Managing in a Global Business Environment Case Study 2022

Running head: MANAGING IN A GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
MANAGING IN A GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT: A CASE STUDY OF
TOYOTA
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

MANAGING IN A GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT1
As opined by Waddell (2017), the process of globalization which gained prominence in
the 19th century in the wake of the Industrial Revolution in Britain is an important entity which
had substantially changed the nature of the present-day business world. Hamilton and Webster
(2018) are of the viewpoint that the different business corporations through the use of the
construct of globalization or internationalization had expanded their business into various
emerging nations of the world. However, at the same time it had been seen that the business
corporations operating on a global basis face various challenges which if not adequately
managed can adversely affect their growth as well as profitability in the host nations.
Furthermore, the managers within the framework of these corporations are playing an important
role since they are entrusted with the work of the identification of these challenges and
opportunities and also to take adequate measures for the effective utilization of the same (Kolk,
2016). This essay analyses the international challenges and possible opportunities for managers
operating in a global environment in the particular context of the business corporation Toyota
Motor Corporation.
Stone and Deadrick (2015) are of the viewpoint that the major gratification factor for the
business corporations to undertake the internationalization is the opportunity to not only
manufacture surplus amount of products or services but at the same time sell it so as to earn a
higher amount of profitability. This as a matter of fact is one of the major reasons for the global
operations of the business corporation Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota, founded in 1937 by
Kiichiro Toyoda, is a Japanese multinational corporation which specializes in the manufacture as
well as the sale of automobiles (Toyota.com.au, 2019). In this relation, it needs to be said that
initially the business operations of Toyota were limited only to the nation of Japan however post-
1950s with the intention to enhance its production and profitability it started to expand into the

MANAGING IN A GLOBAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT2
other nations of the world like Australia, USA, UK, Canada, India and others (Toyota.com.au,
2019). As a matter of fact, the multination corporation under discussion here is presently the 6th
largest company of the world in terms of the yearly revenue generated by it, which for the year
2018 was ¥30,225,681 million (Toyota.com.au, 2019). Despite the exponential growth attained
by the multinational corporation Toyota in the global business environment it had been seen that
there are various kinds of challenges and opportunities that still galore the concerned corporation
in the global business environment which its managers need to identify and make use of to
enhance the growth of the enterprise.
As discussed by Dunning (2015), one of the most important challenges that the managers
and the multinational corporations operational in the international business arena commonly face
can be ascribed to the problem of cultural conflicts or cross-cultural miscommunication. In this
relation, Cascio and Boudreau (2016) have noted that globalization had transformed the entire
world into a village wherein corporations from all over the world have the opportunity to
conduct business. However, the major problem arises because the national culture of one nation
is drastically different from that of other nations and thus it becomes very difficult for
individuals related to one nation to effectively with individuals from other nations (Zhong et al.,
2016). In the particular context of Toyota, it can be seen that the problem of cross-cultural
miscommunication is one of the major challenges that the managers related to this multinational
corporation commonly face. For example, the managers and the other employees of Toyota had
been used to following the Japanese culture and business style however for the process of their
business operations in Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK and other western nations they are
effectively understand the western culture which as a matter of fact is very different from the
eastern culture that is being followed in Japan (Hamilton & Webster, 2018). As a matter of fact,