Premium Essay

Toyota Decision Processes

In:

Submitted By Salena11
Words 4041
Pages 17
How Toyota Ought to Organize its Decision Processes to Minimize the Risk of Major
Design Flaws that Lead to Massive Recalls and Driver Deaths from the Perspective of Organization Design and Decision-Making

Abstract
Japanese automaker, Toyota was a quality assurance trademark trusted by consumers worldwide. Though, in recent years, the company has been inundated by numerous vehicle recalls. Toyota’s quality problems surfaced when it was forced to recall nearly 7 million vehicles in the late part of 2009 (Chris, 2010). The recall crisis of 2009-2010 prompted a wave of negative publicity for the company (Chris, 2010). Many issues were discovered that led to the recalls. Sticky gas pedals, pedal entrapment, and software glitches that affected braking in some models were some of the problem areas (Trudell, 2014). Over time, the safety related recalls continued growing. In fact, by May 2011, the automaker had recalled close to 20 million vehicles (Trudell, 2014). Naturally, the numerous recalls and lawsuits that ensued threatened to damage Toyota’s image; thus, to rectify this the company should organize its decision processes more efficiently.

Keywords: organizational change, recall, total quality management
Introduction
For decades, Toyota set the standard for quality and reliability in the automotive industry. In fact, the Toyota brand has been touted as the pinnacle of automotive excellence by rating industries and industry consultants (Piotrowski & Gray, 2010). The automaker founded in 1937, has strived over the years to manufacture superior quality automobiles (Rajasekera, 2013). Toyota has built a global reputation for engineering affordable, quality vehicles, capitalizing on the principles of Just-In-Time (JIT), the Total Production System (TPS), and the Japanese concept of Kaizen, or continuous improvement (Rajasekera, 2013). Known

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Toyota Organization Culture

...Toyota Organizational Culture Toyota is the world leader in manufacture of motor vehicles. Toyota has branches all over the world, and in almost all states in the United States. The three levels of culture which include in Toyota organization are artifacts, espoused beliefs and values, and basic underlying assumptions. The major aspects of organizational culture within Toyota include leadership and motivation (structures and processes), team work and communication (ideals, goals and values), and conflict resolution (taken-for-granted beliefs). According to Schein, “artifacts include the visible products of the group, such as the visible and feelable structures and processes” (Schein, 2010). Toyota leadership style is democratic, and it proven to be effective within Toyota. Toyota let their employees involved in decision making process, especially when the decisions affect themselves. At Toyota, employees are independence and there are minimal supervisions from the management. By doing this, it enable the employees to be innovative and work without interference. “Toyota has an elaborate employee participation and empowerment related system that uses creative suggestion program and quality improvement system using quality control circles” (Nayebpour, 2007). When employees make a mistake, the upper management advises employees to take it as a learning experience instead of award punitive measures. The upper managements always available to the employees at all times to solve their...

Words: 932 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Toyota Production System

...Toyota Production System (Adapted from Slack, et al. 2006) Seen as the leading practitioner and the main originator of the lean approach, the Toyota Motor Company has progressively synchronised all its processes simultaneously to give high quality, fast throughput and exceptional productivity. It has done this by developing a set of practices that has largely shaped what we now call ‘lean’ or ‘just-in-time’ but which Toyota calls the Toyota Production System (TPS). The TPS has two themes, ‘just-in-time’ and ‘jidoka’.’Just-in-time’ is defined as the rapid and coordinated movement of parts throughout the production system and supply network to meet customer demand. It is operationalised by means of heijunka (levelling and smoothing the flow of items), kanban (signalling to the preceding process that more parts are needed), and nagare (laying out processes to achieve smoother flow of parts throughout the production process). Jidoka is described as ‘humanizing the interface between operator and machine’. Toyota’s philosophy is that the machine is there to serve the operator’s purpose. The operator should be left free to exercise his or her judgement. Jidoka is operationalised by means of fail-safe (or machine jidoka), line-stop authority (or human jidoka), and visual control (at-a-glance status of production processes and visibility of process standards). Toyota believes that both just-in-time and jidoka should be applied ruthlessly to the elimination of waste, where...

Words: 836 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Process Identification Plan for Toyota

...The Case for Change at Toyota Motor Corporation Process Identification and Improvement Plan ______________________________________________________________________________ Unit 1 Assignment 1 MBA 6022 Lynette D. Capella University Abstract This Process Identification and Improvement Plan will begin with a summary of the Toyota Motor Corporation and core commitment to safety, quality and volume. It will also refer to the case study review titled “Toyota: The Accelerator Crisis (2010), by Greto, Schotter, and Teagarden for a synopsis of the accelerator and automobile recall crisis that affected the company’s reputation, image and near financial collapse. It also identifies two distinct process areas have been targeted for improvement, Toyota’s HR management systems and TPS/Lean Production System which need to be integrated. Furthermore, this plan will further discuss areas of development, positive impact and benefits to the company— and demonstrate how if a process change does occur how it will negatively impact this particular industry/ areas for improvement or innovation and then discussing the specific opportunities including impact and benefits. Introduction Toyota Summary: According to Greto, (2010), in 1933, Toyota Motor Corporation was originally founded as a division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works; which was dedicated to the production of vehicles under the guidance of Kiichiro Toyoda. The company’s first automobiles were the A1 passenger cars...

Words: 3876 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Toyota: the Accelerator Crisis

...MONTERREY | THUNDERBIRD Production Operation Management TOYOTA: THE ACCELERATOR CRISIS Study Case Report | | 1. What were the drivers of Toyota´s accelerators crisis? Why was Toyota facing a recall crisis? The drivers of Toyota crisis were Strategic, structural and cultural issues. At the strategic level, the cost reduction strategy added with the increasing of the output volume strategy caused a decrease in quality. Furthermore, the structure of Toyota (HQs in Japan and not in the U.S) impacted Toyota’s response to customer’s claims, taking a long time to address Toyota consumer’s concerns, and in fact was one of the most criticized issues during the crisis. In other words, the company took a considerable time before recalling units that meant life losses and significant economic impacts. At the cultural managerial level, there were difficulties driven by how Japanese address the situation vs. how Americans deal with the problems. The company lost its original philosophy due to different cultural orientations between Japanese headquarters and North American subsidiaries. The fact that Toyota was recovering from its last unit’s recall (due to motors leaking oil) plus the beginning of the global financial crisis, ended up yielding a deviation of the original long term plan to look after the U.S subsidiary´s financial performance, triggering a swap in the three main pillars of Toyota (Safety, Quality and Volume). 2. Michael Porter claims...

Words: 1047 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Toyota

...Toyota Organization Culture Toyota Organizational Culture Toyota is the world leader in manufacture of motor vehicles. Toyota has branches all over the world, and in almost all states in the United States. The three levels of culture which include in Toyota organization are artifacts, espoused beliefs and values, and basic underlying assumptions. The major aspects of organizational culture within Toyota include leadership and motivation (structures and processes), team work and communication (ideals, goals and values), and conflict resolution (taken-for-granted beliefs). According to Schein, “artifacts include the visible products of the group, such as the visible and feelable structures and processes” (Schein, 2010). Toyota leadership style is democratic, and it proven to be effective within Toyota. Toyota let their employees involved in decision making process, especially when the decisions affect themselves. At Toyota, employees are independence and there are minimal supervisions from the management. By doing this, it enable the employees to be innovative and work without interference. “Toyota has an elaborate employee participation and empowerment related system that uses creative suggestion program and quality improvement system using quality control circles” (Nayebpour, 2007). When employees make a mistake, the upper management advises employees to take it as a learning experience instead of award punitive measures. The upper managements always available to the employees...

Words: 293 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Toyota

...Process and Physical evidence. All of these factors are necessary for optimum service delivery. Let us discuss the same in further detail. Concept of Product A product concept plays a vital role in the new-product development process. It serves as a means by which to present a new-product idea to consumers. A product concept can be presented either physically or symbolically. It is through the use of the product concept that companies can receive feedback from consumers as to the possibility of implementing and furthering the proposed concept (Kotler 237). Introduction to the product TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM Cost control through the elimination of waste TOYOTA PRODUCTION SYSTEM Cost control through the elimination of waste Toyota is the market leader in its class. Toyota manufactured both in Diesel and Petrol engines vehicles. The Toyota Production System was developed by Toyota Motor Corporation. Once a stable manufacturing system design was in place, cost reduction is realized through the elimination of waste. These central features are reflected in the two pillars of JIT and Jidoka and in the foundation of standardized work and kaizen (see...

Words: 1063 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Umuc Toyota Tps Analysis

...the Production System at Toyota David Osborn Ebenezer Ogoke Lamar Pryor Loretta Inoni UMUC AMBA 640 9042- Dr. Wende Huehn-Brown Table of Contents Exercise #1: 3 Exercise #2: 9 Exercise #3 14 Exercise #4 20 References 24 Exercise #1: Executive Summary Since the early 1950’s Toyota has been in the business of manufacturing automobiles as a family operated company. Much of Toyota’s success has come from their ability to adapt to an ever changing market place, in both good times and in bad, while honoring its commitment to product safety and quality. This commitment has allowed them to consistently produce cars that meet or exceed that of their competition, while taking into consideration the impact on our environment. Through the years many types of cars can be associated with the Toyota brand, but it is the introduction of the Lexus line of cars in 1989 that has helped to keep Toyota at the forefront of innovation and design. Early in 2000 Toyota took on the daunting task of deciding where to manufacture the Lexus RX300. Through careful analysis it was decided that the Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Canada (TMMC) would get this task. How this decision was derived came from the efforts of an independent consulting firm called the Hawks. They utilized production analysis and concepts derived and refined out of Toyota’s Production System (TPS) from Andon to Yokoten, as well as, Grid Analysis and Decision tree to assess how best Toyota should expand its production...

Words: 5993 - Pages: 24

Premium Essay

Toyota Process Identification and Improvement

...Identifying Process improve Toyota Process Improvement Abstract This paper will address the identification of processed used by Toyota Corporation during the accelerator crisis. It will identify the process used and the core problems with the process. In part A of the paper the paper addresses the issues that began with sticky gas pedals, floor mats, and pedal entrapment and braking issues on some models of Toyotas vehicles. The quality of the vehicle was the issue. In part B of the paper the issue was safety and this lead to drivers dying because of safety issues. In part C of the paper Toyota has a lean process established that had no buy in from employees or Leadership which contributed to issues with their product. Toyota thought they had implemented a learn culture that consist of problem solving, teamwork, and a continuous improvement culture to sustain lean. Toyota Process Improvement Toyota is considered a global leader in the automobile business. Toyota has dominated the market with accolades from several organizations endorsing the Lexus as well as the Camry on a top ten list of best cars to own. Toyota had the market share of 12.8 percent. Toyota was based in Japan in 1933 and was introduced to the United States of American in 1957. Toyota made a name for them for producing reliable vehicles with superb quality. This paper will identify several processes for improvement that Toyota has researched, developed, or incorporated due to the crisis of the...

Words: 1251 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Top 10 Toyota Misconceptions

...I thought this was a good article to share as it clears some misconceptions of Toyota and their management philosophies and technology. This article was written by Stewart Anderson who is president of http://www.kaizenimprovement.ca a Toronto-based consulting and advisory firm in the areas of continuous improvement and business strategy. The tools and techniques of what is commonly called "lean manufacturing" have their origin in the Toyota Production System (TPS). While the lean movement deserves much credit for popularizing these tools and techniques, a number of misconceptions appear to have developed about how Toyota itself actually practices continuous improvement. This article looks at some of these misconceptions. Readers should note that this article is not meant to be a definitive study of Toyota, nor is it meant to supplant the excellently detailed analyses of Toyota published by Jeffrey K. Liker (The Toyota Way, McGraw-Hill, 2003), Steven J. Spear (Chasing the Rabbit, McGraw-Hill, 2008), and others. Rather, it offers the author’s own personal perspective and insights on Toyota, drawing from observation and study of Toyota production and distribution operations, supplemented by interviews with Toyota employees, managers, and suppliers held over the years. Some of the thoughts expressed below also find deeper expression and treatment in Mike Rother' excellent new book, Toyota Kata (McGraw-Hill, 2009), and readers are referred to that book for a full exposition of...

Words: 2644 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Cross Culture

...CROSS CULTURAL MANAGEMENT The interaction of people from different backgrounds in the business world, cross culture is a vital issue in international business, as the success of international trade depends upon the smooth interaction of employees from different cultures and regions. A growing number of companies are consequently devoting substantial resources toward training their employees to interact effectively with those of companies in other cultures in an effort to foment a positive cross-cultural experience. Cross culture can be experienced by an employee who is transferred to a location in another country. The employee must learn the language and culture of those around him, and vice-versa. This can be more difficult if this person is acting in a managerial capacity; someone in this position who cannot effectively communicate with or understand their employees' actions can lose their credibility. In an ever-expanding global economy, cross culture and adaptability will continue to be important factors in the business world. Cross-culture tries to bring together such relatively unrelated areas as cultural anthropology and established areas of communication. Its core is to establish and understand how people from different cultures communicate with each other and the culture of a society comprises the shared values, understandings, assumptions, and goals that are learned from earlier generations, imposed by the members of the present day society and passed on to the succeeding...

Words: 4158 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

What Happened to Toyota

...• Subsequent to the recalls associated with floor mats and sticky pedals causing unintended acceleration, Toyota had 14 safety related recalls through Sept. 2010. • These highly publicized recalls may well have solidified in the U.S. public’s mind that Toyota has serious quality problems. EOQ June 2011 3 Test Results from Consumer Reports(CR) • If we examine the percentage of a brand’s vehicles recommended by CR, the trajectory shows significant decline for Toyota models from 85% recommended in 2008, to 73% in 2009, to 47% in 2010 the sharp drop in 2010 partially reflects recent recalls. By comparison, CR recommended 70% of Nissans in 2008, 77% in 2009 and 95% in 2010. EOQ June 2011 4 Figure 1: How Toyota’s Reliability Compares to Selected Competitors (Toyota shown in blue dotted line; Competitors shown in red solid line) Chevrolet Ford Honda Hyundai INITIAL QUALITY STUDY, problems per 100 cars measured at 90 days of ownership. J.D. Power & Associates VEHICLE DEPENDABILITY STUDY, problems per 100 cars experienced by original owners of three year old vehicles. Source: Author’s estimate on data shown in “Inside Toyota, Executive Trade Blame Over Debacle”, Wall Street Journal, (April 14, 2010): EOQ June 2011 5 A18. Different scales for the two different figures reflect WSJ’s mode of presentation. U.S. Media Attention Regarding Toyota Recalls • Extraordinary media attention • A media...

Words: 1049 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Toyota

...Toyota   Toyota is currently the biggest car maker in the world. Toyota’s production model has been for long the envy of Detroit’s big three and the benchmark for the auto industry. The auto market in the US has showed signs of improvement, a sign of encouragement for the company. Toyota has invested billions of dollars to develop manufacturing capabilities and supplier networks to supply those markets. Toyota has many comparative advantages over it peers: a strong operational model that generates high margins; a strong global brand synonymous for quality and a business model that allows it to churn out multiple car models at low cost, high speed and high quality. Although Toyota’s supremacy is not uncontended; the so called big three are improving the quality of their cars, Volkswagen is currently buoyant of its success in Europe and the developing nations like China and Brazil and has announced that it will build a plant in the US, a return after an absence of 20 years. Hyundai has shown how favor for a Brand in the market can change quickly with the success of its Hyundai Elantra. Toyota’s competitors have learnt the merits of working with fewer platforms: reduced cost, increase profitability and better management of quality. Yet Toyota’s main challenge does not come from its competitors, rather from within. Although Toyota’s challenges are internal that does not reduce the magnitude of the issues, indeed the most difficult problems to identify and solve are...

Words: 3200 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Operations

...MASTER OF BUSINESS LEADERSHIP OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT (MBL912L) | | |Name | |Student Number | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ...

Words: 17381 - Pages: 70

Premium Essay

Toyota

...Michael Greto Andreas Schotter Mary Teagarden Toyota: The Accelerator Crisis The root cause of their problems is that the company was hijacked, some years ago, by anti-family, financially oriented pirates. Jim Press, former President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. On February 24, 2010, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota Motor Corporation’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, endured a grueling question-and-answer session before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The committee represented just one of three Congressional panels investigating the 2009-2010 recall of Toyota vehicles related to problems of sudden acceleration and the company’s delay in responding to the crisis. Signs of the coming recall crisis began as early as 2006 when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into driver reports of “surging” in Toyota’s Camry models. The NHTSA investigation was closed the next year, citing no defects. Over the next four years, Toyota, known in the industry for its quality and reliability, would quietly recall nearly nine million Toyota and Lexus models due to sudden acceleration problems. Toyota’s leadership, widely criticized for its slow response in addressing the problems, now had to move quickly to identify a solution that would ensure the safety of its vehicles, restore consumer confidence, protect the valuable Toyota brand, and recoup a plummeting share price....

Words: 13407 - Pages: 54

Premium Essay

Toyota Company

...Toyota Company Name University Affiliation History and back ground of Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese automobile company that came into existence in 1937. This company was established mainly to manufacture automobile after the founder had traveled to Europe and the US to investigate how to manufacture gasoline powered engine (Kalb, 2012). The company came into existence because there was a need to develop a local automobile by Japan since the government needed domestic automobile production units because it had war with China (Meyer, 2015). The company produced its first engine known as Type A engine which was used in its first models of passenger and truck vehicles. In 1950, a separate Toyota Motor sales company was established to deal mainly with the marketing of the Toyota car products. This separate company lasted until 1982. In the 1950s, the Toyopet dealer chain has established a chain which specialized in the production of Toyopet Model SA; by 1957, Toyota Company managed to start exporting its car products to other parts of the world such as Australia, United States, and Europe (Kalb, 2012). In 1982, Toyota Motors Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged forming one company known as Toyota Motor Corporation. The company started establishing new brands of vehicles that surpassed the brands of the competitors (Kalb, 2012). In the 1990s towards the new century, the company started to branch out by adding many larger and luxurious vehicles...

Words: 3138 - Pages: 13