Role of IT in Toyota's Supply Chain

Running head: PROJECT MANAGEMENT 1
IT project management
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Abstract
The key objective of this report is leaned towards analyzing as well as comparing
“knowledge-as-possession view” with “knowledge-as-practice” as far as Toyota Company is
concerned with the management of knowledge. A great utilization of knowledge has been kept
by the Toyota Company in order to have an effective process of supply chain management. The
Nonaka’s framework has been used in evaluating the tacit as well as the implicit knowledge with
an aim making the Toyota company an effective organization as far as innovation is concerned.

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Introduction
Automotive industry has really extended its wings of success in all directions. It bases its
success on the strong pillar of a solid and a competitive-based innovation. Using the case study
of Toyota, much has been advanced in the technological as well as the supply chain strategies.
Being one of the most super-powerful automotive industries in Japan, Toyota Company has
enjoyed the sole-management as well as the technologized-designs and it composed of
manufacturing plants which exceeds 18 globally (Lee, & Jo, 2007).
Car automotive industries have intensely emerged and fully saturate the global markets
and so therefore, Toyota has kept its energy in exploring better and up-to-date strategies in order
to maintain its competitive nature as well as gaining a broader market as compared to its
competitors. Analyzing the relationship management in addition to knowledge strategies has
been factored in the supply chain used by the Toyota Company (Agrifoglio, 2015).
Evaluation of “knowledge-as-possession view” and “knowledge-as-practice view”
Any knowledge that has a capacity of being documented or codified as well as it can be
transferred to a third party is referred to as being “Knowledge-as-possession view”. An explicit
knowledge is considered to compose of any artefact, any procedure, any process or a journal.
Identification, collection, temporary or permanent storage as well as the dissemination of
information are the major roles being emphasized by the knowledge –as-possession approach
(De la Perrière, 2016). While on the other hand, an unspoken knowledge for carrying such
understandings in people’s minds. Accessing this knowledge is really difficult, codification in
addition to documentation of this knowledge is very tedious and the process of transferring it
only occurs via collaboration or social contact. Tacit knowledge is of importance especially

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because it is not mostly shared as well as the impossibility of having everything communicated
via collaborations. This knowledge has a great importance as being an as far as innovation is
concerned (Cakmakci, Kucukyasar, Aydin, Aktas, Sarikaya & Bekar, 2019).
Comparison between these 2 forms of knowledge is given in the figure below as their
contrast.
Knowledge strategies applied
In the spirit of remaining competitive globally, Toyota has adopted a knowledge
approach which involves having joint ventures. This venture is described by the TPCA (Toyota
Peugeot Citroën Automobile). It combines the Toyota Motors (Japan) as well as the Czech
Republic’s PSA-Peugeot. This joint venture has the objective of developing and producing
passenger-level cars which are targeted towards the European vast markets (Tonchia, Tonchia &
Mahagaonkar,2018).