Gobalisation and Corporate Social Responsibility in Toyota Motors Corporation - Research Proposal Example

Globalisation and Corporate Social Responsibility: Toyota Motors Corporation’s Automotive Production Chain This essay is a plan for the major research paper on the topics of globalisation, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the automotive industry production chain using the specific example of Toyota Motors Corporation of Japan. The automotive industry is truly global, employing millions of workers throughout the world to design, assemble, market, and sell millions of automobile products to people in every corner of the globe. Toyota moves materials across borders from where these are produced to where these are then assembled and sold. The research study will focus on the example of a Japanese company, Toyota Motors Corporation, which has slowly but surely gone up in the ranking of profitable automotive manufacturing companies. According to several recent news reports, it has taken over General Motors Corporation as the number one company in terms of sales in the biggest automotive market in the world: the United States of America. The research report will have the following sub-sections. Title Page The title page is the first page of the final paper and will contain the approved topic. The proposed topic is stated at the heading of this page. Abstract The abstract is a 150-word (or less) summary of the key points of the research paper and will inform the interested reader what the research paper is about, how the researcher gathered and analysed information, and what conclusions were formulated. Table of Contents The table of contents will contain the different headings and sub-headings of the whole paper, from the title page to the last page containing the tables, figures, and appendices. Introduction The Introduction contains a brief background of the major topics that would be researched and discussed in the research paper. This also contains the research objectives of the paper, how the research would be carried out (research methods), and how the data gathered would be analysed (methods of data analysis). This portion would also lay out the key terminologies that would need to be defined in the paper, such as globalisation, corporate social responsibility, and production chains. For purposes of this preliminary proposal, the research objective would be as follows: “To assess and analyse the corporate social responsibility principles and practices of Toyota Motors Corporation (TMC) across its globalised production chain.” This research objective involves finding answers to the following research questions: (1) How has globalisation influenced Toyota Motors Corporation’s production chain? (2) How does globalisation affect the way that Toyota manages its workers? (3) What are the ethical implications that arise with the globalisation of Toyota’s production chain? (4) Why do corporations like Toyota practise corporate social responsibility (CSR)? (5) How are these CSR practices justified from a business standpoint? (6) How does Toyota practise CSR along its global production chain? (7) How does Toyota address government policies that affect labour, consumers, the environment, and its business directly (e.g., tariffs, subsidies, unfair competition, etc.) For the research study, the primary method for data gathering is through the use of secondary sources which are analysed under the guidance of the research objective. Secondary sources are published materials coming from the company concerned (Toyota Motors) or from other third-party sources such as journals, industry, academic, government or semi-government reports, and newspapers. The Internet would also be helpful in gathering secondary source data. These secondary sources contain important information on the topics being studied, which are the globalisation process, the production chain, corporate social responsibility, and their specific descriptions and characteristics as practiced by Toyota Motors Corporation. Literature Review The literature review section would contain a critical review of secondary sources to be consulted for this research study. Amongst these are several books on: (1) Globalisation and global business strategy (Yip, 2003; Stiglitz, 2002; Micklethwait & Wooldridge, 2000; and Porter, 1990) that study value chains and the effects of globalisation in the previous century; (2) Global supply chains: Gereffi & Korzeniewicz (1994) discuss the development of global supply chains; Simchi-Levi, Kaminsky, & Simchi-Levi (2003) discuss the design and management of global supply chains, useful in studying globalisation patterns of corporations like Toyota; MacIntyre (1982) and Lomborg (2006) look at specific aspects of corporate social responsibility in the age of globalisation. These books would be used aside from those in the course reading list (e.g. Dicken, 2003). The research also involves a number of journal articles on related topics such as Production and Supply chains (Fisher, 1997; Geary, Disney, and Towill, 2006), management and corporate social responsibility (Niemark et al., 1986; Guthrie & Parker, 1989; Sterman, 1989; Mintzberg, 1990; Alvesson & Willmott, 1992; Kaplan & Norton, 1992; Gray, Kouhy & Lavers, 1995: Modelski, 1996; Kay, 1997; Jensen, 2000; Haspeslagh, Noda & Boulos, 2001; Lantos, 2001; Porter & Kramer, 2002; Carlisle & Faulkner, 2004; Carroll, 2004), and two special reports in The Economist (Duncan, 2007 and Markillie, 2006). The latest annual report of Toyota Motors Corporation (2006) and Toyota’s supply chain experiences (Coia, 2004) would cover all aspects of Toyota’s production chain from design to raw materials sourcing (steel, plastics, other organic and non-organic products, and petrochemicals) to global assembly and production to shipping and delivery, sales, and disposal of waste and mothballed automobiles and recycling. These published materials would form the basic reference set to search for arguments that would help in finding answers to the questions that fall under the research objective. Discussion This portion of the essay would include putting together the information from the literature survey in a coherent manner in order to answer the five research questions identified in the Introduction. The line of thinking would follow the deductive method, whereby facts are put together in order to arrive at a set of logical conclusions that would arrive at the attainment of the research objective, namely, to define Toyota’s production (or supply) chain, to determine what CSR practices are being followed by Toyota along its production chain, why Toyota follows these practices, and whether these practices are achieving the organisation’s business and CSR objectives, which is to be profitable whilst acting as a responsible corporate citizen. The discussion would take as its starting point a critical look at globalisation, a phenomenon characterised by positive and negative effects on firms, societies, economies, and markets. Toyota as a global corporation would be situated within this globalised business environment and its role assessed as one of the leading automotive firms in the world. Given the intense competition taking place amongst global corporations, it would be determined what choices these firms have when doing business, and CSR’s role in sustaining competitiveness. Another viewpoint from which CSR would be analysed is from that of corporate governance as global firms are under greater scrutiny from government regulators, shareholders, investors, employees, and customers. Due to the close linkages between the brand image, a firm’s marketing objectives, and profitability, business organisations are finding it necessary to engage in CSR practices, adopting a wide variety of these practices in order to capture a bigger share of the market that would be translated into profits. Why does having such a market leading position provide corporations with a specific social role that should go beyond earning profits? There are several answers, all of which revolve around key concepts such as stakeholder theory, the purpose of a business, the efficient utilisation of organisational resources, and the evolving nature of global competition as one of competing supply chains that, in turn, is affected by classical economic theories of free markets, supply and demand, and comparative advantage. However, practicing CSR is not that straightforward, because it is possible that a firm’s CSR practices may not prove to be an efficient manner of utilising its limited resources. Business organisations need to be accountable to shareholders who want to maximise their profit and want to do good for themselves and for society, but without giving away too much of their wealth. An investor in a business expects the investment to give a return that would not be available elsewhere; otherwise, the investor would take out the investment and put it in an alternative business. Thus, CSR practices must also be profitable for the firm, but in a way that would not be too blatant that outsiders such as shareholder activists, critics, and competitors can claim that the organisation is being hypocritical. A set of requirements for good CSR could be that customers feel good buying the firm’s products; suppliers, governments, and communities feel that they are benefiting from the business; and the firm’s employees feel proud working for the business. Do Toyota’s CSR practices along its whole production chain meet these requirements? Or is Toyota leaving behind a terrible mess in the countries where they source their raw materials and assemble and sell their products? For an automotive firm that sells environment-friendly cars such as the hybrid Prius®, such a finding may not be acceptable, socially or economically. Conclusion This section will contain the findings from the research as to whether the research paper’s objective was achieved and all the research questions answered. This section will also contain possible areas for future research, additional points for further study, and suggestions for improving the knowledge of the specific subject areas covered in the paper. Bibliography and Referencing The paper would use the Harvard format for in-text citations and for the bibliography. Appendix The appendix will be located after the bibliography and would contain tables, figures, charts, and other materials that would help in the understanding of the discussions. Proposed Timetable Weeks 1-2 Research Phase Weeks 3-4 Write Research Paper Week 5 Submit Final Draft Bibliography Books Dicken, P. (2003) Global shift: Transforming the world economy (4th Ed.). London: Sage. Gereffi, G. & Korzeniewicz, M. (1994) Commodity chains and global capitalism. London: Praeger. Lomborg, B. (Ed.) (2006) How to spend $50 billion to make the world a better place. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. MacIntyre, A. (1982) After virtue: a study in moral theory. London: Duckworth Micklethwait, J. & Wooldridge, A. (2000) A future perfect: The challenge and hidden promise of globalization. New York: Crown. Porter, M.E. (1990) The competitive advantage of nations. New York: Free Press. Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P. & Simchi-Levi, E. (2003) Designing and managing the supply chain: Concepts, strategies, and case studies. New York: McGraw-Hill. Stiglitz, J.E. (2002) Globalization and its discontents. London: Allen Lane. Yip, G. S. (2003) Total global strategy II. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Journals and Periodicals Alvesson, M. and Willmott, H. (1992) On the idea of emancipation in management and organization studies. Academy of Management Review, 17(3), p. 432-464. Carlisle, Y.M. & Faulkner, D. O. (2004) Corporate social responsibility: a stages framework. 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(2002) The competitive advantage of corporate philanthropy. Harvard Business Review, 80 (12), p. 56-68. Smart, B. (1994) Sociology, globalisation and postmodernity: Comments on the sociology for one world thesis. International Sociology, 9 (2), p. 149-159. Smeets, M. (1990) Globalisation and the trade policy response. Journal of World Trade. 24 (5), p. 57-73. Sterman, J.D. (1989) Modelling managerial behaviour: Misperceptions of feedback in a dynamic decision-making experiment. Management Science, 35 (3), p. 321–339. Toyota Motor Corporation (2006) Geared toward continuing growth: Annual report 2006. Tokyo: Toyota Motor Corporation. Read More