian employee relations is under-researched in comparison with other aspects of Indian culture and antipathy towards the concept as a source of resistance to the implementation of lean systems needs to be better understood.