The Strategies Applied In the Operations, Information and Marketing Management at Toyota Motor Corporations - Research Paper Example

Toyota Motors case Successful business owners understand clearly the power of decision-making and having the strategies in their businesses. Normally, a business’ success is entirely dependent on the decisions made within the premises by the management. The decisions may pertain to operations or marketing and others. Toyota Motor Corporation is a company that was founded in Japan by two individuals. For several decades, the company has been a giant in terms of car-manufacture and spare parts. The focus of this paper is describing and critiquing the strategies applied in the operations, information and marketing management at Toyota. Toyota motors is one of the most successful companies dealing with the making and assembling of motor vehicles. Its success can highly be attributed to the mechanisms that the owners put in place from time to time with an aim of not only beating competition but also remaining atop. Operations management at Toyota is done in a way that leaves the competitors with little to counter. In a company, this department is tasked with the oversight of the processes applied in the production and distribution of goods or services. Usually, there are various approaches one could apply including lean, six sigma and kaizen. According to Ewan and Ron (2014), the approach applied at Toyota is normally Lean whereby the focus is on the customer. For instance, in 2008 it was reported that Toyota had initiated a process of making cars that did not emit much carbon. This was as a result of studying that the society was not focused on having low carbon-environment especially in Europe. Additionally, the research showed that there was an increased demand for cars in the Asian countries more so in Russia. Consequently, Ruffa (2008) reported that Toyota started processes, which fit every need for the markets. Therefore, from these studies, it is clear that Toyota’s approach in operations is lean and is solely focused on the clients’ needs. As a result of using this technique, it is not surprising to find many customers from all over the world preferring Toyota-made vehicles. In fact, Knoespel (2011) stated that this approach by Toyota has been the main key to its success and the ever-increasing dominance in the market. In terms of the assisting the enterprise strategy, lean management has seen the company’s major goals be achieved within the specified period. By firstly understanding the client’s need, it then becomes pretty easy to establish the markets and supply. As state earlier, the company noticed that the countries of China and Russia had an increased demand and immediately embarked on a mission to meet it. A company’s information system is paramount in the achievement of its overall goals and without a proper strategy, it is right to state that achieving these goals will be hard. In this department, the staff input combined with Information technology are important and mainly support the other departments- operations and management to be precise. In the current world, this is interpreted further to mean that a business’ information system in terms of digital capabilities is vital to its brand on the outside. The situation at Toyota shows that there are various information systems being applied currently but in this section, the focus will on the main three. Firstly, Toyota is applying the popular warehouse management system. In this method, Toyota is using it in making decisions pertaining to the storage of materials, processes of shipping and the optimizing of the stock (Knoespel, 2011). By applying this method, Toyota is able understand when to release vehicles for overseas selling. Additionally, the control of the materials at the warehouse is done bearing in mind the customer need on the ground. In the end, the company is able to have logistic equipment that enables clients to have the products not only on time but also in any part of the world. Obviously, this is made possible by the decision to have business intelligence done and basing the decision on this information. Secondly, Toyota does have an additional information system whereby the quality control-system is tasked with ensuring the relations between the customer and the company is maintained. This system enables an interaction between the customer and the company and ensuring the delivery of the vehicles is done quickly and in the right order. In addition, the suppliers are included in the system whereby incase a customer need a vehicle the supplier is notified and delivers fast. Curtis (2010) reported that Toyota created this system with an aim to ensure if a problem arises; the machine would stop in order to limit deficiencies. Secondly, the system tends to produce only that which is needed thus limiting wastage. It is important to note that this system was initially developed with principles of continuous-improvement, long-term relationship with clients handling problems rather than signs and finally adding value to the organization through serving. Toyota ensured that this system would prevent wasted in the areas of production, waiting, transportation, processing and defective products. By creating a system whereby if something proves to be below the standards, the machine stops, the company is able to limit these wastages (Knoespel, 2011). The company finds it easy to identify anything that does not help in improving the process and rectify the problem. Thirdly, the information system at Toyota has a system tasked with the management of the knowledge gathered. Once the information about customer needs and preferences is gathering, the company uses the strategies to ensure customer satisfaction. In fact, this system centrally focuses on customer but with a sole aim of generating revenues back to it. Whenever information is gathered, the company embarks on a mission to use it for its advantage and at times offer some training to people from various cultures. Mostly, this training is about the company and car information in general. In order to avoid spending unnecessarily in these trainings, the company hardly takes the classroom-approach. Instead, the adoption of Vuepoint’s method of learning is the one applied which normally enables it to disseminate the information. Therefore, the information system built at Toyota can be seen to working pretty well for its success and it is not surprising to find the company so profitable for such a long time. Definitely, with a system capable of checking the standard style of manufacturing the cars, it is not possible to have sub-standard products. Additionally, being in a position to have a system that places emphasis on the customer ensures that their needs are well-understood. Again, gathering, storing and disseminating the information to the relevant departments has made Toyota outstanding. This is because the information normally communicated to the rest of the departments thus making them understand the customer needs (Liker & Ogden, 2011). Clearly, these systems have enabled this company to meet most of its strategic goals without struggles. Perhaps, marketing management at Toyota is one of the areas that the company has achieved excellence. The company has remained unshaken despite new entrants in the market and the amazing thing is that vehicles are bought from any part of the world. This section described the marketing management at Toyota and analyses how this has helped in the support of enterprise strategy. Firstly, Rapp, Mehta and Hopkins (2011) reported that one thing the company has strived to do is understand the environmental change in terms of customer preferences. Whereas many companies have failed to understand the influence of environment in the car business, Toyota has successfully managed. Secondly, Toyota firmly believes in making cars, which are in line with the customer needs and preferences. Apparently, the company seems to have a vehicle available for almost any person in the society, social ranks and class notwithstanding (Hoque, Faruque, Mahbuba and Syed, 2013). In other words, it is not uncommon for a customer whose income is not very high to get a car at Toyota. This approach contradicts the on adopted by other companies whereby vehicles are normally made specifically for a particular class. Consequently, only the people who can afford such a vehicle are able to purchase it. It is not just the class that Toyota has been able meet but speculating and preparing for the future as well. Rapp et al. (2011) reported that the company has realized that its future profitability is mainly dependent on cars that are environment-friendly and fuel-efficient. There has been a recent surge of prices in the fuels, which means clients may not afford to fuel the cars in the future. Worse still, the economic status do not seem to be improving thus leaving many with few options of avoiding vehicles altogether. In a bid to ensure this does not happen, Toyota has initiated a process where cars that are fuel-efficient and environment-friendly can be purchased. Indeed this is a good plan that the company has created and one that best explains how the company approaches the marketing management. From these findings, one can confidently conclude that Toyota is concerned more with the direction the customers are taking than anything else. Again, the company is very committed to the income that is generated from the sale of the vehicles and the parts and in order to capitalize on this, suppliers are almost all over. It was noted that the company is very strict to its suppliers who have to adhere to its policies of ensuring the vehicle is sold in the proper condition (Hoque et al. 2013) In addition, the company’s tendency to market the products in diverse cultures and in a language the local people understand, normally gives it a world brand. For instance, it is common to find Toyota brands being marketed in Africa and other continents in a way that make the local people feel as part of the company. Additionally, the company ensures that the spare parts for the vehicles are locally available which makes vehicle-owners spend less as opposed to those cars whose parts have to be imported. Because of ensuring that the suppliers are aware of the company policies and that total adherence is compulsory, the company has been able to win much confidence from the customers. In return, this has enabled the company’s financial goals to realize with somewhat much ease (Knoespel, 2011). Concisely, this is a major booster in the enterprise strategies as it has seen the company’s objectives, one of which is supplying vehicles globally- become a reality. Surprisingly, this has been possible despite the entrance of other companies who are making even vehicles which some could describe as better than Toyota’s. Critique From the above presentations, it is evident that Toyota has been able to utilize its resources and capitalize on the opportunities present. Focusing on the marketing management, one realizes that the company places a lot of emphasis on the kinds of products being sold. Apparently, the company is super-sensitive to its brand name. Suppliers are viewed as people who could make or break the company thus the need to ensure that all terms are strictly adhered to. It is clear that the company is focused on producing products, which have no deficiencies. This is evidenced by the system whereby the machine stops whenever there is a disparity between the intended make and one the machine is creating In conclusion, the company has apparently discovered the areas that makes it strong and has convincingly turned them into opportunities. By firstly understanding the customer needs, Toyota has been able to make vehicles that anyone on the society could use irrespective of their social class. Additionally, ensuring the availability of the parts is at the customer’s door is another strategy that has enable the company to realize its enterprises goals. Consequently, the company has withstood tough competition and remained the favorite among many. Interestingly, the company has also ventured into creating high-end vehicles and in the process neutralized the competition. References Curtis, T. (2010). Crisis Management at Toyota. Journal Of European Studies, 6(1), 212-221. Ewan D. and Ron R. (2014) Next frontiers for lean. McKinsey Quarterly. Retrieved 11 Oct 2014 from www.mckinsey.com./next_frontiers_for_lean Hoqu, I., Faruque O. , Mahbuba, E. and Syed, S. (2013) Analysis of Toyota’s Marketing Strategy in the UK Market. European Journal of Business and Management. Vol.5, No.20, Knoespel, RM (‎2011) How Did Toyota Stay on Top? European Journal of Business and Management, 5 (2) Liker, J. and Ogden, T. (2011).The Toyota recall: Missing the Forest for the Trees Marketing. Ivey Business Journal, 12 (3) 100-112. Rapp, W., Mehta R., and Hopkins, C. (2011) Toyota Motor Company: An Environmental and Strategic Marketing Assessment for Hybrid and Renewable Energy Resource Automobiles. International Journal of Technology, 13 (3) 122-130 Ruffa, S. (2008). Going Lean: How the Best Companies Apply Lean Manufacturing Principles to Shatter Uncertainty, Drive Innovation, and Maximize Profits. Sage: California Read More