I stumbled upon this interesting bit in the book Corporate Culture and Performance:

In August 1985, two months after Kume was named president, thirteen middle-level managers from Nissan Technical Center’s development department, in collaboration with an outside consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, formed a task force called the Product Market Strategy Group (PMSG). Zenzo Sonoda, the head of R&D and a friend of Kume, supported their concept of changing the atmosphere at the Technical Center and influenced top management to agree to such an investigation. Concerned that the culture at the NTC was stifling and bureaucratic, and that workers spent most of their time trying to coordinate activities and pushing paper rather than focusing on trying to produce a good car, these middle-level managers set out to create a better environment—one that would support a certain degree of independence, encourage delegation of authority and responsibility,and remove any hesitation lower-level management might have about questioning rules or promoting open communications.

As a result of the discoveries and the suggestions of the PMSG task force, the R&D department began introducing organizational change in January 1986. Until then, R&D managers were responsible for at least three car models. Under the new system, a manager looked after only one model, which allowed him to follow the car through all stages of development—from design to planning for production, marketing, and sales—and to focus his attention on building a car that would satisfy customers for the least possible expense. To further encourage a customer orientation, R&D general managers were put into three market-oriented groups. To reduce design time and increase quality, simultaneous engineering was introduced—where each department was asked to pass on information at the earliest possible stage of development to all other departments.

With the encouragement of the PMSG task force, managers at NTC developed a number of additional ideas which were then implemented over the next few years. One scheme called for a yearly event in which the center would open its doors to the public to show off the design studio, show crash tests, and give driving demonstrations. Another called for an essay competition and a new business concept contest, both designed to reward and promote innovative ideas. To reduce the status difference between bosses and subordinates, NTC management agreed to abolish the serial numbers (indicating rank) displayed on the name badges worn by all Nissan employees. NTC managers also decided to make uniforms optional, believing that freedom of dress and expression would add to creativity and innovation in their work as stylists and designers. To further promote an atmosphere of increased creativity, they introduced the idea of “flex time,” where people were required to be at work only from 10:30 to 3:30 P.M. and could arrive early or leave late as they preferred.

What was fascinating to me was the discussion about the company in 1986, and at that time Nissan “dared” to experiment with flexible working hours for being on-site. This is quite fascinating because to me it seemed like it was a modern idea.