Role of Leaders and Managers in Toyota Plc

MANAGEMENT & OPERATIONS

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................1
TASK – 1.................................................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction of Toyota and its management structure..................................................................1
2. Defining and comparing the roles of leaders and managers & throwing light on management
and leadership...............................................................................................................................2
3. Evaluating the roles of management and leadership in application to different organisational
situations.......................................................................................................................................3
4. Assessing strength and weakness of different theories and models of leadership and
management..................................................................................................................................4
5. Conclusion and recommendation for future improvement...........................................................5
TASK – 2.................................................................................................................................................5
1. Key operations of Toyota Plc. – Introduction.................................................................................5
2. Key operational function and determining the roles and responsibilities of the managers in
these functions..............................................................................................................................5
3. Key operational approaches to operations management & its importance and role of leaders
and managers................................................................................................................................7
4. Evaluating external business environment factors which influence operation management &
decision making by leaders and managers....................................................................................8
5. Ways of improving operational efficiency for meeting out the business objectives using
leadership and management approaches......................................................................................8
6. Conclusion & recommendation for future improvement..............................................................9
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Operations as well as management are being regarded as the major strength in almost
every firm. This can be better managed by effective leadership in place, as it helps in making
use of the present resources effectively and leads the path where goals are achieved
meticulously (Gaither and Frazier, 2012). The present research study is also focussed towards
the role of leaders and managers within the organization which helps in making an
improvement in the production level and creates products which are of high standard.
Further, the report will also going to evaluate varied types of leadership & management skills
practiced in the firm and will make an attempt to assess its relative strength as well as
weaknesses. It will also explore operational and management requirement for accomplishing
the business objectives. In this regards, a case of Toyota Plc will be taken into consideration.
As a production manager for this Japanese car manufacturing company, focus will be made
on how managers and leaders impacts the organization. The final section of the study
includes the role of leaders and managers in operation function of Toyota and will show the
relationship between leadership and management in this contemporary business environment.
TASK – 1
1. Introduction of Toyota and its management structure
Focusing in relation with the Toyota Motor Corporations, it is a Japanese
multinational automotive manufacturer being headquartered in Japan. Other than automobile,
the firm is also engaged into the business of financial services by its division of Toyota
financial services and also creates robots for various industries as well (Toyota-global.com,
2015). The corporate structure of the company includes around 364,445 employee all across
the world. Company is the world’s market leader in regards with the sales of hybrid electric
vehicles. Further, they are quite popular for their high quality manufactured cars and is being
growing fast globally. The management structure of Toyota is dependent on various business
operations being performed by them all throughout the world. As they are leading automobile
firm, they takes into consideration hierarchical structure which helps them in achieving its
objectives and strategic aims. Moreover, they maintain a global hierarchy with its
headquarters in Japan. All crucial decisions on each and every matter is being taken by
headquarter. It is also accountable for passing on judgement on major issues. The
organization structure of Toyota is divisional which is categorised into 8 geographic divisions
such as North America, Europe, Middle East, Japan, East Asia, Africa, Oceania, Latin
America, China, Asia and Caribbean. All these regional centres are required to report to
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Headquarter. With this system and structure in place, the firm can manager its activities and
operate effectively (Toyota Company Hierarchy, 2018).
2. Defining and comparing the roles of leaders and managers & throwing light on
management and leadership
Defining managers and leaders
Managers are those which designs and manage all the activities of the company
according to the pre-determined standards and objectives. Toyota Plc is engaged into
manufacturing, designing, trading and assembly of passenger cars in many parts of the world.
The main task of the managers of the firm is successfully achieving the objectives by
cultivating and executing strategies. They also plan out work activities according to the
objectives for the employees. Managers also assess the performance of their workers and do
appraisal accordingly (Greasley, 2011). On contrary to this, leaders helps in persuading the
behaviour of individuals for carrying out specified tasks or work activities so as to attain the
organizational goals. The leaders within Toyota has a crucial role to play, as they inspire and
directs the workers and leads them towards the path of success through their innovative,
directing and communication skills. They also provoke the works to perform as per the
defined goals and encourages them to make improvement in their productivity level.
Different Roles and functions of managers and leaders
 Planning – This is being regarded as one of the most important function of manager
of Toyota Plc. They manage and operates the each and every function of Toyota Plc
and set objectives that needs to be achieved by respective departments. Here, the role
of leader is to successfully communicate the roles of the employees and directs them
so that they can achieve those objectives effectively.
 Organizing – It is very significant that all the resources should be optimally utilized
and the manager of the firm ensure this (Volberda, 2011). The role of leaders here is
to help in proper allocation of the resources and accountabilities and also supports in
motivating the employees to perform optimally.
 Directing – The main function of the manager of Toyota is to direct the work
activities that is required to be carried out. However, it is the leader which develops
team and gives them guidance about the ways tasks can be attained.
 Controlling – The manager of the firm develops strategies and plans and all are
implemented by the leaders. Managers controls the activities of the workers and on
the other hand, leader verifies the result with the set standards.
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