Quality Management within Toyota Motor Company Essay

AbstractThis paper explores multiple published articles discussing Toyota push play alongs strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A review of Toyotas decisions to hide heavy information prior to recalls leads us to a discussion of where Toyota can go from here. The paper includes recommendations for Toyota take follow in order to relocation forward after their 2010 recalls. In addition, organisational changes will assist Toyota ram Company in overcoming their recall problems. graphic symbol care within Toyota motor CompanyAfter a rate of discouraging recalls at Toyota Motor Company in 2010, a number of quality management techniques were implemented. Toyota Motor Companys SWOT Analysis played into the newly implemented quality management techniques. Toyotas strengths allowed them to fight back quickly against these recalls that could have in the long run led to Toyotas fall from one of the top motor companys. Toyota Motor Companys strengths include dominant posit ion in the food marketplace, vehement brand course credit, strong taper on research and development, and broad crossingion and distribution lucre. In addition to Toyotas strengths, their weaknesses were reviewed in order to find opportunities to capitalize upon. The recalls were obviously a large weakness at Toyota. Opportunities were reviewed which included the growth of the spheric automotive industry. Last, Toyotas threats were reviewed. Here it was found that powerful competition is a worry for Toyota Motor Company.After the review of Toyota Motor Companys SWOT Analysis, the exhaust of the recalls was assessed. Analysis shows the issue within Toyota Motor Company did not appear overnight. However, cheeseparing management styles let the company astray. A diagram was created by functional area to summarize how Toyota has responded to these recall problems. The functional areas reviewed include management, production design and safety, quality, and manufacturing.Last, the epitome of Toyota Motor Companys recall and quality management issues are discussed from a point of solving the problem. Recommendations are discussed that will swear out Toyota Motor Company to turn their weaknesses into strengths. Method DiscussionSWOT AnalysisInternalFactorsStrengthsWeaknessesProduct Dominant position in the marketplace slopped brand recognition Strong focus on Research & Development Broad production and distribution lucre Product recalls have the ability to negatively affect brand characterisation Declining gross revenue in crucial geographic areasExternalFactorsOpportunitiesThreatsCompetition Growth of the global automotive industry Potential benefit from partnering with BMWThe outlook for the new global car market is strong Powerful competition Appreciation of the Japanese Yen Environmental regulationsNatural disastersStrengths. Toyota has a number of internal product strengths as noted in the SWOT Analysis table above. Toyotas market share in 2011 was 1 6.5 percent,its highest market share in 4 years. This strong market share allowed Toyota to hold a competitive advantage against their competition. In addition to holding a dominant position in the marketplace, Toyota possesses strong brand recognition through a number of brands. These brands include Toyota, Lexus, Prius, Corolla, Yaris, Camry, Sequoia, 4Runner, Scion tC, Highlander, Land Cruiser, and a number of some other brand names. These brands are some of the most desired premium brands in the world according to the Company Profile report for Toyota Motor Company documented by MarketLine. Another strength of Toyota is their strong attention to research and development. fit to the Company Profile report, Toyotas focus on research and development is pointed towards the creation of new and improved products.Research and development operations are conducted at 14 facilities located around the world. This strength has allowed Toyota to increase the technology included in existi ng products. One of these products, a Pre-collision System (PCS) helps drivers avoid collisions. Overall, the strong focus on research and development has been a big strength for Toyota. Last, Toyotas production and distribution network has been a big strength for the company. Toyota produces automobiles, related parts, and other components through more than 50 manufacturing companies throughout 27 countries and regions, not including Japan. As mentioned on the Toyota Motor Company website, major locations include Japan, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Turkey, Thailand, China, Taiwan, India, Indonesia, federation Africa, Australia, Argentina, and Brazil.As reported by Toyota Motor Company, during financial year 2013 the company had consolidated vehicle sales totals of 8.871 billion units (TCM, 2013). As reported by Toyota Motor Company, this was an increase of 1.519 million units compared to the previous fiscal year. In addition to the widespread production of Toyota products, the company has a large distribution network. Toyotas distribution network is one of the largest in Japan encompassing four sales channels (Toyota, Toyopet, Corolla, and Netz). In 2012 the distribution network of these channels was comprised of 283 dealers. In addition to this network, Toyota operates over clxx Lexus sales channels in Japan. As reported by Toyota Motor Company, in fiscal year 2013 these networks accounted for the following vehicle sales Japan sales totaled 2.279 million unitsIn North America vehicle sales totaled 2.469 million unitsIn Europe vehicle sales totaled 799,085 unitsAsia came in at total vehicle sales of 1.684 million unitsCentral and South America, Oceania and Africa came in at 1.640 million units As you can see, Toyotas distribution network is widespread allowing for diversification and a wide reach of backing, at last boosting revenues and sales. Weaknesses. A large focus of the case study focuses on the weakness of Toyotas produ ct recalls. As many are aware, Toyota has encountered a number of recalls in the recent past. It is a concern that these recalls could negatively affect Toyotas brand imagine ultimately leading to decreased sales for the company. When searching for Toyota recalls it was easy to find a few recent recalls. The most recent is a recall of 700,000 Toyota Prius models which were recalled over electronic issues in the United States (csmonitor.com, 2014).Another truly recent recall includes certain versions of the Lexus RX crossover. In this case, more than 261,000 vehicles are being recalled due to a brake issue (csmonitor.com, 2014). In addition to the many recalls, Toyota has been involved in a number of lawsuits. In December 2012, Toyota settled a suit by paying $17.4 million to the National High counseling Traffic Safety Administration to settle claims related to the June 2012 recall of potential accelerator pedal entrapment issues. This bad press will ultimately result in a negative effect on consumers confidence in Toyotas brand. In addition, the settlement of suits ultimately decreases Toyotas profits. As a result of this bad press Toyota saw a decline in 2012 sales in important geographic areas. Declining sales in fiscal year 2012 were seen across North America, Asia, and Europe. Opportunities. As reported by the article, Global automotive industry to experience modest growth in 2012, a number of opportunities exist in the global automotive industry (2012).The Japanese auto industry responded from natural disasters which had caused reduced inventories and production. It is forecasted that the industry will continue to grow increase Toyota revenues. In June of 2012, BMW and Toyota signed a long-term partnership. The two companies are partnering on the developments that will help to increase market share and sales. This relationship is expected to increase technology between the two companies aswell as result in new product development. In addition to these op portunities, the new car market is experiencing moderate growth which will assist in increased sales and profits. Threats. Intense competition in the worldwide car market has become very competitive. This competition will likely increase in the upcoming years as competitors add more technology and increase developments. In addition to the lifelike competition, the appreciating Japanese Yen has become a big concern for Toyota. Last, environment regulations have the potential to increase production costs. Emissions regulations that are updated periodically could cause issues in new car production.Evolvement of Quality Management IssuesAt first glance, it seems that Toyotas gas pedal issue appeared overnight. However, upon further research, evidence was found to prove the opposite. As reported in the article Secretive Culture Let Toyota Astray, evidence that Toyota cars could suddenly speed up had been piling up for years (2010). At the duration of the recalls, Toyota had cognize ab out this gas pedal problem for more than a year. The problem was stated to be Toyotas secretive corporate floriculture in Japan which ultimately conflicted with United States requirements that auto makers disclose safety threats. tonic initiatives brought to the table by Toyota have attempted to correct the previous secretive culture of Toyota. Total quality management initiatives have been put in place to assist in better customer service and safety and repair issues. correspond to Jacobs and Chase, total quality management can be defined as managing the entire organization so that it excels on all dimensions of products and services that are important to the customer (Chase and Jacobs, 2014, p. 296). The table following this discussion addresses the steps Toyota has taken in response to its recent quality recall problems.Functional AreaQuality Management StepsManagement Managing Director names to oversee any safety-related issues Top down management approachProduct Design & Saf ety Troubleshooting teams known as Swift Market Analysis Response Teams work tofind any safety issues that need to be reported Quality TAQIC Toyota Advanced Quality Information Center staffed by a group of employees who compile repair reports from dealerships worldwide 1000 engineers hired to spot-check qualityManufacturing No drastic changes to convention linesResults/DiscussionProblem SolutionAs discussed in the diagram above, there were many opportunities for Toyota after their encounter with the recall situation. Akio Toyoda, the head of the company, acted quickly by implementing a top down management approach instead of the more popular Japanese bottom up approach that slows down the decision making. In addition, Akio pare board of directors by fifty percent and cut out management layers. Akio also began meeting with his top five advisers on a weekly basis. In these meetings decisions were made quickly. Akio pushed his team to make always better cars. This change in the way the organization is managed helped Toyota to stay on top even through the recalls.Recommendationsmany recommendations have been made to assist Toyota Motor Company in improving the recall situation they encountered in 2011. Some recommendations Toyota should follow include as recommended by the North American Quality Advisory Panel include the following Give North American operations more independence in making recall decisions Strengthen quality control processesExtend development time of new products to include more safety tests Create a role of main(prenominal) Safety Technology Officer Create and launch a Safety Research Center focused on protecting the most important clientele (children, teens, and seniors) These ideas follow the concept of total quality management which focuses on two fundamental goals Careful design of the product (in the case of Toyota Motor Company, the vehicle) Ensure that Toyota Motor Company systems can produce this designin a consistent manner Quality at the source seems to be a great way for Toyota Motor Company to proceed. Quality at the source means that the person who is doing the work is taking the responsibility for making sure the work meets specifications. As antecedently discussed, safety control will be a huge initiative for Toyota Motor Company going forward.If implemented, these recommendations can do a lot to help Toyota Motor Company increase their organizational effectiveness. As previously discussed, many organizational steps were taken by Akio Toyoda after these recalls. It seems that Toyota could greatly benefit from organizational learning. As stated by Operations and Supply Chain Management, it has been argued that organizational learning is critical to sustaining a competitive advantage (Chase and Jacobs, 2014, p. 138). Organizational realignment was important to Toyota Motor Company after the 2010 and 2011 recalls. According to a Toyota news release in December of 2008 organizational changes include the esta blishment of the belowA Government and creation Affairs mathematical group which was focused on quick response to inquiries from around the world while also unifying public affairs functions. An Accounting Group aimed at strengthening the logical argument management and financial management system of Toyota Motor Company. A Europe and Africa Operations Group intended to assist with business planning in African and Central Asia. The group was also established to conduct business promotion events in both Europe and Africa. A merchandise Engineering Group aimed at increasing the strength of the quality control system for semiconductors for hybrid vehicles. The recommendations made are important to Toyotas future. Reorganization and creation of new groups within the organization will help Toyota to overcome these recalls.ReferencesIngram, A. (2014, Feb 12). Toyota recall 1.9 million Prius vehicles recalled to fix software glitch. Retrieved from http//www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Ge ar/2014/0212/Toyota-recall-1.9-million-Prius-vehicles-recalled-to-fix-software-glitch Jacobs, F. R., & Chase, R. (2014). Operations and supply chain management. (14 ed.). New York, NY