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The Toyota Motor corporation
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The Toyota Motor corporation
The purpose of this assignment is to analyze the organization’s culture in light of its leadership, nationality, and organizational characteristics as described in your reading in the Middlebrooks text, the HBR content.
Introduction
One of the world’s leading automotive-based manufacturers, Toyota Motor Corporation operates on a varied product line that ranges from small cars to luxury and sports cars. SUVs, trucks, minivans, and buses are also primary groups. Leadership is an art, and then to succeed, a leader must be creative to entice others to their cause. According to studies, a leader can only be effective if he works hard and provides as many advantages to his peers as possible (Morgan & Liker, 2020). The underlying paper includes a study of Toyota Motor Corporation’s, a well-known worldwide corporation.
Characteristics
Toyota motor cooperation’s organizational culture defines employees’ responses to the company’s challenges in the market. Toyota Company focuses on continuous improvement and people’s respect. This emphasizes collaboration with people to improve the status of the Company. Toyota, as a worldwide leader in the car business, takes use of its collaborative culture to optimize human resource skills in innovation. In terms of problem-solving help, the Toyota Company gains from it’s own organizational culture. Organizational culture comprises values and behaviors that contribute to an organization’s unique social and psychological environment (Morgan & Liker, 2020). It describes the universal beliefs, values, and principles of corporate members. The structure of the Toyota Company enables its personnel to help solve problems around the world. This includes manufacturing environmentally friendly machines to reduce dangerous emissions, especially to the air. This has also contributed to a boost in air pollution-related cases regarding the respiratory system.
Toyota’s corporate culture has several features or qualities that hint to a deliberate approach to education facilitation. Different motor companies have gained skills in manufacturing fast-moving products in the automobile industry from the fast-growing Toyota Company. This has eased the mobility of both people and has also improved the transport system in the world. As seen by the transformation in corporate culture in 2013, the car sector undergoes major change from time to time. Toyota’s collaborative culture emphasizes the necessity of creating a culture that supports global commercial success. Being a fast-growing company globally, Toyota’s culture has been implemented by several companies. This has led to the easy production of machines that are easy to use by an environmental
human.
Toyota Company has ensured that its outlets are distributed in most countries for easy access in promoting global business. Toyota automobiles are sold across the world. Through its distributors, the company maintains a vast network of dealers. It also has plants in a variety of locations throughout the world that manufacture or assemble automobiles for both domestic and foreign markets. Toyota Company also has a large dealership network across the globe. Its main marketing strategy is aimed at differentiating their products from those of competitors. It can portray a positive image of a motor company people can trust. Toyota aims at improving continuously to give consumers with the best items possible both internally and externally. To boost sales, the company employs a variety of promotional methods. It uses billboards, newspapers, the internet, flyers, radio, television, and brochures to promote itself. It uses attractive slogans to market itself (Klemuk, 2018).
Teamwork: Toyota utilizes teams in practically every part of its business. This seems to be part of the company’s culture, which promotes employees’ participation in their teams. Every Toyota employee goes through a team-building training program to ensure that teamwork is properly integrated into the organizational culture. In the Toyota manufacturing company, the employees work together to ensure uniformity (Klemuk, 2018). This has eased the use of Toyota machines by customers interested in buying them.
Customers- first, are a theme Toyota Company uses. The Company does not mean just the end customer. Even the person at the next workstation is considered a customer leading to great teamwork and gradual analysis to ensure that everything is perfect. Toyota divides its suppliers into three categories. A product development team can work with the first level of supply. Individual parts are manufactured by second-tier vendors. This allows for labor-force cross-sharing, since it may move certain employees to suppliers if work is overburdened.
Combining the knowledge of Toyota and other companies has made it possible to come up with ideas and ways to come up with more efficient machines to be used by humans. Toyota’s business culture emphasizes problem-solving via learning. In this way, the automotive and its organizational culture, the company consistently improves procedures and output in order to achieve its corporate purpose and vision statements. Toyota Company has, with time, progressed because of learning from its previous mistakes that somehow affected its production. It has also learned through observing other prominent Company’s strategies, hence improving its markets. This includes learning in terms of quality availability and affordability. Compared to its competitors, the Company has ensured adequate supply of the Toyota brand around the world at affordable prices. Consumers can discover better-looking Toyota designs, technology and are present (Nomura, 2021).
The Company has open platforms to get views from customers about their products. It has a research center responsible for gathering and analyzing data from consumer expectations towards Toyota Company. This has improved consumer satisfaction. Toyota Company has the initiative in order to lessen the impact of the oil market as per consumer requests. It has assembled a hybrid product range. The Toyota Prius, for instance, can travel up to 48 miles on a single gallon of gas.
Toyota’s corporate culture places a premium on quality. The success of the company is primarily dependent on its capacity to produce high-quality automobiles. Toyota uses Toyota Way Principle #5 to successfully integrate quality into its organizational culture: “create a culture of pausing to correct issues, to achieve quality right the first time.” The Toyota Way is a collection of corporate concepts that guide the company’s operations. A typical Toyota dealership strives to keep supply chain costs low while maintaining a high level of service and high–quality products (Nomura, 2021).
A high-quality product is frequently self-marketed, making Toyota vehicles desirable. The Company focuses on a wide range of consumers who, in turn, focus on vehicles with good value for money. Most consumers value durability, sustainability, safety, reliability, and quality, which are most important in Toyota machines (Nomura, 2021). This has enhanced a good reputation for the Toyota Company.
Toyota’s business culture is known for its opacity. Following the Company’s restructure in 2013, nevertheless, the level of secrecy has diminished in recent years. Every information about workplace difficulties had to travel via the company’s headquarters located at Toyota City, Japan, prior to 2013. Following the reform, although, the Company’s corporate culture places less emphasis on confidentiality. For instance, inside Toyota’s North American business unit, problems discovered at US facilities are now distributed, assessed, and resolved.
The Toyota Company’s organizational structure resulted in secrecy, that was a flaw that slowed reaction times in emergency situations. Massive products were recalled hence damaging the brand image. However, since the reorganization of the structure, Toyota has reduced the number of products recalled for attention hence boosting the image of the Company. Toyota’s corporate culture enables the company to keep expanding. Constant growth via learning is the foundation of innovation. The actions of work teams are used to accomplish improvement activities and problem-solving. The confidentiality of Toyota’s workplace culture, on the other hand, may have downsides since it limits the organization’s agility in problem-solving in the short term.
Nationality
According to the culture of nationality, the Toyota Motor Corporation has developed different approaches to embrace its locality and register its interest as a company. For instance, the management has come up with methods that aim to define the corporation’s primary attributes. Furthermore, these strategies involve development and adherence to the formulated guiding principles. Hence, the relevant stakeholders have come up with a movement, “The Toyota Way,” which is a tool that contains the guiding principles of the organization. The tool was formulated in 2001 with its main agenda revolving around respect for people and continuous improvement of the Company (Vlad et al., 2019). Also, the tool assists all the staff in the Company to apply different methods of running their areas of specialization effectively. The Toyota Way is a program that cuts across all borders and is applicable in the whole world in any Toyota corporation. Nonetheless, the movement is not static and permanent. The Toyota Way principles and practices are dynamic and adjustable to fit in the changing society from time to time to fit in the right place and for excellent performance. Thus, the movement is always on the lookout for any new and appropriate practices to be implemented. Although changes are made to the movement, its value and credibility are still a factor to consider. The changes implemented need not degrade The Toyota Way’s value but instead upgrade it to the next level in this fast-changing world.
Similarly, the framework consists of a set of instructions addressed to the people to improve their work. Also, there are standards in the tool, which are the major parts, classified into different segments. For instance, there are four main segments on the tool. They include Long haul reasoning, the correct cycle delivering the correct outcomes, enhancing the association by building up your kin, persistently tackling root issues that drive authoritative learning. Each of the four segments consists of several principles closely related to the theme of the segment hence; the segments are relevant in the classification of these guiding principles. These standards are also based on the main sectors and agendas of the framework on the people and the corporation. On the side of consistent improvement, there is a clear vision, moving away from challenges and continuous innovation as the major issues of concern. On the other hand, the standards that collaborate with individual respect develop appreciation and cooperation build-up methods.
The first principle falls under the standard of long-haul reasoning. It states that “the management needs to base any management decisions in the corporation on a long-term philosophy at the expense of short-term financial goals.” This principle aims to enable the management sector to motivate these people under management on the importance of long-term decisions, unlike the short-term ones, and to assist them in establishing their desired goals. In this principle, the competence of the managerial team in decision-making is also under testing to find out how effective they are to the corporation.
Additionally, in the second segment on “the right process will produce results,” there are seven principles. This segment contains more than half the number of guiding principles on nationality. Foremost, the second principle is about creating a continuous and consistent flow of processes to expose problems within the corporation. In this sector, the corporation’s improvement is at stake since it aims at the elimination of resource wastage and also to enhance improvement in the organization. Resource wastage elimination falls under many different sectors like time wastage, transportation when it is unnecessary, production in excess, creation of excess inventory, and extravagant expenses on handling defects in the corporation (Vlad et al., 2019). Thus, the principle is organizationally based and is focused on attaining the initial interests of the Company.
Moreover, in this segment, under the same standard, there is a principle on using a “pull” system to avoid excessive production. In this practice, there is a controlled release of any raw materials during production. The control involves introducing a predecessor who may be a person or a machine, which only releases the exact amount of material when asked for more materials during production. Through the control, saving most of the excessive production is the key, and it can be achieved as well. Therefore, the excessive production of end products more than the demand is minimized and reduces wastage of resources.
Similarly, in this category of standards, there is another principle based on the leveling of the total workload on employees. Although the main agenda is to minimize workload, it is also important to note that the decision requires profound wisdom to implement it effectively. For instance, the method aims to reduce the workload but simultaneously increases productivity and profits antagonistically. The workload minimization also aims to make the employees work less, but the action needs not to tamper with production levels and minimize waste. If the labor force is on the equipment, it should still not be overused to preserve its effectiveness.
The next principle in the same segment on the same standard is to build a culture determined to fix any organizational problems to attain first-time production quality. These organizational problems can range from production to assembly of materials, marketing, and many other different areas within the corporation. Every employee within the TMC has the right and responsibility to speak out on any dangers within the institution. The early warning system before and during production enhances the creation of quality products because of the teamwork and registration of different ideas from different people. Thus, to attain quality production requires transparency among the employees and issuance of the freedom always to speak up and critical analysis conducted on any other new strategies pointed out.
Narrowing down through other principles, we get to the principle of standardization. The duties and processes within the organization are standardized to empower staff and improve their performance. Being a bureaucratic corporation, Toyota does not hinder it from implementing legal improvements within its boundaries to make the corporation more productive. Through the bureaucratic system, the employees are empowered, and they grow together with the Company.
Next in line is the principle of applying visual signs to air out all the problems in the organization within the staff members. In this principle, steps are included to make the working environment more friendly and convenient. Here, there is the development of strategies to enhance and improve working spaces for more and quality products and improvement on the working environment. Through sharing of working spaces without overcrowding and the teamwork established in these working spaces ensures unity among employees and capacity building. Also, looking for necessary items is minimized to save time through teamwork and sharing. This principle is effective, and it is implemented in various ways, including sorting unnecessary items within the workstation, straightening items in specified areas, maintaining cleanliness in the workplace known as shine, standardizing the operating procedures, and ensuring the system is sustainable. The implementations as mentioned above are categorized as the 5S (sort, straighten, shine, standardize and sustain).
The final principle in this segment is selectivity. The organization performs a selective choosing technique and only allows the selected factors to be applied in the organizational activities. For instance, the technology used to process Toyota engines and other automobile accessories is selective to possess its uniqueness and maintain it (Vlad et al., 2019). Generally, in this segment, the integration of both the staff and organizational interests is split differently on different principles. All these goals are responsible for wastage minimization and the corporation’s sustainability in the production and marketing sectors.
In the third segment of the standards of principle classification, there are three principles. These three principles are specific to improving the employees’ capacity within the corporation through the development of their capabilities. In this part of adding value to employees, the organization will grow to greater heights. The first principle here states that the organization needs to grow leaders who fully understand what the work pertains them to do and teach other employees and, above all, live the philosophy of the job. Developing these techniques requires consistent attention on the principle and the employee’s thinking. The readiness of employees to learn also creates enthusiasm in the Company and hence the creation of a learning environment which is essential.
In addition, the other principle aims at developing the teams and individuals who adhere solely to the organizational philosophy. The concentration is on the group and not on a single individual among team members. Thus, in cases of success, the whole team is acknowledged. The final principle in this segment concentrates more on respecting networks and other external business environment partners like suppliers. Although such members are not from the internal business environment, they deserve respect. The respect is served by posing challenges for them to be more competent and yield better performance than initial results. Not only does the Toyota Company pose challenges, but it also assists the respective performers in yielding better results. The chipping in the Toyota Company is helpful in problem fixation and making discoveries that can help the suppliers become the best in the industry. Also, Toyota avails cross-sectional teams to fix such problems in the institution. Finally, the last segment in this section about problem-solving also has three principles that govern organizational context.
The first principle here is to establish a physical examination of products beforehand. For instance, managers need to be on the ground where employees are to fully understand their concerns and problems and what can be done to improve the problems they may be facing. Also, the managers apply Tadashi Yamashima’s management principles guide to implement some strategies within the organization. The guidelines include: keeping the target in mind, assignment of tasks to themselves, speaking factual information, applying other people’s wisdom to explain information, always sharing relevant information with others, consult whenever possible, analyzing any drawbacks in the capabilities of an individual, conduct improvement activities, think beyond the ordinary and be cautious on health and safety.
Moreover, there is another principle on decision-making. Emphasis is made on the conduction of slow decision-making processes with no rush. Making decisions should involve fact-finding about the real ordeal, determining any root causes of the decision at hand, considering all the available alternatives, creating a consensus during the resolution of the decision, and applying proper communication techniques for better understanding.
Lastly, it is essential to establish an organization full of eager learners who reflect and are ready to improve their areas of specialization. To show enthusiasm in learning, the staff at Toyota is obliged to criticize any aspect within their boundaries and provide reliable alternatives. Also, the staff is ready to solve problems within themselves. They apply certain techniques, including the perception of the problem, clarification of the problem, determining the root cause, evaluating the problem, and standardizing the problem and its solving technique. Therefore, these three principles rotate around continuous organizational improvement through the individuals.
Toyota’s Leadership
The “Toyota method” is a leadership style at Toyota that emphasizes the requirements of the business and its people to increase credibility and bring about change. As a result, Akio Toyota employs a variety of leadership styles to operate the firm uniquely. Toyota engages and encourages its workers to work together as a team and bring about tremendous change through transformational leadership (Toma & Naruo, 2017). This approach emphasizes the followers’ relationship with the leader and focuses on leadership attributes. Employees driven by this leadership style openly discuss their aspirations with management, and as a result, remarkable results are achieved.
Toyota’s Leadership System can be defined as a tangible reflection of Toyota’s employees and customers. As a result, this is not a hard company-based system but rather a collection of ideas that have been proven in day-to-day practice over multiple years. As a result, such concepts have been embraced and replicated worldwide to develop future results. TLS thus concentrated on three specific and desired consumers: offering high-quality services to customers, ensuring job happiness for all employees, and allowing the organization to adapt to the market in a timely way. TLS works hard to remove waste, overburden, and unevenness in all areas, which will, in turn, assist its members operate more efficiently.
Leadership Theories at Toyota
i. Employees at Toyota respond to leaders, according to the great man theory. Therefore, people with excellent skills and attributes are designated as a leader. It is now his responsibility to act and perform like a great man so that employees can blindly trust him.
ii. Trait theory: highlighting the errors and working accordingly is the mission of the Toyota Corporation. This is why this Company stands different from others and generates effective results in the end.
iii. Contingency theory: picking out the best and working following it. This is what followed by Toyota Corporation too.
iv. Situational theory: working as per the situation is difficult but, Toyota Corporation focuses on this arena to bring in change.
Future of Toyota Leaders
As previously stated, the Toyota Leadership System is a realistic embodiment of Toyota’s personnel and its consumers. As a result, this is not a hard company-based system but rather a collection of ideas that have been proven during day practice over multiple years. As a result, such concepts have been embraced and replicated worldwide to develop future results. Therefore, it is important first to highlight the areas which require further improvements, and proper working should be done by keeping in mind various sets of strategies. This is the only key method with which optimal outcomes can surely be generated.
Toyota needs a leader who is trustworthy and is with a solid strategy. The Company should understand how to deal with intricacy, ambiguity, doubt (Toma & Naruo, 2017). A genuine leader may be the one who looks at errors like an understanding chance. There are no doubt the actual problems associated with alterations. For that arena, leaders should observe the Company with the best possible solutions. Below mentioned areas should be thus covered from a leader perspective to bring in potential outcomes:
i. Encounter the truth
ii. Realize the reasons for the turmoil
iii. Turmoil is linked with long term outcomes; proper strategies must be implemented
iv. To recover the quality of Toyota, altering the turmoil is important
v. Frontrunners personify the actual trustworthiness of a business
vi. Frontrunners have to proceed rapidly to resolve causal functional problems
vii. Toyota should pay attention to long term achievements
Toyota is a great company and will regain its reputation and restore leadership power. But, along with this, various other issues should be tackled down. Solving the issues with the cars is important, and for this specific purpose, it is important first to find out ways to communicate well with the customers (Toma & Naruo, 2017). The responses of the customers are seen as low and different. Therefore, it is obvious that leadership style is lacking behind, and it is equally important to cater to the styles in the best possible manner.
Toyota, therefore, has produced the best lifestyle to prevent turmoil, building practical turmoil administration programs as well as procedures, as well as instruction supervisors probably be a part of an emergency reaction group this could possess perform a sizable component within identifying the actual achievement from the Company in case of an emergency. Suppose Toyota’s current problems motivate many more companies to determine the actual effect of a downturn on the business’s long-term status and safeguard on their own. As a result, the leaders always offer the actual point that originates from current occasions to enhance the organization’s credibility and minimize the risk factors.
Conclusion
The failures of the Company are known as the key areas with which management can work to resolve them and bring in change. The management of Toyota needs to work on the leadership issues that led to the failure of the entire system. The Company needs to work on areas with which quality issues can best be resolved. Moreover, it is also important to focus on the growth and capabilities to cater to any issues linked with the production. It’s unnecessary to be linked with the principle of “genchigenbutsu,” which highlights that it is important to go back to the workplace. The strategy should encourage employees to work effectively so that intensive outcomes can be generated. Therefore, it is important to focus on the leadership and management areas to cater to the issues and overcome any future challenges.
References
Klemuk, N. V. (2018). THE EFFECTIVENESS OF QUALITY CIRCLES IN TOYOTA COMPANY. Молодежь. Общество. Современная наука, техника и инновации, (17), 138-140.
Morgan, J. M., & Liker, J. K. (2020). The Toyota product development system: integrating people, process, and technology. Productivity press.
Nomura, S. (2021). The Toyota Way of Dantotsu Radical Quality Improvement.
Vlad, C., Gatan, L., Tajiri, F., & Takahashi, T. (2019). Rewiring Old Business–Corporate Value Creation At The Headquarters Of Toyota Motor Corporation. In Proceedings of the INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE (Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 310-316). Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania.
Toma, S. G., & Naruo, S. (2017). Total quality management and business excellence: the best practices at Toyota Motor Corporation. Amfiteatru Economic Journal, 19(45), 566-580.
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