Operations Management: Past Papers and Solved Assignments

This assignment provides a comprehensive review of operations management, including key concepts, theories, and practices. It covers various topics such as total quality management, lean production, supply chain management, and more. The assignment includes references to relevant books, articles, and online resources, making it an ideal study guide for students seeking to excel in operations management.

Management & Operations

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This report is based on management and operations which is concerned with designing
and controlling of the different process of production and is also concerned with redesigning of
business operation in the production of products and services in an accurate manner. In order to
carry out this report management structure of Toyota and role of leader and manager in different
situation of organisation is explained briefly. Additionally, Leadership Theories and operational
management key approaches along with the impact of external business environment factor and
their influence in decision making is explained in this assignment. Whereas the outcome of this
report is based on key operation of Toyota and implication of operation management approaches
to meet business objectives. The approaches which were considered by an organisation are TQM
and Six sigma. In addition to this the major outcome which has come across was that there are
several external factors which greatly influence in decision making of an organisation like
political, social, technological etc.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
1) Introduction to organisation and its Management structure...............................................4
2) Role of leader and manager and the differences between management and leadership....5
3) Role of leader and manager in different situation of organisation supported by theories of
leadership................................................................................................................................8
4) Strength and weakness of different approaches to leadership and management...............9
5) Recommendation and conclusion....................................................................................10
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................11
1) Introduction to Key operations of Toyota........................................................................11
2) Roles and responsibilities of leader and manager in key operational functions..............12
3) Operational management key operational approaches and their value............................13
4) Factors within the Business environment........................................................................16
5) Evaluation of how operational efficiencies can be improved to successfully meet business
objectives using appropriate management and leadership approaches................................19
6) Recommendation and conclusion....................................................................................20
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................21
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................22

INTRODUCTION
Operational management is all about the techniques of improving, planning, organising
and supervising of different functional activities of the firm. The organisation which is being
taken in order to carry out this assignment is Toyota Motors which was established in 1933 and
is specialised in rendering services in auto-mobile industry (Alderton and Saieva, 2013). This
report will explain about the functions, roles and responsibilities of leader and manager along
with differences by applying concepts and theories. Moreover, it will also discuss about the
strength and weaknesses of approaches which are applied in the working environment of
operational management. Lastly, this assignment focuses on the external factors which influence
on the operational activities of an organisation.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
1) Introduction to organisation and its Management structure.
Toyota is one of the multinational automotive manufacturers organisations which is
situated in Japan and is term to be the world's second largest automotive manufacturer. The
product in which it is specialised is in auto-mobiles, luxury vehicle, commercials vehicles,
engines etc. and the types of services it renders is of banking, leasing and financing .
Additionally, number of employees working in this organisation is about 369,124 and the market
share of Toyota has rose to 4.87 in January 2018 and its was term to be highest value during the
described period of time. Furthermore its turnover seems to be near about 260.8 billion U.S
(Ashford, Coutu and Beasley, 2013). dollars in the fiscal year of 2018 and its main competitors
are like ford, Hyundai, Maruti Suzuki, BMW, Honda etc.
Therefore, the organisation structure of Toyota Motor corporation is mainly based on
numerous business operations which are carried out by an organisation all across the world.
Being term to be one of the leading auto mobile manufacturers in world an organisation employs
hierarchical structure which support its business in accomplishing its aims and objectives in time
period. Moreover, the success and effectiveness of an organisation in achieving its strategic goals
and in maintaining different functional activities is what makes it a company renowned all
around the world. In addition to this divisional structure is also term to be strongly centralized

worldwide hierarchical in nature. Thus, a proper organisational structure of Toyota is mentioned
below (Brown and Bessant, 2013):
Global Hierarchy:
Toyota maintain its global hierarchical structure with its headquarters in Japan and the
headquarter hold the responsibilities to take all the final decision in every matter as well as it is
responsible for passing on decisions and judgement on major issues.
Geographic division:
In order to corporate in a better way and to improve the business function and product
and services of an organisation in a flexible way the Toyota organisation has its sector in 8
geographic division which are in Japan, Asia, Oceania, China, Latin America, Caribbean, East
Asia, Middle East, Europe, North America, Africa, etc. and each of these regional centres render
their report to the headquarters. Additionally, each division possess head who have the authority
to take last decision for that specific branch, but the final and ultimate decision is being taken by
headquarter in Japan itself.
Product-based division:
In this type of hierarchical management of Toyota its division is segregated into 4 parts
that are Lexus international, Japan and Europe, Toyota no. 2 operations in all other regions,
Toyota no, 1 operation in North America so that the brand management and product line can be
maintained appropriately.
2) Role of leader and manager and the differences between management and leadership
Manager and leader both are contributing their maximum efforts in driving Toyota in
achieving its desired goals and objectives. Toyota is an established car manufacturing company
which is operated at multiple number of nations. Thus, to maintain their stable market position it
is important for managers and leaders to perform their roles in an effective and efficient manner.
Manager:
It is an individual who has power and an authority to control the staff and organisation
through framing plans and policies according to the predetermined goals and objectives (Chiarini
and Vagnoni, 2015).
Role of manager:
 To ensure whether the formulated plans and policies are properly followed by employees
while achieving organisational goals and objectives.

 It assists in planning, organising and monitoring the different business functions so as to
bring company ahead in the competitive market.
Leader:
It refers to an individual who has an ability and skills to encourage group of individuals
working within an organisation to give their best efforts in achievement of desired target allotted
by the management of company (Childe, 2011).
Role of Leader:
 To resolve conflicts among team members and maintain healthy relationship so as to
bring unity among them which indirectly increases their contribution towards
organisational goals.
 To enhance the skills and efficiency level of employees through addressing their needs
and requirements at workplace.
Differences between management and leadership:
Basis Management Leadership
Definition Management consists of
several functions to perform
such as organising, directing
and controlling the
performance level of
employees and bringing
integrity towards achievement
of organisational goals and
objectives (De Roover, 2017).
Leadership consists of several
abilities and skills which is
useful to bring motivation
among employees to work
hard and give their best efforts
towards allotted target
(Donate, M.J. and de Pablo,
J.D.S., 2015).
Personality styles Managers are problem solver
and tends to be more rational.
They are focuses towards
desired target, structures,
personnel and availability of
resources. Managers’
personalities lean toward
Leader of Toyota is mercurial
and risk taker which assist an
organisation to achieve
competitive advantage among
their rivals.

persistence, strong will,
analysis, and intelligence.
Focuses Focuses on managing and
controlling work so as to
ensure that organisational
goals can be achieved within
pre-determined time period.
Focuses on developing teams
so as to bring unity among
employees which results in
increasing their contribution
towards organisation goals and
objectives.
Role To formulate plans and
policies which must be
followed by every member of
an organisation while
performing their allotted work.
Non-compliance of plans may
affect the employability of
members.
To motivate the employees to
follow plans and policies
framed by managers while
performing their allotted work.
Along with this, engaging
members in a team so as to
provide maximum efforts
towards organisational goals
and objectives.
Characteristics Manager of Toyota is an
optimistic person and
confident to deal with risk
through preparing plans.
Manager of Toyota is an
optimistic person which directs
and guides the employees to
engage in achievement of
organisational goals and
objectives.
They are confident and
capable to deal with risk
through preparing plans after
Leader of Toyota is a
motivator and holds positive
attitude towards the work so as
to gain maximum outcome in
future time period. Leader of
Toyota is a motivator who
encourages the team members
to bring out their maximum
efforts and retain their position
in company for longer
duration.
Leader holds positive attitude
and focused approach towards

forecasting the market
situations in advance.
the work so as to achieve
desired goals within
predetermined time period.
Functions Manager plays several
functions such as planning,
coordinating, controlling and
monitoring the activities so as
to ensure that organisational
objectives can be achieved
within pre-determined time
period.
Leaders also plays many
important functions such as
setting goals, organising,
initiating action, direction and
motivation etc. in order to
enhance the efficiency level of
employees so as to increase
their contribution towards
organisational goals.
3) Role of leader and manager in different situation of organisation supported by theories of
leadership
Leader is the one who guide and lead its team members effectively so that they can
perform their respective task easily whereas a manager is the one who is responsible for
administering and controlling the overall organisation as a whole so as to result better outcome
for the organisation. In an organisation different situation take place and for each situation leader
and manager plays certain roles which are mentioned below (Drake and Spinler, 2013):
 Contingency theory: This theory states that the way management manage should change
and all depends upon the circumstances. In an organisation several activities are being
performed on regular basis so as to carry out production process smoothly. But in some
case, there may take rise certain circumstance in the form of rise in demand, lack of
resources etc. For example, Toyota faced several issues due to transportation strike like
insufficient of raw material, so in that case manager perform his role as per contingency
approach which supports systematic handling according to situations by taking a decision
to make purchase of raw material from local suppliers so that smooth flow of work
continues to operate. Similarly, a leader too plays his role as a guide and motivator by

incorporating situational leadership approach to keep employees boosted so as to
complete the urgent work on time as per the target set by an organisation.
 Situation theory: As per this theory a leadership style needs to be changed as per the
changing situation at workplace. For example, if a situation arises for the Toyota
company that in 20 days, they have to manufacturer near around 200 cars so that they can
meet the urgent requirements on time. Thus, in this case manager plays his role by taking
a decision as per the situation demand that each employee need to render extra timing of
their work for an organisation so as to achieve the target on time. Whereas a leader plays
his role in this situation by motivating each employee by meeting their needs and
requirement in the form of benefits like salary increments, appreciation for performance
etc. Providing additional benefits to employees is idea of situation leadership behaviour
which helps leading persons of Toyota to achieve the target objective on time without any
delay.
4) Strength and weakness of different approaches to leadership and management
Leadership is term to be the action of leading a group of individuals, single person or an
organisation so as to perform each task effectively and efficiently. In addition to this there are
different leadership theories among which best can be used by the leader of Toyota organisation
so as to achieve increase in productivity and profitability of organisation. Thus, some of the
leadership theory is mentioned below with some strength and weakness (Galindo and Batta,
2013):
Situational leadership theory:
Strength Weakness
The major strength of this style of leadership is
that it put emphasis on the flexibility of leader
as a leader of Toyota need to be flexible so as
to make sure that leadership style matches the
requirement of subordinates.
The weakness of this style of leadership for
Toyota is that it fails to address how to deal
with certain demographic characteristics as
well as this theory is based on only current
situations.
System leadership theory:
Strength Weakness
This theory of leadership helps the leader of Whereas the weakness of this theory is that it is

Toyota in dealing with complexity and in
taking a holistic view. Additionally, with the
help of this theory a leader can effectively
manage change through interaction with the
environment.
not applicable in any every situation and all the
team members of Toyota cannot perform their
roles and duties according to structure, which
indirectly effect the decision-making process of
management.
Contingency approach:
Strength Weakness
The major strength of this type of leadership is
that it specifically focuses on the relationship
between demands of various situation and on
the leader's style. Additionally, as per this
approach it doesn't require that individuals of
Toyota to be effective in all situations.
Whereas the weakness of this approach is that
it doesn't give the clear-cut explanation about
what to do, when there takes place mismatch
between situation and style of Toyota.
Analysis:
If the leader of Toyota organisation will consider system leadership approach then a
leader has to render systematic structure to its team members so that each employee gets aware
of their respective roles and responsibilities. In addition to this it also specifies that the theory
uses principles of human behaviour so that decision making and good leadership skill can be
increased (Slack and Brandon-Jones, 2018). Moreover, it also helps in improving the
presentation skill so that team members of an organisation can develop in order to perform their
respective task efficiently and effectively. On the other side if the management of Toyota
organisation will consider contingency approach then management effectiveness must be
contingent or it can be said dependent upon the interplay among the specific situation and
application of organisation behaviours.
Evaluation:
Thus, it can be concluded that a leader of Toyota company can take into consideration
situational leadership style, as this theory is best in practice and is used as an when the situation
demand. In addition to this as per this theory of leadership a leader is term to be effective when
he/she is capable of adopting a leadership style as per the situations by taking into consideration
the pros and cons of leadership, nature of group, and other essential factors as well which might

render greater contribution in getting the job done in a flexible manner. Thus, it helps in
overcoming every situation of changing business environment of an organisation and result in
achieving strategic aims on time without any delay.
5) Recommendation and conclusion
From the above task it can be concluded that leader and manager terms to be the essential
and crucial aspect for every organisation, as without them company cannot exist for long period
of time in marketplace (Harrison and Lock, 2017). Additionally, it can be said that leadership
theories plays a crucial role for leader in an organisation as effective use of leadership theory will
help a successful leader to understand the strength and weakness of workers. Thus, it can be
recommended that both the leader and manager must create better communication structure in
the workplace of an organisation so as to create effective relationship between employees-
employees, employers- employees, etc. which will help in increasing the standardization of
product as well as will help in achieving organisational objectives.
TASK 2
1) Introduction to Key operations of Toyota
operations management: this type of management is considered as a very important part
of any organisation and it helps in controlling and supervising the production process of the
country. It also aid in reducing the price of the product to attract the customers in effective
manner towards the organisation.
As Toyota is one of the multinational car manufacturing company all around the world so
it has to perform several operational activities and each activity must be performed in a manner
that it results in rendering better quality products and services to its customers so as to result in
increase in customer satisfaction level. Therefore, important key operation of Toyota
organisation is specified below (Hillier and Price, 2013):
 Conversion of raw materials into finished goods: This is the very first aspect which the
management of Toyota company take into consideration as it is the process of making
effective plan in order to convert the raw material into finished goods and services by
using several process and techniques like machines, energy, etc. so as to achieve target
objectives on time

 Supply chain management: It is the second essential key operation aspect of Toyota
company as it involves the process through which different raw material passes through
in order to convert those raw material into finished goods and services. Additionally, it
involves active streamlining of organisation supply side activities so as to maximize
customers values as well as to address the target aims of the corporation on time.
 Designing of auto mobiles: It is another essential key operation of Toyota in which
management render proper guidance and direction to its employees so that each one can
perform their respective task in an accurate and specified manner so as to design better
quality and good physical appearance of auto mobiles as per the preferences of
customers.
2) Roles and responsibilities of leader and manager in key operational functions
There is different key operational functional activity which are performed by the Toyota
management and for each functional activity’s manager plays effective roles and responsibilities
which are mentioned below (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014):
Conversion of raw materials into finished goods:
It is one of the essential key operational function of Toyota organisation under which
manager perform its role by identifying the needs of how much units of cars need to be
produced, what quality of raw material will be required, what amount of funds will be required
in order to meet the demand of customers on time, so it’s the responsibility of manger to make
sure that raw material is converted into finished goods as per the demand and preferences of
clients. Whereas a leader role is that to make sure that resources are being utilises by beach
employees up to an optimum level so that it can achieve its aims by taking into consideration that
cost is to be minimized
Supply chain management:
It is another essential key operational function without which company cannot create
awareness about the product in market place neither can render supply of goods on time to final
customers. So, the role of manger of Toyota company is to manage company overall logistic
strategy and supply chain activities so as to maximize the productivity and efficiency level.
Whereas the role of leader is to ensure that good relation is being maintained among employees-
employees and employees and employers so that different activities of supply chain can be
carried out effectively and smoothly.

Designing of auto mobiles:
While designing auto mobile manager and leader plays their respective role so as to
ensure that proper design of auto mobile is being done. Role of manager is to provide guidance
to different team leaders so as to meet timely deliveries and to implement process improvements
so as to ensure that product productivity and quality is achieved. Whereas the role of leader to
communicate the product quality requirement and vision to each team members so that each one
can carry out their respective task accordingly in order to meet demand on time and to achieve
increase in productivity and good physical appearance of auto mobiles as per the preferences of
customers.
3) Operational management key operational approaches and their value
There are different key approaches to operation management two among those which can
be used by management of Toyota is specified below (Karnani, 2011):
 Total quality management: As per this approach, management of Toyota set quality
standard of their products and communicate the set standard to each employee. With the
help of this workers perform their respective task according to the set quality standard.
Thus, it would result in achieving better quality standard for the product, meeting
customer expectation as well as will be helpful in increasing the standardization of the
product on time. Whereas the value of this approach to Toyota is that company can waste
fewer resources and can come up with more of quality products. As well as it helps in
laying special emphasizes by ensuring that each product is created up to a certain
standard so as to meet customer preferences.

Source: Total quality management, 2019
 Six sigma: This is term to be another best approach of continuous improvement which is
used by the management of Toyota organisation, as this approach mainly emphasizes on
reducing the level of defects so as to produce better quality products. Additionally, with
the help of this approach cost can also be eliminated as it will help in producing only that
much quality of products which are required in the market and as a result help in reducing
the excessive stock level. Whereas the value of this approach to Toyota is that with the
help of this approach management can improve business process as it helps in ensuring
elimination of defects and is term to be room for continuous improvements. As it will
help in identifying the area of improvement so that each work is being carried out
smoothly on continuous basis as well as it helps in improving the existing services and in
developing new and high-quality products.
Illustration 1: Total quality management

Figure 1: Six Sigma approach
(Source: Jacobs, Chase and Lummus, 2014)
 Lean production: It is the another operations approach which can be used by the
management of Toyota organisation as it focuses on cutting out waste taking into
consideration quality aspect. In addition to this it can also be useful in every aspects of
business right from design through production and till distribution. This approach can be
beneficial for Toyota organisation as it aims to cut cost by making organisation more
responsive and efficient to market needs.
 Business objectives – It is considered as the prospects of the managers that helps them to
decide a business objective for the organisation to achieve. It also develops a proper time
frame to accomplish the goals effectively. In reference to Toyota, as the managers of the
company has decided to implement new technologies in their products that is required by
the customers, to gain the market share. For accomplishing this task the manager is
required to choose the lean manufacturing system in the manufacturing unit.
 Importance of operations management in achievement of business objectives –
Operations management consists of a very important role in the accomplishment of
wanted goals set by the organisation. It render assistance to the managers to specify

particular duty and responsibilities to the employees so that they can execute their duties
accordingly and resources can be utilized in effective condition. The managers can easily
evaluate the working level of the workers and will give training to the ineffective
performers in the organisation so that functional efficiencies of the firm will be
developed in set period of time.
4) Factors within the Business environment
External business environment refers to those environments which are not under the
control of an organisation like political, social changes and technological changes (Laudon and
Laudon, 2016). Therefore, each such changes possess certain influence on decision making skill
of management of Toyota organisation. Following are the some internal as well as external
factors which can influences the decision-making formulated by leaders and managers.
External factors:
 Political changes: It is the change which is governed by the government as it includes
tax policy, political stability, environmental law etc. When there take place changes in
such laws and regulation then it greatly influences the decision-making power of leader
of different team members of Toyota organisation as they have to alter policies and
strategies accordingly in respect of rendering training to each team members accordingly
so that to carry out their activities smoothly without any hurdle. In addition to this
changes in political factor greatly influence on decision-making skill of management of
Toyota organisation and it can be explained with the help of example: As the government
expectation from Toyota organisation is that they carry out there operational activity as
per the rules rendered by them for an organisation, so in this case management of
company must make their policies and strategies accordingly so that each activities of an
organisation are being carried out ethically without abiding the rules and regulation of
government. For example, increase in taxation rate on vehicle products due to fluctuation
in political system, manager need to maintain pricing policies which can help company in
retaining loyal customers. It gets support from leaders in form of motivating employees
to reduce production cost by providing them training and development programs.
 Social changes: This change refers to the changes taking place in culture, traditions,
preferences of customers and society. So when such changes takes it directly influence
the decision making capability of leader of Toyota corporation as they have to first need

to carry out research so as to get updated about the changes taking place in the culture,
preferences and tradition of different society and accordingly have to render training and
development session to each workers so that they remain updated about the changes.
Thus, it will help the company to meet the customer requirements as per changing
demand and preferences which would result in increase in customer satisfaction level and
in achieving competitive edge in marketplace. To build strong social image of Toyota,
managers should identify the requirements of workforce within an organisation and
accordingly generate employment opportunities which indirectly increases standard of
living of people. For this managers requires support from leaders to motivate staff to
bring out new ideas for attracting skilled and qualified candidates.
 Economical Factors: The economic factors consist of inflation rate, Exchange rates of
money etc. which affects the business operations of Toyota. These factors have positive
and negative consequence on the business activities of Toyota. For instance, fall in
Japanese currency will put a negative impact on the revenue and profitableness of the
organisation. For this, managers of Toyota should suggest company to expand its
business to such a particular nation whose GDP are continuously grow. It gets support
from leaders in recruiting skilled and knowledgeable employees from expanded nation.
 Technological Factors: these factors consist changes taken place in the technology
sector in the products. These factors affect the business in ways like it can compare the
less advanced products of the company in comparison to the other brands. So, the
company is to require to analyse these changes and to follow them in a efficient manner.
Managers of Toyota should invest lot of money in promoting brand of company which
can easily attracts lots of customers. For example, hiring celebrities for advertisement of
company's products. Here, leaders should encourage its staff to bring out attractive and
influencing ideas of advertisement which grabs an attention of lots of customers in the
market.
Internal factors:
Corporate social responsibility : CSR is the management concept that motivates the
managers to follow balance in the social and environmental factors to provide the benefits to the
society. It also controls the activities of the organisation to control the negative effects on the
environment. CSR is required to maintain the good quality of the products with appropriate use

of resources. For example: In January 2005, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced the
Contribution towards Sustainable Development, an interpretation of the Guiding Principles at
Toyota that takes into consideration Toyota's relations with stakeholders.
Benefits of CSR are given as below:
Environmental Society Organisation
With the assistance of CSR
activity, managers of Toyota
will control the wastage of the
resources to protect the
environment.
It will lead in providing help
to the society in the form of
charity and donations. It also
builds strong image of the
company.
The cost of the product is
reduced to attract the
customers and will elad in
increasing profits for Toyota.
 Values- Managers of Toyota are required to follow certain values in conducting business
operations as it will lead in creating good image among the customers and will generate
valuable ideas to accomplish the goals in the desired time. For this, leaders should
motivate their staff to generate new and innovative ideas that will help company in
achieving competitive advantage in market. Ethics- Managers of Toyota follows ethics and principles that will aid them in
conducting proper business operations and will restrict them form initiating illegal
activities. In addition with this, leaders should create awareness about the importance of
following ethical principles at workplace which brings motivation to follow the same.
 Corporate culture: It is a culture which includes joint principles, appeal systems and
process that offer an organisation with its own limited flavour and way. Every company
has its own set of principles and goals that defines the goals and objectives of business. In
the context of Toyota, the company profitably penetrated international markets and
recognised a world-wide occurrence by worth of its efficiency. The company has
approach to both product development and distribution is very consumer friendly and
market driven. Toyota have institutionalized many successful workforce practices.
The stakeholders of Toyota and their expectations are:
 Shareholders have the expectations from the company that the invested money will be
returned with high interest.

 Government expectations are that Toyota will pay their taxes on proper basis for
effective use of the society.
 Suppliers expectations is regarding the supplies that the company should buy more
materials for production process.
 Customers expectations is related on the basis of the quality of the product and the price
and their satisfaction level from the services provided by Toyota.
 Employees expectation is related with the rewards and appraisals from time to time for
their good work.
 Competitors expectation will e that the company products should not attract the
customers and they can gain competitive advantage.
5) Evaluation of how operational efficiencies can be improved to successfully meet business
objectives using appropriate management and leadership approaches.
Business objective is all about the outcome which the company aims to achieve as well
as it included the strategies which the individual aims to get there along with the time frame for
each task. Operation management of Toyota organisation possess certain importance and value
in achieving business objective which can be explained with the help of example: Operation
management of Toyota is able to deliver better quality products and services to its customers and
it is just because of the importance of operation management as it it is the management which is
able to make best use of their resources like inputs and human resources. In order to make best
use of human resources management of Toyota motivates there workforce by rendering
monetary and non monetary benefits like salary increments, appreciation etc. Whereas to make
best use of resources they make optimum utilisation of resources so as to minimize cost of
production which overall result in improving the productivity level of an organisation.
Operational efficiencies can be increased only if the leader of Toyota corporation takes
into consideration situational leadership approach which is explained below (Mahadevan, 2015):
Situational leadership approach:
As per this approach leader must adopt the style of leadership as per the situation
demand. For example, if there take place increase in employee turnover due to the reason that
operation manager doesn't let employee to take part in any of the activities of an organisation, so
in that case leader must adopt democratic style of leadership and should allow employees to take
part in each activity specifically in decision making process which will also help in increasing

the operational efficiencies in a appropriate manner. Thus, it can be said that adoption of style of
leadership must be depend on situation, as single style of leadership doesn't fit to manage every
situation of an organisation.
Contingency approach:
This is also one of the approaches of management which also helps the operation
manager in increasing the operation efficiency of Toyota organisation as it helps in
understanding the complex business as well as helps in focusing multivariate nature of business
because of which it becomes easy for an organisation to operate under different environmental
conditions. Additionally, it also helps operation manager in rendering insights into an
organisation adaptability to both external and internal environment. Thus, it can be said that it
helps in increasing operational efficiencies as it avoids vague judgements and helps in widening
the horizons of practising managers, by guiding them to be adoptive and alert to the changing
environment.
6) Recommendation and conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that a leader must adopt the style of
leadership approach as per the situation demand for so as to minimize defects and to improve the
standard quality of products and services (Schönsleben, 2016). Moreover, it can be
recommended that manager of Toyota corporation needs to make proper research analysis so as
to identify the rigidity of factors which influence the operational activities negatively so as
accordingly strategies and plan can be made in order to overcome such issues. Additionally, it
can also be recommended that management can make best use of six sigma approach so as to
minimize the errors and to increase the quality of products. There are several leadership
approaches such as situational and contingency among which situational approach will be more
suitable for Toyota to adopt in order to achieve competitive advantage in marketplace. It also
been recommended to Toyota to conduct PESTLE Analysis in order to analyse external factors
which can influences the sustainability of company. For this, managers and leaders should hold
responsibility to make decisions to deal with influencing factors more effectively.

CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that operation management term to be the
crucial part of every organisation as it renders assistance to the leader and manager in enhancing
the efficiency level of operational activities. Additionally, it can also be concluded that that there
are different leadership theories and operational approaches which can be applied by leader and
manger as per the situation demand in order to enhance the performance of business with regard
to changing external business environment. The key operational approaches which are explained
above are like lean production, six sigma, total quality management so as to improve the overall
operational efficiencies of an organisation. In addition to this it can also be concluded that there
are several external factors which greatly influence the decision making of an organisation like
political and social factor, so it is very much sentential for the management of an organisation to
analyse such factors so that accordingly policies and strategies can be made.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alderton, P. and Saieva, G., 2013. Port management and operations. Taylor & Francis.
Ashford, N., Coutu, P. and Beasley, J., 2013. Airport operations.
Brown, S. and Bessant, J., 2013. Strategic operations management. Routledge.
Chiarini, A. and Vagnoni, E., 2015. World-class manufacturing by Fiat. Comparison with
Toyota production system from a strategic management, management accounting,
operations management and performance measurement dimension. International
Journal of Production Research.53(2). pp.590-606.
Childe, S. J., 2011. What are the hot topics in the management of operations?.
De Roover, R., 2017. The Medici Bank: its organization, management, operations, and decline.
Pickle Partners Publishing.
Drake, D. F. and Spinler, S., 2013. OM Forum—Sustainable Operations Management: An
Enduring Stream or a Passing Fancy?. Manufacturing & Service Operations
Management. 15(4). pp.689-700.
Galindo, G. and Batta, R., 2013. Review of recent developments in OR/MS research in disaster
operations management. European Journal of Operational Research. 230(2). pp.201-
211.
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Hillier, F. S. and Price, C.C., 2013. International Series in Operations Research & Management
Science.
Jacobs, F. R., Chase, R. B. and Lummus, R. R., 2014. Operations and supply chain management
(pp. 533-535). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Karnani, A., 2011. CSR Stuck in a Logical Trap: A Response to Pietra Rivoli and Sandra
Waddock's “‘First They Ignore You…’: The Time-Context Dynamic and Corporate
Responsibility”. California Management Review. 53(2). pp.105-111.
Laudon, K.C. and Laudon, J. P., 2016. Management information system. Pearson Education
India.
Mahadevan, B., 2015. Operations management: Theory and practice. Pearson Education
India.Jacobs and et. al., 2014. Operations and supply chain management (pp. 533-535).
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Schönsleben, P., 2016. Integral logistics management: operations and supply chain management
within and across companies. CRC Press.
Slack, N. and Brandon-Jones, A., 2018. Operations and process management: principles and
practice for strategic impact. Pearson UK.
Donate, M. J. and de Pablo, J. D. S., 2015. The role of knowledge-oriented leadership in
knowledge management practices and innovation. Journal of Business Research. 68(2),
pp.360-370.
Online

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT. 2019. [Online] Available Through :
<https://www.cleverism.com/operations-management-definition-principles-activities-
trends/>
Total quality management. 2019. [Online]. Available Through: <http://skholder.com/total-
quality-management-theory-tqm/>.