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Student's NameProfessor's NameCourseDateAbstractToyota is a large company that specializes in producing automobile products. The company's culture has given it a competitive edge over other firms such as Honda, BMW, Ford, and Nissan. The company's family type of model is inherited from the Japanese tradition that is male dominated, follows strict rules, and emphasizes close relationships and communication. Communication is a core aspect of the company as information can come from the top down or vice versa. The employees are treated equally and are put into groups to facilitate cooperation and brainstorming. The company motivates employees by providing paychecks and providing platforms for professional growth. The company should change male domination and be quick to respond to the customers when a crisis occurs. Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc57167086 \h 3Toyota Company Culture and the Theoretical Model PAGEREF _Toc57167087 \h 3Toyota Company Culture PAGEREF _Toc57167088 \h 4Communication in Toyota Company PAGEREF _Toc57167089 \h 7Employee Motivation PAGEREF _Toc57167090 \h 8Needs of Belonging PAGEREF _Toc57167091 \h 10Self-actualization PAGEREF _Toc57167092 \h 10Using Toyota's Culture to Enhance its Success PAGEREF _Toc57167093 \h 10Works Cited PAGEREF _Toc57167094 \h 13Organizational BehaviorIntroductionToyota company is one of the largest automotive companies in the world. Currently, it leads to the manufacture of hybrid electric cars and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. The company has an impressive marketing strategy and focuses on developing quality products that satisfy the customers. The company faces stiff competition from other global brands such as Honda, BMW, Nissan, Volkswagen, and Ford (Aoki and Wilhelm 1080). The company has been a top performer for several years. That is attributed to adopting a flexible framework that allows the company to create customized products and embrace the market trends. Toyota Company Culture and the Theoretical ModelToyota company uses several corporate culture and management models; however, its management style is family type. Family adheres to strict rules, respect for the elderly, it is male-dominated and focuses on a long-term orientation. The company also follows other principles, such as respect for people, mutual trust, teamwork, and continuous improvement (Cusumano 59). The success of the company is attributed to their skilled employees and technological innovations. In family types, the operations are centralized and have a low level of formalization. The company is a reflection of the Japanese culture that highly regards family and its hierarchical structure. The company leader directs and guides the company, and the employee tries to be closer to the leader, who is the source of power (Aoki and Wilhelm 1089). The workplace environment can be manipulative, but there is low bureaucracy. Therefore, the relationships are based on personal bond and trust. Toyota Company CultureThe firm published the article "the Toyota Way 2001," where it illustrated the features of the it culture and the management style. The management style is based on continuous improvement and respect for people. Continuous improvement is based on three main concepts: challenge, Kaizen, and Genchi genbitsu (Chiarini and Emidia 592). In terms of challenge, the company emphasizes on brainstorming and coming up with ideas and solutions to the problems facing the company. Kaizen means that the company focuses on improving all aspects of the company and promotes innovation. The Genchi genbitsu seeks to enhance the right decision, agreements, and ensuring the workforce achieves the organizational goals (Jim and Shinde 16). The second element, Respect for People, focuses on the relationships in the workforce. It requires respect for everyone, avoid conflict, and everyone to be accountable for their actions. The aspect also promotes teamwork and bonding among the employees. The company highly regards collaboration, and therefore, it claims that a perfect team should have at most five members. Small groups are significant because it is easy to maintain mutual trust and solve problems. Each team has a leader who is mandated to oversee all the activities done, assure safety of the employees and, and teach them about the company’s culture. Both the members of the team and the leader are expected to self-improve. The company's success comes from the mutual trust between the employees and the employers (Gao and Low 18). The company can achieve mutual trust because of its focus on long-term prosperity and continuous improvement. In return, the company provides paychecks, personal growth platforms, a safe working environment, and other benefits. The firm ensures there is discrimination in the company to facilitate a conducive environment for bonding and cooperation. Everyone, including the managers, has the same uniform, there are no executive parking spaces, dining rooms, and offices- Everyone is treated equally (Chiarini and Emidia 598). The company ensures that the employees are dedicated to the work by offering them opportunities to gain more insight into the work and provide higher positions.Different departments have varying subcultures, and therefore, the organization develops a common culture across its departments. They do so by shifting the managers to other departments to understand how they operate their challenges. Similarly, according to the company's culture, problems are best solved by having a strong bond between them (Aoki and Wilhelm 1094). The whole system has founded an accuracy, punctuality, stabilization in work, and standardization. After the second world war, most companies were disoriented, and therefore, most were copying American firms. However, Toyota aimed for authenticity, and consequently, it focused on creating a production system that blended with the Japanese culture. The Japanese culture pit emphasis on family, and therefore, the company's managers created a culture based on warm relationships between the employees and the managers. Secondly, the Japanese culture is male-dominated, follows strict rules, and a long-term orientation, and that can be reflected in Toyota's management style (Coetzee, Merwe, and Dyk 79). All those qualities have made Toyota's company successful in foreign markets. When the company wants to enter a new market, it conducts in-depth research about the market gap, the environmental requirements, and how the Toyota culture can be implemented. The firm follows a policy called "right cars for the right markets," which means that they create customized automobiles to suit the target group's needs (Toma, Marinescu, and Gr?dinaru 158). For instance, currently, the company produces hybrid cars for customers who are conscious of global warming. The "Highlander" and "Tundra" are full size pick-ups that are mainly suppied to the American market because of their love for big cars (Rahmani, Najafi, and Delshad 1). The company strategy aims to penetrate different markets and maintain low costs while maintaining quality. Therefore, the company has to be innovative and create technologies that produce high-quality cars at a relatively low cost. The company has a kaizen team which can be sent to any assembly plant across the world to guide the local managers and employees about the corporate culture, technologies and skills and that underscores continuous improvement principle. The Kaizen principle has proven to be beneficial to the company. Studies show that most of the company's employees and its subsidiaries have worked for over ten years (Nkomo 26). That illustrates how the principle makes the employee be committed to the organization. It also lowers employee turnover. Secondly, most employees were happy with their work and were satisfied working in the company.The Japanese culture respects the elderly, and that is reflected in the company's corporate culture. Employees' retirement age is usually posted overseas, where their job is to teach and train new employees (Morgan and Liker 45). What motivates the employees to continue working in the organization and be committed to its mission. The company also has an efficient production system that produces quality cars at a low munication in Toyota CompanyThe company uses several communication channels, including email, text messages, instant messaging, news-letter, notice board, and face-to-face. Sharing of information, opinions, and ideas is a core aspect of its culture because it facilitates teamwork. The company utilizes different communication modes, but some are frequently used more than others (Chiarini and Emidia 599). Having the right communication skills is essential because it helps the company have a competitive advantage over others, such as Honda and General motors. The success of the company is also partly attributed to effective communication, especially when making sales. The company is rated as the best automotive company, and its products are in high demand worldwide. The company has identified the skills that enhance internal communication to make the workers faster, practical, work more comfortable, and be satisfied with their job (Kehr and Proctor 929). The transmission can be both downward or upward. Poor communication can occur when information flows from the manager to the employee, policymaker to operating personnel. Toyota has a hierarchical order, and when the message moves from the top to the lower levels, it tends to become larger (Toma, Marinescu, and Gr?dinaru 155). For instance, a policy statement from the board of directors can grow to a formal plan for the lower levels. Upward communication is essential as it entails feedback from the employees. The employees can convey information such as opinions about the organization, their work (Rother 16). The data is crucial when formulating strategies and policies. When there is a shortfall in the financial returns, the management has to inquire why there was a shortfall. In most cases, the failure is usually caused by poor internal communication. When managers realize that communication is the problem, they organize conferences that resolve the issue (Coetzee, Merwe, and Dyk 81). The company's strength is heavily dependent on the communication between the employees and the management. Therefore, teamwork has been instrumental in creating a closely-knit unit where everyone can express their opinions (Thummalapalli Shankar 198). The team members consult, persuade, and inform each other. The team leader guides the team and teaches them about corporate culture. In this age of technology, communication strategies such as emails and social media have gained prominence; however, the company highly regards face-to-face. The communication channel is mostly used to keep the employees updated (Monden 79). It is also useful in aspiring the employees to speed up to achieve the company's objectives. When the employees are motivated, they become committed to their work and are satisfied to be part of the company. The company requires the management to have frequent meetings with the employees. They are required to have face-to-face meetings twice a month. Face-to-face communication is the preferred mode of communication because it allows each member to express verbally and non-verbal cues (Lai et al., 12). The facial expression can indicate the emotion of an individual. The communication also allows the exchange of visual information and will enable them to understand each other well. Employee MotivationEmployee motivation is a critical aspect of the company because it ensures the employees work together to achieve their goals and objectives. One way in which the company motivates the employees to ensure the employees utilize their talents. Employees tend to enhance their productivity if they can use their capabilities to perform work. Secondly, the company uses Maslow's Hierarchy of needs to ensure the employees stay motivated and reduce turnover. The highest level is self-actualization, which entails doing things that improve one's personality, while the lowest one- physiological focuses on basic needs such as food. Everyone working in Toyota company has all their lower-level needs covered. The company ensures the employees have a decent income, their job is secure, and they work in a safe and controlled environment. the company also provides childcare and recreational facilities for the onsite employees to focus on Toyota's vision (Chiarini, Baccarani, and Mascherpa 680). The company's culture encourages using a challenging situation to build self-confidence to accelerate the self-actualization level. The lower-level needs are often referred to as "hygiene" factors because their absence can result in dissatisfaction. Apart from providing the hygiene factors, the employees need to be intrinsically motivated. That entails recognizing their work and also have some degree of autonomy.Toyota company provides hygiene factors as well as providing an enriching environment through its assembly line. The work involves repeating a task, and therefore, the employee will be accountable for a small part of the whole product. However, TPS makes the job more intrinsically motivating. One of the features that were added in the assembly line to add intrinsic value is job rotation. Job rotation allows the workers to be responsible for a vehicle's subsystem (Rüttimann and St?ckli 140). Secondly, the workers receive additional feedback on their performance; the andon system enables the employees to find solutions, and teams also enjoy autonomy in the tasks.The company started focusing on job enrichment in the 1990s when it modified its assembly line to install different parts of a subsystem in other areas. Therefore, diverse teams are assigned to specialized in specific areas such as putting in floor mats, electrical systems, or door handles (Matsuo 45). The firm gives a particular group to oversee a project from the start to the end for the office employees. For instance, a team can be selected to manage the design when it starts until when it is ready at the production site. It is empowering to the employee when they participate in a project from the beginning to the end. Needs of BelongingToyota company promotes team spirit and a sense of belonging by ensuring no one feels discriminated against. Everyone is treated equally, regardless of their position in the company. There are no private cafeterias, office spaces, parking spaces, or private secretaries (Lai et al., 7). That allows everyone to interact anywhere and feel they are part of the organization. In most companies where the managers are given exclusive privileges, they tend to avoid interacting with them as it creates tension. Self-actualizationThe culture encourages the employees to solve the problems they encounter to boost their self-esteem, leading to self-actualization and creating small groups where the team leader's ratio to the team leader is 4:1 increases the employees' promotion opportunities (Mehri 79). Additionally, the employees can get job rotation opportunities and receive training to perform better at their jobs. Using Toyota's Culture to Enhance its SuccessThe company, as an effective leadership that ensures that it formulates and implements the right strategies. However, the top managers' decision making should be changed. In 2009, the company produced and distributed cars with faulty accelerators (Iyer 17). Even after noticing the problem, the leadership did not admit the mistake until they got pressured, and when legal suits against them were filed. The company has a culture that emphasizes satisfying customers. Therefore, once a problem in their cars has been identified, the company should be willing to make it public and indicate its measures. Such action also ensures the company maintains a rapport with the public is maintained. The emerging markets in Asia, such as India and China, are providing ideal opportunities for investments. However, local companies, such as Mahindra offer stiff competition. The company can use its innovativeness to create customized automobiles that will attract the target market (Chiarini, Baccarani, and Mascherpa 702). Additionally, Toyota company is usually male-dominated, especially in the top positions. That has worked well for the company, but women empowerment has gained recognition across the world in recent years. The company allows for flexibility, and therefore, the managers must revise it as an aspect of male domination. The company ought to provide equal hire and promotion opportunities to all genders to avoid public criticism, affecting its reputation. Toyota is a multinational automobile whose corporate culture has led to its success in the industry. When the company was formed, it was meant to emulate the Japanese culture that highly regards family. Therefore, the employees and managers work together as a closely-knit unit. The company ensures there is no discrimination by providing the managers do not get any exclusive benefits. The employees work in small groups where they cooperate and brainstorm whenever they face a challenge. The employees are motivated by being provided with good salaries and working in a safe environment. They are also trained and promoted and encouraged to solve problems by themselves to enhance their self-confidence. Toyota's culture has been thriving, but it could be accelerated if it abolished male domination and be accountable for any mistake they make as fast as possible.Works CitedAoki, Katsuki, and Miriam Wilhelm. "The role of ambidexterity in managing buyer–supplier relationships: The Toyota case." Organization Science 28.6 (2017): 1080-1097.Chiarini, Andrea, and Emidia Vagnoni. "World-class manufacturing by Fiat. Comparison with Toyota production system from strategic management, management accounting, operations management, and performance measurement dimension." International Journal of Production Research 53.2 (2015): 590-606.Chiarini, Andrea, Claudio Baccarani, and Vittorio Mascherpa. "Lean production, Toyota production system, and kaizen philosophy." The TQM Journal (2018).Coetzee, Rojanette, Karl Van der Merwe, and Liezl Van Dyk. "Lean implementation strategies: how are the Toyota Way principles addressed?" South African Journal of Industrial Engineering 27.3 (2016): 79-91.Cusumano, Michael A. The Japanese automobile industry: Technology and Management at Nissan and Toyota. Brill, 2020.Gao, Shang, and Sui Pheng Low. "Toyota Way style human resource management in large Chinese construction firms: A qualitative study." International Journal of Construction Management 15.1 (2015): 17-32.Iyer, Ananth V. Toyota: Supply Chain Management. MGH, 2019.Jim, Sysko, and Jaysinha S. Shinde. "Crisis management at Toyota." Advances in Management 8.2 (2015): 16.Kehr, Thomas W., and Michael D. Proctor. "People Pillars: Re‐structuring the Toyota Production System (TPS) House Based on Inadequacies Revealed During the Automotive Recall Crisis." Quality and Reliability Engineering International 33.4 (2017): 921-930.Lai, Shi-Yuan, et al. "The dilemma of Toyota Production System implementation: a case study of Taiwan machine tool industries." International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences 5.1 (2015): 1-12.Matsuo, Makoto. "Human resource development programs for knowledge transfer and creation: the case of the Toyota Technical Development Corporation." Journal of Knowledge Management (2015).Mehri, Darius. Notes from Toyota-land: An American engineer in Japan. Cornell University Press, 2018.Monden, Yasuhiro. Toyota management system: Linking the seven key functional areas. Routledge, 2019.Morgan, James, and Jeffrey K. Liker. The Toyota product development system: integrating people, process, and technology. CRC Press, 2020.Nkomo, Thembani. "Analysis of Toyota Motor Corporation." (2019).Rahmani, Masoud, Esmail Najafi, and Abdol Hamid Delshad. "Assessment the effect of the marketing mix on increase the imported car sales (Case Study: Toyota Company)." International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies (IJHCS)? ISSN 2356-5926 1.1 (2016).Rother, Mike. Toyota Kata: Managing people for improvement, adaptiveness and superior results. MGH, New York, 2019.Rüttimann, Bruno G., and Martin T. St?ckli. "Going beyond triviality: The Toyota production system—lean manufacturing beyond Muda and Kaizen." Journal of Service Science and Management 9.02 (2016): 140.Thummalapalli, Uma Shankar. "The Influence of Green Supply Chain Management on the Competitive Advantage: Case of Japanese Auto Manufacturing Company (Toyota)." Unpublished Research for the Degree of Master of Business Administration, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan (2019).Toma, Sorin-George I., Paul Marinescu, and C?t?lin Gr?dinaru. "Creating Shared Value in the 21st Century: The Case of Toyota Motor Company." Value Sharing for Sustainable and Inclusive Development. IGI Global, 2018. 155-184. ................
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