Role of Manager and Leader in Toyota

Management and
Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK1.............................................................................................................................................4
1. Introduction of Toyota........................................................................................................4
2. Management structure of Toyota........................................................................................4
M1. Analyse and differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager by
effectively applying a range of theories and concepts............................................................6
3. Definition of manager and leader.......................................................................................6
3. Comparison of roles and characteristics of manager and leaders.......................................6
4. Comparison of functions of manager and leader................................................................7
5. Differences between manager and leader...........................................................................8
6. Management and leadership theories applied in different situation...................................9
M2 Assess the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to situations within the work
environment............................................................................................................................9
7. Conclusion and recommendations....................................................................................12
TASK2...........................................................................................................................................13
1. Introduction to key operations of Toyota.........................................................................13
2. Key operational function and roles and responsibilities of managers in it.......................13
3. Key operational approaches of operational management.................................................14
M4 Analyse how these different factors affect the business environment and wider
community............................................................................................................................15
M3. Evaluate how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management
to successfully meet business objectives..............................................................................17
6. Conclusion and recommendations....................................................................................18
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................19
REFRENCES ................................................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is concerned with preparation, organising and supervising process
and make required improvements for higher productiveness. This deals with managing
operations and processes within a company. Organisation undertaken in this report is Toyota
Motor Corporation which was founded in 1937 in Japan and deals in auto mobile industry. This
report will analyse and distinguish between the role of a leader and function of a manager by
effectively applying a range of theories and concepts. It will further assess the strengths and
weaknesses of different approaches to situations within the work environment. It will also
evaluate about how managers and leaders will improve their efficiencies of operational
management to successfully accomplish business objectives. The later party of the report will
give clear understanding of different environmental factors that affects the business environment.
TASK1
1. Introduction of Toyota.
Organisation undertaken is Toyota Motor Corporation which is a Japan based company
and deals in auto mobile industry and is the second largest automotive manufacturer. It
encourages the mass hybrid vehicles across the globe (Schwarz, Hall and Shibli, 2015).
Operation management is very important for maintaining day to day functioning and smooth
operation of business.
2. Management structure of Toyota.
Toyota' s management structure is based on varied business operations of the company all
over the world. Their structure is linked to the traditional organisation structure used in Japanese
business. The effectiveness of Toyota is maintaining a strong global presence shows its ability to
utilise its organisation structure to increase its efficiency. Its organisational structure determines
the patterns and arrangements in the firm resources and processes. It has a divisional structure
which is seen as a response to the safety issues and corresponding products recalls. It has the
following characteristics:
 Global hierarchy : This maintain its global businesses with its headquarters in Japan.
The main headquarter is accountable for taking all the relevant decisions and is
responsible for passing all the judgements and decisions on major issues (Ravindran,
2016). For instance, if individual business unit does not communicate well then the Japan

office of Toyota will take final decision regarding the existence of that unit. It maintains
its global hierarchy but with the changes the importance of its regional head unit is also
increased. All the business units of Toyota, operating all over the world is required to
report to the Japan office.
 Geographic divisions : The company operates in eight geographic divisions and each
regional centres and their heads are required to report to the headquarters (Slack and
Brandon-Jones, 2018). This function is useful in improving business functions, products
and services in a flexible way and company will operate in a better way. In this each unit
has a division head who takes the final decision for that particular branch but final
decision will still lie with Japan office.
 Product based divisions : In this feature, Toyota consist of four divisions and it supports
development of product line and brands. They make way for smoother operations,
divided decision making separately for each branch and ability to resolve issues fast.
Source : Toyota Company Hierarchy.2018
M1. Analyse and differentiate between the role of a leader and function of a manager by
effectively applying a range of theories and concepts.
Illustration 1: Toyota Company Hierarchy. 2018

Managers and leaders are two very crucial element of business organisation. They are
different entities and have distinct roles and functions which are to be performed (Nielsen and et.
al., 2014).
3. Definition of manager and leader.
Manager : In operation management of business, managers are the people who handles
the various activities which are necessary for operating in business world.
Leader : Leaders are responsible for influencing people to work towards the attainment
of goals and objectives of the organisation.
3. Comparison of roles and characteristics of manager and leaders.
Roles of manager
As a manager, every person is required to perform various roles in everyday life and they
are discussed below:
 Informational roles : This role of the manager is concerned with providing and
analysing various information and sharing the same with people.
 Decision making role : As manager is one of the top position in company, they are held
liable for making various decisions which will be useful in meeting business objectives.
 Interpersonal roles : It cover a relationship between manager and others. In this,
individual will act as figurehead, liaison and leader to maintain a connection with outside
organisations.
Roles of leader
Various roles to be performed by leader in Toyota are :
 Training : They provide effective training and guidance to the workers to effectively
accomplish the objectives of Toyota.
 Motivation : They provide motivation to make people passionate about their work in
form of financial and non financial methods.
Characteristics of managers
 Managers are the people who manages people and activities in the organisation.
 They focus on tactical activities and have more directive and controlling approaches.
 They ensure that work is done on time, emphasis on day to day activities and manage the
activities of others.
Characteristics of leaders

 They inspire and motivate employees to drive themselves.
 They are focussed towards the change.
 They recognises the continual improvement that can be achieved and accomplishes
greater success.
4. Comparison of functions of manager and leader.
Functions of managers
There are various functions which are required to be performed by the manager of Toyota
and they are discussed below :
 Planning : The manager is responsible for making plans and programme of how to
accomplish the task with all relevant details. It further determines the goals and
objectives for the Toyota and methods to accomplish those goals.
 Organising : Manager is responsible for organising an organisation by establishing
patterns of relationships among people and other resources that work to produce an
output for the production process (McCrie, 2015).
 Controlling : As the organisation moves towards the goals, manager is responsible for
maintaining development. It involves taking appropriate actions to assure that
organisational goals and objectives are planned and carried out and firm makes maximum
effectiveness.
 Staffing : It is the organisational function which is responsible for hiring and retaining an
appropriate workforce in an organisation. Toyota will involve the process of recruitment,
training, developing, etc. to the individuals.
 Directing : This is concerned with leadership, communication and motivation which
assures that employees perform their duties effectively and efficiently in Toyota.
Function of leader
There are numerous functions performed by leader in Toyota and they are discussed
below:
 Setting clear vision : This means influencing the present and future state of the business
and leader will exercise their duties by explaining and clarifying the vision and
importance of setting goals (Mahadevan, 2015).
 Initiating actions : Function of leader is to take initiative in all matters of the interest to
the group. Leaders will float new ideas and their decisions will reflect original thinking.