Toyota Essays (Examples)

Analysis of Toyota Opportunities and Threats

Toyota is the world's leading patent holder in hybrid vehicle technologies, having over 85% of all patents registered in the U.S. Patent Office, in addition to holding over forty different patents in other registries throughout Europe and Asia. This is a formidable platform for growth in this high-growth emerging line of business. Hybrid technologies can reduce carbon emissions by over 60% in the latest engine prototypes the company has produced, and can also contribute to a 45% reduction in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for fleet care providers (Toyota Investor elations, 2012). This has led to Toyota winning several awards for innovation and thought leadership in the areas of hybrid technology. In addition, Toyota has invested in a rapid prototyping production process that allows them to create, test and manufacture hybrid-engine-based vehicles in 35% less time that the traditional production cycles of internal combustion…

Toyota Strategic Management

For decades, Toyota has been one of the most admired companies in the world. They were able to turn their image in the 1960's and 70's from cheap Japanese import to the car of choice for millions of consumers worldwide. Toyota's strategy has varied significantly over the years. The company began by primarily imitating many of its competitor's designs and even used some of its components. Much of the early strategy of Toyota was focused on becoming the low cost leader in the market niches they worked to carve out. However, in the late eighties the company added a luxury fleet to its product lineup under the brand name Lexus. Toyota has always been tremendously market driven; the company has constantly redefined themselves in terms of a changing market. This has been the company's primary strength over the years.

Toyota's Strategy and Current Strategic Fit

Today, Toyota…

Toyota Strategic Management

Case (TOYOTA)

Strategic Management: Strategy Implementation

Strategic Implementation

Do you think that the implementation of Toyota's current strategies identified in its 2011 Annual eport and on its web page will help to overcome the public relations difficulties resulting from the recall issues reported by the media in 2010?

The current strategies as identified by Toyota in its annual reports and on its website will not be enough in the short-term to reverse the loss of trust in the company and its brand. There are many factors that contributed to the exceptionally high amount of recalls in 2010 that continued into February, 2011 with one of the most significant being the exceptional level of political infighting and lack of focus on customers' needs instead of pursuing aggressive growth (Shirouzu, 2010). This has continued to be exacerbated by Toyota management concentrating more on cost reduction over customer satisfaction (Marksberry,…

This process improvement is implied in the manufacturing and the upper-level management changes, and should be prioritized as such.

Another manufacturing process that Toyota needs to address and which is implicit in the previously mentioned manufacturing process is its increasing propensity to utilize parts suppliers outside of its keiretsu, which loosely translates into headless combination (No author, 2009). Keiretsu is a Japanese term for the tiered hierarchy of additional companies (including suppliers) that traditional Japanese countries work with (Greto et al., 2010, p. 9). Due to Toyota's pressing concerns for globalization and its forsaking of localization concerns, Toyota's American development largely functioned independently of traditional keiretsu suppliers. The noxious effects of this occurrence is not only witnessed in the plethora of recalls Toyota endured in the first decade of the 21st century, but they also resulted in the fact that the organization struggled to find enough senior engineers responsible for…

Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A., Inc.

Major Issues in the Case

Toyota Motor Manufacturing U.S.A., Inc. (TMM) has bypassed their typical response to quality issues known as "jidoka" in a special circumstance regarding seat installation. As opposed to stopping the assembly line and focusing on the underlying root of the problem, in the case of the faulty seats the cars were allowed to continue through the production line with a special marking that indicated that there was a seat defect. When the cars finished the assembly line phase they were then parked in a separate area in which the seats could be repaired or replaced. Allowing the cars to complete the assembly line saved a lot of time and expense because the team did not have to stop operations. However, at the same time it made finding the root cause of the quality issues complicated because it required more investigation and…

However, certain elements of the Toyota Production System must be re-evaluated, particularly the conception of waste. If the principles of CCC21 and Value Innovation were based on the concept that production materials could be halved because they amounted to waste, those initiatives should be discarded. Ideally, Toyota should utilize 100% of the materials that it used prior to CCC21, when all of its quality issues began.

The cost-benefit analysis of this return to basics approach of Toyota manufacturing is critical. One the one hand, Toyota will probably ensure a significant raise in cost by utilizing the percentage of materials and time that it took to produce automobiles that it once did. Yet the benefits will certainly outweigh those costs. After Toyota succeeded in dethroning General Motors as the top automobile manufacturer in 2008, it posted several negatives in its profit margins during March of 2009 (in areas such as operating…

Toyota - a Visionary Company:

Since its inception, Toyota Company has continued to use its guiding principles to develop reliable vehicles and sustainable development of the society through the use of innovative and high-quality products and services. One of the major goals of the firm is to develop products that exceed the expectations of customers with regards to quality and safety. Moreover, Toyota is currently working towards the achievement of zero traffic-related injuries and fatalities, which is the eventual objective of the mobility society. However, the company has faced numerous legal troubles in the recent years, especially in 2010, that were mainly characterized by probable class-action lawsuits filed across the country. In attempts to avoid such legal troubles, Toyota has established its global vision that outlines the kind of firm it seeks to be and the values to cherish. Therefore, the main concern is whether the Toyota Company is currently…

Toyota has a few strengths on which to build competitive advantage and exploit opportunities in the marketplace. The company has two strong brands in Toyota and Lexus that are internationally recognized, allowing Toyota significant leverage when entering new markets or even negotiating with suppliers. Another strength that Toyota has is a strong global distribution network. Takahashi (2010) notes that even as Japan and the U.S. saw weakness in 2010, the company's gains in China and India were sufficient that it delivered a surprise profit.

There are a number of weaknesses, however, that Toyota has. Its historically strong production processes had a poor year in 2010, and the cost associated with product recalls in that year was ¥170 billion - ¥180 billion. Another weakness that the company has is with its supply chain. Again, the supply chain has historically been considered one of the company's strengths, but it is concentrated in…

Toyota Prius

In the case study, Toyota Prius customers sought to achieve different kinds of goals, which the Prius was able to meet, hence helping its customers achieve these specific goals. Prius customers have a mix of immediate and long-term purchase goals, in addition to personal-material and professional goals (Hawkins and Motherbaugh, 2010, p. 448).

Prius satisfies its customers' long-term, which is to have a fuel efficient car, a concern that is primarily economic and secondarily environmental in consideration. Efficiency was the key to Prius' success in the automobile market: it is the most efficient car model that it eclipsed the performance of its major competitors, Honda and Ford. In addition to long-term goals of having an environmentally-friendly, fuel efficient car, the Prius also responds to customers' immediate professional goals to own a car that is environmentally-friendly and fuel efficient, yet technology-savvy enough to demonstrate that the purchase is a…

12. It has not been implemented in a wide enough spectrum to really gain the attention of parents on a national level.

13. Marketing towards one single brand image sometimes limits a company's capability to market its diversified product line.

14. Targeting previous customers through follow up ay waster valuable resources.

T

h r e a t s

1. Utilize the global Toyota presence to keep financial budgets and cash flows under control. 2. If one market collapses, it might threaten others, thus Toyota must balance all its market locations equally.

3. Upcoming competition with other major names threatens Toyota's dominance in sustainable technologies. The company needs to continue investing in new innovative technologies to maintain dominance.

4. Domestic brands smearing Toyota with the idea that buying foreign takes away from American jobs, the company should continue to open plants in different nations as to provide jobs in the countries…

Toyota's Strategic Opportunities And Threats

Toyota Corporation (NYSE:TM) is a $226B global manufacturer of automotive vehicles including passenger cars, light and heavy-duty trucks and transportation equipment. Automotive sales globally generated $206B in their latest full fiscal year, Financial Services contributed $13.3B, delivering a Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Net Income of $4.3B (Toyota Investor elations, 2013). The most profitable business unit is Financial Services, which is the financing division of automotive sales globally (Toyota Investor elations, 2013). As of January, 2013 Toyota had their best month ever of hybrid vehicle sales, attaining a 45% increase, delivering 21,000 units globally (Toyota Investor elations, 2013). Prius sales alone were up 36% over the previous month in January, 2013 as well (Toyota Investor elations, 2013). Toyota has several promising potential opportunities for growth that are described in the next section.

Analysis of Toyota's Opportunities Today and in the Future

One of the most innate…

When speaking about long-term plans, that is, plans which have an applicability of about 5 years, Toyota Motor Company tries to consider new opportunities such as to expand the international division, to diversify its product line, to constantly improve their technology and to become a friendly environmental company. Moreover, when designing these long-term projects the company focuses also on the competitors and try to keep itself on top of them or, at least, to keep the level as high as today.

Toyota Motor Company constantly seeks to find new available markets, where it could enter and sell its products or where it could build a factory (this way reducing transportation costs and import taxes). "Toyota (NYSE:TM) established operations in North America in 1957 and will operate 15 manufacturing plants in North America by 2010" Moreover, the company is constantly entering new markets such as Australia and Eastern Europe.

When it…

Toyota Meets Stakeholders Objectives

Toyota Corporation is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world and it is headquartered in Japan. Founded in 1937, this company services clients all over the world. Despite its position as a leader in automobile production, Toyota was mired in a controversy that revolved around safety issues. When the severity of these issues increased, Toyota began the recall of its vehicles since late September 2010 and this has tarnished the reputation of the company in a big way. Its sales has also dropped because people are unsure of its safety (Associated Press, 2010). This controversy coupled with the global meltdown forced the company to ask for a 200 billion yen loan from the Bank of Japan (Willacy, 2009). All this had a huge impact on the confidence of stakeholders in the company and so, Toyota is taking additional steps to meet their expectations. Toyota's…

Global Crisis Management A Case StudyToyota Motor Corporation is a company that was established in 1937 with the goal of developing quality automobiles. Toyotas growth and success in the global automotive sector is attributable to various factors including a suitable business concept and model. Toyotas global reputation as a manufacturer of affordable quality automobiles is linked to its use of continuous improvement and just in time (JIT) concepts. However, the company recently experienced a product-harm crisis that affected its loyalty in the global market, which is characterized by intense competition. The product-harm crisis was characterized by recall issues that generated concerns regarding the firms openness to its customers and the public. In addition to these concerns, the recall also exposed some digitization in the global automotive industry (Rajasekera, 2013). This paper examines this case and provides recommendations that could help the firms global leaders recapture their brand loyalty.Product-harm CrisisRajasekera…

Creating an Essential Evaluation of the Toyota Production System (TPS) Today
Executive Overview
To be able to create top notch, high quality vehicles at reasonably competitive cost ranges, Toyota has evolved a built-in way of production which deals with apparatus, components, and individuals in the most beneficial way whilst assuring a safe and healthy workplace. The Toyota Production System is constructed on two primary concepts: "Just-In-Time" manufacturing and "Jidoka." Underpinning this leadership approach as well as the whole Toyota production procedure is definitely the idea that "Great Thinking leads to Great Products." Others systems reviewed within this document consist of Kanban, Muda, Kaizen, Heinjunka, Hoshin along with Genchi Genbutsu (Chandrakant 2011).
Meaning of Terms
Genchi Genbutsu
Go and discover on your own: (Genchi Genbutsu). At Toyota, Genchi Genbutsu indicates visiting the destination to understand the real scenario for distinct understanding. This really is relevant in all of the sectors since…

Toyota’s JIT (just in time) manufacturing system keeps inventory at a minimum and is committed to avoiding overproduction. Only what is needed, when it is needed, is provided. “Overproduction may create excessive lead times, result in high storage costs and make it difficult to detect defects” (Harris, 2007, par.3). Whenever something is produced that is unneeded, that is a waste of both time and money. Waste also means the waste of storage space needed to keep inventory clean and in climate-controlled conditions. Waste also means that products which could have been valuable could have taken up the devoted time and money to the unneeded products instead.
But to operate a JIT system requires close relationships with suppliers. Suppliers must be trusted to be able to supply the raw materials in small quantities, as quickly as possible, when there is a spike in demand. A JIT system also requires highly trained…

Global Crisis Management: Product Recalls at Toyota
Product recalls are a public relations nightmare for companies of all sizes and types. In the minds of the public, product recalls mean that companies failed to perform their due diligence in research and development, engineering, production or distribution – or a combination of all of these factors – but the actual causes of product recalls are far less important than the adverse effects these incident have on brand image. Once these opinions are forged in the minds of consumers, they are exceedingly difficult to reverse so it is clear that when product recalls are required that they are managed in the most effective fashion possible. One major company, Toyota, provides a valuable lesson in what to do and what no to do when confronted with unavoidable product recalls. The purpose of this essay is to provide an examination of Toyota’s real-life case…

Toyota Analysis

Comprehensive Case Analysis

An Analysis of Toyota Motor Company

JANE A TUCKER

490 Business POLICY, PROFESSOR RICHMOND

Toyota's Objectives and Strategies

Toyota is an industry giant and has been known as a global innovator in the manufacturing industry. The company has upheld a customer concentrated orientation that has allowed them to be responsive to their target markets. The company is constantly monitoring consumer needs and wants and develops their product mix respectively. One development in the external analysis that was identified within the industry is that Toyota will have to adapt to be more responsive to consumer needs in smaller and more segmented geographical locations. For example, car buyers in developing countries may have vastly different preferences in vehicles then those in the U.S. market. As a consequence, Toyota needs to develop a more regional strategy that is tailored to individual markets.

The external environment that Toyota operates…

Toyota

The mission statement for Toyota should be much more meaningful than the generic, bland "make better cars and contribute to society." Such a pointless mission statement is a waste of everybody's time. This mission statement might sound better in Japanese, but in English it is awful. It also seems like that was the mission when the company was founded. As Radtke (1998) points out, the mission statement may need to be updated as the business evolves over time. The worthlessness of this mission statement would be excusable if the rest of the "Right ay Forward" had any meaning, but it does not. The phrases are all vague, empty cliches: "putting the customer first," "high-quality vehicle at an affordable price," "the…industry has faced a difficult operating environment," "major changes are anticipated," "we will continue [to overcome challenges] in the future." None of these statements would be informative or visionary to…

Toyota Total Quality Management

Before the Second orld ar, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler were the top automobile manufacturers. In 1926, the Toyoda family made weaving machinery under the name

"Toyoda Automatic Loom orks," headed by Sakichi Toyoda. At 20 years old, he invented an automatic loom that would stop if a thread were to break. Sakichi reflected,

"The textile industry at that time was not as large as today's. Mostly, older women wove at home by hand. In my village, every family farmed and each house had a hand-weaving machine. Influenced by my environment, I gradually began thinking about this hand-weaving machine. Sometimes, I would spend all day watching my grandmother next door weaving. The more I watched, the more interested I became." (Hall)

In 1933, Toyoda branched out to create a small car division. In 1935, with workers recruited from GM, their first automobile was similar to the…

This should always be the case and bad things will happen again if Toyota stumbles. The fact that Toyota is not a domestic car maker will be used against them by opportunists.

Dealer/Parts Network

A struggle that has been encountered by many car makers is the "complex web" (as the case study calls it) of dealers, parts suppliers, offices and so forth that have to be managed when running a car company. Toyota has nearly nine thousand employees in the United States alone and they (as well as the dealers) are strewn across the United States.

The management of inventories, parts and customer support in general needs to be as complex as it needs to be but it should not be made less simple than it can be. Building up the corporate morass of bureaucracy is idea because it limits the company's ability to react to crises, such as the…

Toyota is one of the world's leading automakers. For most of its existence, the company has been unassailable, but this past year has presented the company with a number of challenges. These include plant shutdowns caused by parts shortages as a result of the Japanese tsunami, Japanese consumer spending falling again because of the tsunami, competitive challenges and product quality issues that lead to recalls.

As one of the world's leading automakers, Toyota has a lot of different strengths that it uses to compete in the marketplace. The company has great brand equity. Its brand strength is ranked 11th in the world by Interbrand, #1 for automotive companies and #1 for Japanese companies, with a value of $27.764 billion. The company has a great reputation for value, aligning high quality vehicles with relatively low prices. Another strength is Toyota's market share, which is 11% of the worldwide market, ranking it…

Toyota's Financial eporting: Contexts And ecommendations

Measurement Models and Conceptual Framework

The basic conceptual framework behind the IASB and the accounting standards and recommendations made by this group is very straightforward. The standards are meant to create greater transparency, accuracy, and efficacy in financial reporting, which itself has the goal of providing useful information about the reporting entity's capacity as a capital provider -- to investors, creditors, etc. (Walton, 2011; Ernst & Young, 2008). On more far-reaching level, the conceptual framework of the IASB and its issued standards is built on the premise that consistency in accounting leads to more effective decision making when it comes to capital, which leads to a more productive and efficient economy (Walton, 2011). There are many specific ways in which consistency and transparency are encouraged through various measurement models set in this framework.

evenue recognition is one specific area of accounting and financial reporting…

Toyota Corporation

Company Overview

Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese company which deals with manufacture of automobile. The company is among the largest companies in the world in manufacture of automobiles. In 2008, the company was ranked the largest company for the first time in automobile industry (Wankel, 2009). The company has approximately 600 subsidiary companies in various parts of the globe. These corporations are involved in the manufacture of automobiles, commercial as well as industrial vehicles, and automobile parts. Headquarters of the company are in Toyota city, Japan.

Toyota Motor Corporation started in 1933 as a constituent of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works (Wankel, 2009). The first car to be produced by the company was the Model AA sedan, in early 1936. In 1937, the company was incorporated and it became Toyota motor company. In 1982, the company took its present name (Wankel, 2009). This is when Toyota Motor Company…

TOYOTA'S PIUS

With the increased level of awareness of the environment, automotive car manufacturers vie on the viability of selling environmentally hybrid cars. Leading this group are Honda and Toyota. The following is a market analysis of the position of Toyota's Prius. It analyzes the following factors:

Situation of the firm in the market

The industry of hybrid cars

The strategy adopted by Prius and how it is faring in the market

The barriers of the market

Some alternative strategies to rectify the weakness of Prius and The implementation of one of its alternatives.

SITUATION ANALYSIS

Firm

Toyota Motor Corporation with its subsidiaries all around the world reports $5,447 billion for the fiscal year 2001. With more than 5.5 million cars, trucks, and buses worldwide sold annually, the company boast of high profits and symbolizes the ideal in automotive industry. Spread to 24 nations and regions worldwide, Toyota with its…

It has made effective use of American's desire to save money on gas and avoid depending on foreign fuel, although it has given little attention to the additional time savings provided by the ability to drive in commuter lanes and tax and insurance savings provided to hybrid owners. It has perhaps shown perhaps insufficient consideration for American's obsession with power, speed, and acceleration, which drivers rated (surprisingly) even more highly than fuel economy in a recent survey when asked what motivates them to buy a particular brand of car (Reddell, Tran, & Zittle, 2006). Currently, Toyota is marketing the Prius with a stress on its lowered price tag: "Prius: Easy on Gas. And now Easy on the allet" ("Toyota Prius," 2007, Toyota ebsite). It continues to strike a balance between capitalizing upon consumer self-interest and interest in the environment, but Toyota could try to make the car itself seem sexier,…

Toyota

That Toyota has come a long way is a well documented fact. Initially, the Company had a reputation as a firm that largely concerned itself with the manufacture of cheap automobile models and it was not until the 1960's that Toyota managed to shake off the cheap Japanese importer tag to a brand revered by customers across the world. In this text, I concern myself with the various strategies that Toyota has applied overtime and how these strategies have changed with the passage of time. I also bring out the fit between these strategies and the company's strengths and weaknesses in the light of the prevailing weaknesses as well as opportunities in the automobile industry.

The Strategies Toyota has Adopted over Time

Diversification is one of the strategies Toyota adopted from earlier on and indeed, this strategy has been instrumental in the company's continued success in the automobile industry.…

Toyota Strategic Management Assessment

Toyota's dominance in the global automotive industry is the result of their ability to orchestrate many potentially conflicting priorities into a common strategic direction. The Toyota Production System (TPS) is a case in point, which is one of the most advanced planning, scheduling and supply chain management (SCM) systems and architectures globally (Fane, Vaghefi, Cheryl, Woods, 2003). Despite these strengths however, Toyota struggled with the areas of enterprise quality management and governance of their fast-moving supply chains (Heller, Darling, 2011). This shortfall in quality contributed to the threats mentioned in this analysis. The rejuvenation of the company from these crises led to the opportunities also mentioned here.

Threats

The most significant threat to Toyota's ability to serve its stakeholders and make its mission a reality is the increasingly aggressive nature of competition in their business. This threat is multidimensional in scope, with their distribution and dealer…

Toyota Analysis: Part II

As detailed in Part one of the Toyota Motor Corporation case study the company faced exogenous threats to its continuing longstanding profitability: rigorous and growing competition in the automotive industry amidst a weak global economic recovery, and the hangover in trust and customer loyalty to the brand due to 10 million auto recalls since 2009 (CNNMoney.com. N.D.). Despite these threats the company has pushed forward in its quest to remain the world's largest automaker, with emphasis on seizing strategic opportunities in the emerging market economies of India, China, and Africa. Further, the company is pursuing "sustainable mobility" (Toyota Annual Report 2010) via alternative energy technologies which combine greater efficiency with environmental friendly options.

In conducting the traditional SOT analysis it is crucial to analyze the ability of a company to capture its opportunities through its capitalizing on its internal strengths, while simultaneously mitigating potential risks through…

Toyota Recall

The objective of this study is to examine how employees of Toyota view of the company changed after the defect the company had in the Toyota Recall Crisis as compared to their view of the company before the crisis. As well, this work will examine the benefits that Toyota offer to its employees.

Employee's View: Prior to the Recall

Employees of Toyota were hesitant prior to the recent recall on Toyota vehicles to admit to errors or to reports problems in the company's vehicles and according to reports, the management of the Toyota company perpetuated this fear in their employees. Failure to report problems during the manufacturing process is blamed for the failure of the equipment, which resulted in approximately 60 deaths and another 57 injuries. This is reported to have placed a great deal of stress on employees when attempting to explain the problems to the public.…

This response is evidence of Toyota's willingness to accept the biological perspective and make changes based on external circumstances when warranted.

Toyota's product development systems, which were once considered a weakness, turned into a strength with the developments of the Lexus line and then the Prius (organ and Liker, 2006; Radeka, 2006). The improvements in Toyota's product development demonstrated a keen understanding of the contingency perspective, particularly when they started to involve their suppliers in the product development process. This aligned an external actor (the supplier) with the internal environment, to take advantage of not only Toyota's unique factors but those of the supplier as well.

Pil, Frits K. & Fujimoto, Takahiro. 2007. Lean and Reflective Production: The Dynamic Nature of Production odels. International Journal of Production Research, Vol 45, No. 16, 3741-3761

organ, James . And Liker, Jeffrey a. 2006 Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process and Technology.…

This has long driven up the cost of funding activities pertaining to production and distribution, a condition to which Toyota has responded with the commission of its new facilities.

Accordingly, we find that "Limited supplies of the Prius led to a four per cent drop in U.S. sales this year through August for the market's most fuel-efficient car, even as gasoline prices topped $1.06 a litre. U.S. allocation of the cars is 15,000 a month, little changed from a year ago, said Jim Lentz, president of the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker's U.S. sales unit." (M.P., 1) This means that there is an activity-based cost relating to the acquisition of such batteries that likely exceeds that of in-house battery production. This strategy would be expected in the long-run to reduce the overall cost of the vehicle by reducing the market scarcity of the battery.

orks Cited:

Mixed Power (MP). (2008). Toyota…

Hence, these are "invisible" to the end user, but no less vital to the success of the company for it. Components of this type of competition include production lead time, development speed in research and development, production quality, and the capacity of group companies and parts suppliers (The Manufacturer, 2010). Production quality is one of Toyota's great success benchmarks, as the company's inherent philosophy is that quality is a built-in component of all its products.

A further benchmark is the Toyota Global Vision 2010. Created in 2002, the Vision identified four areas of innovations. The first of these is the drive towards greener practices, known as "true to the earth" (The Manufacturer, 2010). The drive is to develop the most advanced environmental technologies, as seen above. The second component is "Comfort of life." This means that Toyota would create products that provide ease, safety and comfort for users. "Excitement for…

Figure 2, Guiding Principles at Toyota, shows the conceptual model of this initiative in the context of Toyota's strategic human resources plan.

Figure 2: The Toyota Way 2001

Source: (Toyota Code of Conduct, 2007)

Training a Core Cultural Component

What has become accentuated in the Toyota culture is the intense focus on training and certifications. For production staff members to be promoted they must go through three weeks of pre-promotion training and review of key production center and lean manufacturing concepts. In order to advance in manufacturing it is critical for employees to both study intensively for these courses, and also pass the assessments, then get the recommendations of their current supervisors to gain a promotion. For managers, the training requirements are even more intensive, with this group of employees required to spend up to four months a year in complex problem-solving and personnel system training and education programs. In…

Such a program would not only boost consumer confidence: if drivers did not have any problems after the repairs, this would also repair the public's trust in the Toyota brand.

Concern 2: Mistrust of flagship electric car model the Prius

Perhaps even more damaging have been the problems with Toyota's flagship electric car model, the Prius. The Prius has also been accused of unstoppable, unintended acceleration. Toyota had become synonymous with eco-friendly cars. Damaging the reputation for the safety of electric cars not only hurts Toyota's short-term profits; it also impacts the likelihood of consumers to buy electric cars in general. This shift would be particularly damaging to Toyota, given it has invested so much of its brand image and research and development capital in the success of the Prius.

esolution 2

As well as improving the safety features on new models and repairing old models, Toyota must undertake a…

Toyota Marketing Strategy

What marketing exactly is?

Marketing is a very unique set of activities which show a great and valuable impact on the entire organization. A company cannot sell its all products to a single customer or at a same market. There are numerous markets and they all are diverse according to their demand and buying requirements. That's why each company needs to identify its market segmentation, market segmentation procedure, pattern of segmentation, basis of segmenting consumers and business market. Many companies use to be target oriented and they develop a target-marketing. They first identify their segments, and then set targets for each segment. After this, they manufacture their products according to their targeted market (Armstrong & Kotler, 2003).

Three Important Steps of Target Marketing

Identify and profile distinct groups of buyers who might require separate products or market mixes is known as "market segmentation" (Sun, 2009).

Select one…

Toyota has a number of key business drivers that contribute to its longstanding global success. One of those key drivers is its supply-chain management. Developed by Taiichi Ohno and Shigeo Shingo in the 1940's, its lean manufacturing style gained the interest of competitors worldwide. The main components that make such a supply-chain management successful for Toyota was interlocking structures, compatible capabilities, joint improvement activities, mutual trust and understanding, learning and Kaizen. When Toyota expanded to international waters, some of this process weakened as seen in their 2009 recalls (Takeuchi, 2008, p. 1). egardless of their setbacks, their efficient using the JIT system, led to customers and competitors remarking on their efficiency and ability to produce quickly. By using parts until they are gone and then ordering more, it helps to eliminate unnecessary inventory and allows Toyota develop capacity planning, leading to continuous improvement.

#2

Toyota is an automotive manufacturer or…

Toyota Motors are the leaders of the world automobile industry and is a multinational company with production facilities across the world. The present CEO is Mr. Fujio Cho and the company was ranked fourth by Forbes in 2002. Toyota Motors is a great colossus employing 246 thousand employees the world over. (Forbes.com, 2010) The company has its own system of management that is claimed to be the best and is known popularly as the 'Toyota way'. The success of the company is largely attributed to the people management being carried out at the company. Toyota's labor management and the company policies are based on the Japanese culture and climate. (Kono, 2001)

Japanese organizations regard human values and have great concern for the welfare of the employees. The Japanese believe in a lifetime employment system, and at Toyota, the employees are loyal to the organization. Japanese HM policies and practices are…

According to Leuilette the only way of accomplishing this is if the, "auto industry flexes its lobbying muscle and pushes Congress to enact a gas tax to pay for research and development. Otherwise, according to Leuliette, the United States will become even more dependent on shrinking foreign oil supplies. Toyota is the second-largest carmaker worldwide and reported that it intends to increase its' lead over Ford. Toyota is expected to remain the worlds most profitable carmaker after making a net profit last year of double its' nearest competitor. Further stated is that, "Japanese manufacturers have been able to steal market share from the American producers in their home market, recently starting to compete against U.S. pick-up trucks and large offroaders, the most profitable vehicles.

Toyota is also rapidly gaining share in Europe and is building new factories there as well as in China and the U.S. On Tuesday the scale…

Kaizen is so engrained in the Toyota culture and the corresponding House of Quality that internally when planned results are not achieved it is considered more of a failure of process and execution (Gong, Wang, Lai, 2009). This is where the TPS varies significantly from American-based approaches to managing variation in results and failure to attain results as well. The Kaizen approach systematically analyzes why a process did not result in the intended goal being attained, and often there is Six Sigma and root cause analyses performed to understand the factors that led to the process not delivering the planned for results (Harrington, 2003).

All of these factors that comprise the TPS are often duplicated by competitors (Dyer, Nobeoka, 2000) so much so that there are often attempts to emulate down to the use of continuous flow, production leveling, pull systems, quick changeover, takt time, and production leveling (Kotani, Ito,…

Toyota

Japanese automaker Toyota, headquartered in the city of the same name, is the world's leading automaker by sales, moving over 10 million vehicles per year (Statista, 2016). However, being the industry leader means one thing -- everybody is trying to take share away from you. As such, Toyota faces many competitive threats. The American automakers are performing better after a very difficult period leading into the dual bankruptcies of GM and Chrysler. The Korean automakers, particularly Hyundai, are becoming more powerful. . Emerging economy companies like Geely and Tata loom on the horizon as new competitors in all markets, and they are already challenging Toyota in their home markets.

Furthermore, Toyota faces internal challenges as well. It suffered a major blow to its supply chain management strategy in the wake of the 2011 tsunami. The company had clustered its supply chain around its major manufacturing facilities, but this left…

The cultural values can be handled through the implementation of the of new methodologies for the execution of the task, the values as per the company's approval should be reinforced, no single action is expected to deliver necessary reforms to modify aspects and considerations that are highly ingrained and extremely valued, therefore it is important that the company adopt comprehensive and coordinated methodologies, for the management of the cultural changes. The multinational companies should understand that the quality of the product, and its services contributes significantly towards the success of the organization, and this has to be achieved only if the quality of the product does not only comply by the international standards, but should fulfill the aspirations of the local population, whereas the aspirations of the local population is based on cultural hegemony, therefore the cultural values should be respected during the entire course. Such organizations should introduce diverse…

Accordingly, Hanson (2009) reports that "while Toyota does have an 'initial allocation for the United States', very strong demand from Japan may cause the company to 'review its sales plan and reallocate the production plan'." (Hanson, 1)

In this case, the sales plan denotes an unallocated cost that may demand a change in financing with the shift of focus to a new market. Another issue cited is the relative shortage in availability of specialized batteries required for the vehicle as Toyota works toward the construction of its own battery production facility. This project represents a convergence of allocated funds and nonallocated costs encountered during the process of construction and facility development.

orks Cited:

Hanson, R. (2009). Toyota may cut back U.S. Prius allocation as demand in Japan soars. Motor Authority. Online at http://www.motorauthority.com/blog/1033294_toyota-may-cut-back-u-s-prius-allocation-as-demand-in-japan-soars

For example, both the Toyota Prius and the Ford Escape hybrid can pay for themselves in just 3 years when gas is $3.00 and you drive at least 15,000 miles per year. Additionally, the Saturn Vue, Camry hybrid and Civic hybrid will pay for themselves in 6 years." (HCB, 1)

This is demonstrative of a faster approach to the breakeven point for the Prius vs. many of its closest counterparts. Fixed costs in this case will generally be those associated with production and distribution of the vehicle itself. The greatest variable cost is that of fuel, which has fluctuated widely but which at its higher rates produces a stronger outlook for the Prius to achieve its breakeven point for consumers. This helps Toyota to make decisions about how to price the vehicle and how best to market it to the correct targets.

orks Cited:

Hybrid Car Blog (HCB)(2006). Prius, Escape…

Toyota)

trategic Implementation

The implementation of a strategy is one of the most important parts of the strategic management process. Most of the strategies tend to fail because of the poor implementation. In this case, we will be looking at the top management team at Toyota and analyze how they use structure, controls, and culture to implement their strategy and fulfill their corporate mission.

Toyota and trategic Implementation

Toyota has adopted 7 principles for its guiding culture. There were established in 1992, revised in 1997, and are the following:

Honor the language and spirit of the law of every nation and undertake open and fair business activities to be a good corporate citizen of the world.

Respect the culture and customs of every nation and contribute to economic and social development through corporate activities in their respective communities.

Dedicate our business to providing clean and safe products and to enhancing…

Marketing

Toyota Company

Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., was started in 1957. It established its headquarters in a former ambler dealership in Hollywood, California. Sales began in 1958 and sold only 288 vehicles by years end. Enthusiasm waned when it was discovered that the Toyota's first offerings in American were underpowered and overpriced for the market. It introduced the legendary Land Cruiser, which quickly gained a status as a durable, all-terrain vehicle. This vehicle carried the Toyota Company in the United Sates until 1965 when the Toyota Corona was introduced. The Corona was the first popular Toyota vehicle in America. It was designed specifically for American drivers. "With a powerful engine, factory-installed air conditioning and an automatic transmission, Corona helped increase U.S. sales of Toyota vehicles threefold in 1966 to more than 20,000 units" (Toyota U.S. History, 2011).

As more Americans discovered the excellence and dependability of Toyota products, sales…

The Toyota Center constitutes an indoor downtown Houston playfield for the NBA's Houston Rockets team, who principally utilize the premises as their headquarters. The site originally housed the nation's hockey league's Houston Aeros team. In July of 2003, this arena assumed the name of 'Toyota Center', following a one-hundred-million-dollar agreement the team signed with the automotive manufacturer, according naming rights to the latter. At that time, it was the nation's 4th biggest contract for a sporting arena.

Of the rights, the leading multinational won by signing the contract were the company's logo set down at a highly prominent spot on the Houston Rockets building's rooftop, and in a number of other noticeable places across the premises. In addition, Toyota was also provided a central spot in the TV commercials that were shown during basketball broadcasts of the games that were played at the 'Toyota Center' basketball court.

This was a…

Toyota European Exposure Case

Toyota Motors Europe Manufacturing was the only Toyota subsidiary that was experiencing losses when CEO Hiroshi Okuda requested in January 2002 for a proposal to reduce and eliminate the European losses. Toyoda Shuhei was the newest President of Toyota Motor Europe Manufacturing Toyota at the time, and despite Toyota dominating the Japanese market and the world market for the number of units sold, it was only number eight in sales in Continental Europe. In 2001, only twenty four percent of the automobiles that were sold in the European market were manufactured by Toyota. One of Toyota's biggest mistakes was its lingering of moving its manufacturing for European sales to Europe.

Much like the rest of the world market, Toyota was experiencing financial struggle due to global sales slowing and margins being pressured. The sales in America were greater than those in Europe in 2001, which would…

Toyota culture that culminated in the safety issues and decline of the Toyota company although this is controversial;. ome say that the Toyota culture with its emphasis on family inheritance engendered decline, whilst others say that it was the reign of t he non-family members that culminated in the decline. till others insist that there was no decline at all and that that Toyota still shows profit. Either way, there seems to be unanimous agreement that internal corruption which includes protekzia of family members ruling the organization and promotion and employment acquisition working on connection rather than merit works to destruction of organization and should be eradicated for th e-company's good.

Mr. Toyoda's in-house detractors say the president has created an informal team of loyalists, making it tough for managers trying to communicate through the formal channels. One non-family manager says the current executive structure operates like a "shadow management…

Marketing Plan for Toyota

Toyota Motor Corporation is a public Japanese automotive manufacturer located in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. The company was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda as a division of his father's Toyota Industries company (Chart, Ends, & Shares, 2000). While still a department of Toyota Industries, the company created its first product, which was a type A engine and passenger car dubbed Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation produces automobiles under five brands namely Toyota brand, Lexus, anz, Daihatsu, and Hino. In 2016, the company had 348,877 employees worldwide, and it is ranked as the fourteenth largest company by revenue in the world. The company has managed to produce over 10 million vehicles in a year, making it the world's first automotive manufacturer to attain this in 2012 and 2013. The company has managed to beat rivals General Motors and Ford although it is ranked as the world's third…

Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP): Toyota's supply chain

The Toyota Corporation is located in an extremely competitive industrial sector: that of the automotive industry. Although Toyota is a Japanese company, with Japanese management and a managerial style considered to be very characteristic of that nation, it is also an international company. "The Toyodas appear to have a say in most key decisions, but it isn't clear why they exert power. The company's presidents came mostly from the family's ranks for decades, and although three nonfamily executives have been president over the past 13 years, there's speculation that the next president will once again be a Toyoda" (Takeuchi, H., Osono, E, & Norihiko 2008). However, Toyota has an international presence and a reputation far wider than that of its home nation.

Toyota is an industry leader in the non-luxury car market, despite challenges from American automotive firms in the past. Although not…

Toyota Total Quality Management.

The CEO of Toyota

e: Quality control and improvement

According to management guru Jim Collins, author of the book Good to Great, "before vision, before strategy, before tactics, before organizational structure, before technology" a great company is founded upon the idea of starting with the right people (Collins 2001: 45). Collins defines the highest Level 5 managerial style with the words: "I don't know where we should take this company, but I do know that if I start with the right people, ask them the right questions, and engage them in vigorous debate, we will find a way to make this company great" (Collins 2001: 45). Toyota has been plagued with recalls recently and focusing on its people is the key to returning to its former, unparalleled reputation for quality.

It is essential for the all of the directors of my department to refocus Toyota's leadership…

Decoding DNA Toyota Production System

Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System

In the article Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System (Spear, Bowen, 1999) (NOTE: this is OK per Harvard citing conventions to put this citation here, after the article) the authors provide a thorough analysis of what differentiates Toyota from other auto manufacturers specifically, and all manufacturers in general terms. The analysis includes key findings with regard to the Toyota Production System (TPS) lean manufacturing best practices including the findings from Black (2007, p. 3663 which states "lean manufacturing calls for redesigning the mass production system" which is exactly what Toyota did in the development of their TPS. Toyota was also able to instill a very strong reliance on the scientific method of learning and instruction as part of the leadership process while also defining an innate ability of this production system to support the foundational…

Total Ops.

8,485,608

7,061,704

3,638,889

3,445,640

* = Data not available

(Forbes, Toyota income statement, 2013).

Examining the income statements, Toyota's income fell from the previous three quarters, and the fall was somewhat substantial. Given that GM's net income did not demonstrate the same pattern, it does not appear to be the result of cyclical changes in the automotive sales cycle. In addition, Toyota's total revenue and net income appear to be more directly and positively correlated that GM's revenue and net income.

Balance Sheets

A company's balance sheet is another way of summarizing the company's financial health. A balance sheet is a "financial statement that summarizes a company's assets, liabilities and shareholders' equity at a specific point in time. These three balance sheet segments give investors an idea as to what the company owns and owes, as well as the amount invested by the shareholders" (Investopedia, Balance sheet, 2013).…

Clearly the reputation of excellence in these areas of their business model is not accurately reflected in performance, as the recalls illustrate. From a crisis communications perspective, Toyota must admit it failed in one of the areas they are known for having pioneered in manufacturing, which is supply chain management and quality management. To do this, Toyota must first admits they are entirely at fault, this shows they are taking accountability very seriously for the massive quality management breakdown that led to the accelerator pedals not working properly. This is a foundational element of successful crisis communications is to take complete accountability for errors and seek to avert them in the future by relying on new, higher levels of transparency with customers and stakeholders as a result (Dolphin, 295, 296).

Third, Toyota had failed to show empathy for the families who lost loved ones due to this massive breakdown in…

external environment facing TOYOTA, the global car manufacturer. This paper discusses impacts of the company's internal organizational strategy (structures and management). The work is divided into two tasks. Task 1: Critically evaluates key factors (e.g. environmental, global, competition, technology) impact TOYOTA performance. Task 2: Provides strategic recommendations for senior managers of the TOYOTA.

Examine the external environment of TOYOTA and how this impacts on the internal organizational strategy (structures and management). Critically evaluate the key factors (e.g. environmental, global, competition, technology) that impact on TOYOTA performance. Findings are drawn from use of analysis tools (e.g. PESTLE, Porter's five forces, SWOT).

Strategic Analysis

We begin our analysis of Toyota by looking at the company through three analytical prisms: Porter's Five Forces Analysis, SWOT Analysis, and PESTLE. It is necessary to define what these analytical prisms are, initially, i.e., define terms, before beginning the analysis in earnest.

Porter 5 Forces Analysis

Porter's…

Faced with a stiff competition from the two companies, Toyota must adopt either one of these two, or perhaps both, strategies in order to keep up with the 'numbers' game in sales and marketing of Toyota cars.

ne of the primary bases of Toyota for using the boomer's babies are (1) the consumer market's capability to buy or be enticed to buy a car and (2) dependence on its loyal customers over the years. The first rationale or basis illustrates the nature of consumers who are car-buyers: since it is the adult-middle-aged customers who have disposable incomes big or sufficient enough to buy a car, then they are the most logical target market that Toyota, or any car company for that matter, should center on. The second basis works on the assumption that Toyota has a strong following from its former customers -- customers who were satisfied in the quality,…

As a result the "Driving for Higher Performance" campaign (note the play on words of the company's general mission to produce better and better cars every year) Toyota is "now able to zero in on where there are major fluctuations" that deviate from its overall mission of excellence and "drill down on variances that could impact the forecast for the balance of the year," according to Doi. (Ozzimo, 2006) the use of profit center segmentation enabled Toyota to quickly reallocate its resources to meet the heightened demand in the U.S. For new models like the Prius hybrid and the Scion (Ozzimo, 2006).

The approach of CFO Doi is embedded with the approach of the entire company's focus on continual improvement. Doi has also had to deal with legal issues, such as company compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley as well has higher benchmarks for cost reduction, corporate compliance, and value creation (Ozzimo, 2006).…

Chinks in the Vaunted Toyota Way

Toyota's dominance of global auto industry has often been attributed to the culture of customer centricity supported by cultural values, systems and processes that permeate the company (Liker, 2003). When cultural values are strong enough, the roles of people, processes they need to manage and systems all combine to make challenging organizational objectives attainable (Nelson, Quick, 2008). The case study illustrates how successfully Toyota has been able to create a scalable, highly effective values-based framework that standardizes processes, eliminating the potential for error. Toyota has defined the intersection of people, processes and systems so they can continually be improved over time, mitigating risk and variation in each area as well. The Toyota Production System (TPS) is the framework that the company relies on for managing its supply chain, coordination, planning and execution throughout its manufacturing operations. Studies of the TPS indicate that the knowledge…

bnet.com/2407-13071_23-93482.html).

When it comes to the younger consumer Toyota moved to establish an air of secrecy around the Scion both designed and priced to attract the younger consumer. With ads that as:

Pssst... have you heard about Scion (Scion bbX concept (http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/1270196.html?page=2)?" Toyota created an air of mystery which attracts young adults in any area of life (Scion bbX concept (http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/1270196.html?page=2).

Toyota also began holding parties, providing music and using other elements that are attractive to young adults to market its products in the U.S.(Scion bbX concept (http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/1270196.html?page=2).

China

When it came time to market the Toyota Company in China, Toyota originally decided to move toward the marketing strategies it had been using in Japan. This decision may have been based in the fact that China and Japan are both Asian markets, however, the culture of China is moving much closer to the American culture than the Japanese culture, which…