Free Toyota Essay Sample

Toyota industry has always existed on the slogan that says, good thinking means good products. The company’s good thinking of its business has seen it prosper a good deal. The company produces a variety of car models that range from the Corolla to the latest model of scion xB. The Toyota is under the larger group of Tokaoka assembly plant and its workers are more efficient than any other. They can produce a car in just 20 hours. Their speed and flexibility has been certified to be that of world class and the same trend goes on in their 30 Toyota plants that are found worldwide.

The company’s president is known as Fujio Cho. Every other company that intends to open a company in Japan is advised to be as obsessive, productive and have excellent management as that of Toyota Motor Corp. Toyota Motor Corp is declared one of the best car industries in the world due to its size, production and excellent management. Although many other companies like Nissan Motor Company and Honda make slightly more profit in each vehicle, they are not as strong as Toyota in many other areas like the production speed and quality that keep improving from time to time and any hole that is detected within the organization is plugged immediately before the situation worsens. Problems within the organization are studied methodically and solved as soon as possible. Although Toyota has got potential roadblocks, the company is always ready to face the challenges and handle them in a way that they are not going to affect their normal running of the business.

Analysis of the Case

Fujio Cho is believed to be the man of Toyota who has led it to its present level of global vigor. Cho is personified, ever smiling, self effacing and a very hardworking and determined man, who’s every plan, always succeeds. Cho is always ready to face problems with a lot of courage and he grasps every opportunity that comes to his way. Cho is very much informed on what happens on the factory floor and he says that Harbour’s firm annual report on productivity inspires his thinking just like the way the bible does to him. He learnt the car business through Taichi Ohno who was his lecturer and the founder of the Legendary Toyota Production System. Cho learnt through his lecturer that, it is very important to be flexible and looking forward always. This advice assisted Cho so much and more especially when he was tapped to oversee the launch of Toyota’s key, the US plant in Georgetown.

The Toyota Company has always believed on the words of its slogan (good thinking means good products) that have led to plenty of thinking leading to high tech ballet. The company produces so many models of cars ranging from the Corolla to the Scion xB. All this is done in a single production line. The Toyota Company fall under the Tokaoka Assembly Plant, this has got very effective and efficient workers; who can build a car for duration of just 20 hours.

Due to the company’s hard work, flexibility and speed, it has been declared a world class company. The company has maintained the same spirit in its entire 30 branches world wide; leading to big increase in market production and responsiveness, some of its branches can produce many different models on the same line like eight of them.

During the longest crashes in business history, most Japan Inc. was seen as debt addicted, clueless and inefficient. The America’s corporate rate was so shocked at the issue of Japan taking over the world due to the possessiveness, production and good management just as the Toyota Motor Corp. Today after 13 years of the Nikkei Peak, Japan is fighting hard to ensure that it does not find itself in a permanent decline. The Toyota Company possesses the financial clout and quality manufacturing required to dominate the world wide car industry that no other company has ever achieved.

The Toyota Company has continuously improved its services from time to time, plugged any loopholes and solved its problems in a methodical way. This has led to the company accelerating its gains. For instance, it is depicted that, in the next few years, the company is likely to pass those companies a head of it like the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corp. (GM). Cho who is the company’s president set a target of 15% increase in global sales by 2010 last year up, from the 10% by then and actually the target was achieved.

Initially, Japan had a curse of owning companies to gain sales and not to make profits. This perception has been killed over time with the Toyota Company, that is operating with a margin of 8 % plus as compared to the 2 % plus that it was operating on in 1993. The Toyota company has always experienced numerous profits like that of 1995 November, 5 that was 4.8 billion US dollars on the sales that were worth 75 billion US dollars. Those kinds of profits have aided the Toyota Company to get a market capitalization over its competitors companies like the GM and Ford companies.

Toyota is also in the process of implementing various programs that will make it develop even more. Foe example, it launched a program with its suppliers that had a target of decreasing the number of steps required to make the cars and its various parts. In the previous years, it managed to chop 2.6 billion US dollars out of the 113 billion dollars in the costs of processing with no case of layoffs or closures. The company targets a cut of 2 billion US dollars this year. The company is also polishing up a plan of creating an integrated flexible worldwide system of manufacturing. The networks will include Argentina and Indonesia in customization of vehicles from the local workers and there will be shifting of production to satisfy the quick demands that will be required by various markets globally. For instance, if the Toyota company taps its Nigeria plant so as to meet a need in the US, the company will save one billion dollars that will be essential in the building of a new factory.

If the president of the company implements this intended transformation successfully, the company will get an automotive machine that will quake the Americans and German’s. Expenses will be cut off instantly through cost cutting and process redesign. This will create a smooth path for the company to develop new technologies and models like investing in world wide manufacturing and access other markets like that of China and Europe. The new models and plants are likely to build share leading to building of more clout. Cho says that, his company has no fear, and so it will do anything that will make it develop more and even if hiccups come about, they have got enough security measures.

Alternatives

Although the company enjoys numerous successes, it has got also potential roadblocks. For instance, the company’s rivals like GM and Ford are spending sleepless nights to overtake Toyota.  For example, the GM chairman Wagoner Jr. says that, Toyota is a good competitor but they are not unbeatable. He predicts that the company’s strong people like Cho will one time go and there will be no revolutions or the company will no longer enjoy the successes any more.

Although it can be speculated that the strong Yen was hammering the Toyota Company during the 1980s, but after many decades since then, the Yen has been going up and down but the company has maintained its quality standards and no one can accuse the Toyota Company as requiring a cheap Yen to subsidize its exports. If anything, the Toyota Company has invested a lot in US dollars and so the Yen is no longer in its every savings

The company purchases its materials and parts from approximately 500 suppliers in North America, which are above 19 billion US dollars more than the Oracle corp. and Cisco systems Inc. Toyota’s products are among the world’s most expensive cars, which is a positive trend for the profit making of the company. The company is slowly by slowly robbing big companies like Chrysler and Ford their popularity and fame. For instance, Toyota’s average fall per car is 647 US dollars as compared to that of Ford that is averagely 3812 US dollars.

The Toyota Company has plans of extending its lead in eco-cars by adding a hybrid Lexus which is expected to fetch about 35 miles per gallon compared to that of 21 mpg of the conventional RX 330. The company’s vice president James Farley said that, they started the Scion because many buyers of the brands did not intend to buy the brand when they first saw its shape. The Scion was poorly designed in that, whenever their management staff went anywhere in the world, they were asked why the Toyota cars were so poorly styled. The president of the company says that, part of the problem is that, most Toyotas were designed with Japanese consumers in mind but later on exported. Some of them were accepted in the market while some flopped. Today design teams in US, France, and West Coast compete for projects. This has paved way for models like Yaris, which is Toyotas most selling in Europe and the company has a 4.4% share that is much more than that of less than the 3% that was got a decade ago. The company has finally come to understand that, the buyers need a feeling of style or may be a v-shape line dropping down the grille to give a masculine silhouette.

Recommendations

Toyota has got a good lesson to offer to other industries, other firms and sectors and more especially those faced with challenges of poor management leading to making losses in the organizations instead of making profits. All directors and managers of other organizations should emulate Cho’s leadership skills that has brought the Toyota company this far.

For the Toyota Company, let the organization continue with the same spirit and even research further to develop more. Another issue is to prepare the young generation that will take over the company in cases of retirements, deaths and sickness. This will avoid cases whereby. When the director of a certain organization retires or dies, the organization falls instantly due to management by inexperienced directors. It is also wise to teach the industries, firms and various sectors their skills so that they grow together as companies of one country and let the world talk about the prosperity of Japan and not Toyota.

 

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