UGB165 Report: Operational Improvements for Ford and GM

This report analyzes the business operations of Ford and GM, focusing on strategies to gain market share, particularly in light of Toyota's recent challenges. The report begins with an introduction to business operations and highlights the golden opportunity for Ford and GM. The main body explores operational improvement strategies, including the application of tools and techniques such as Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean Operations, and the 5S concept. It examines the quality issues faced by Toyota, such as changing customer perceptions, seat demand issues, communication problems, and procurement schedule mismatches. The report suggests solutions like improving the production-scheduling linkage, quality checks, and seat material design. The report also provides advice on operational strategies that Ford and GM can implement to gain market share, emphasizing the use of management tools and techniques. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations, supported by references.

UGB 165
Introduction to
business operations
and services

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN – BODY ...............................................................................................................................3
Explain company operations improvement strategy that also includes tools and techniques ....3
Advise operational strategies that Ford and GM can implement to gain market share from
Toyota.........................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Business operations refers to that term in this every task that was performed within the
company for running and earning profits for larger sustainability is integratedly known as
business operations. It is very significant because due to this founders can understood the
organisations people, process, machines in an effective way so that the functions can be done
appropriately. It represents as a intangible assets as in business services only intangible
commodity are included. This project report is based on the golden opportunity for the Ford and
GM because in recent years Toyota caught in downshift. But Toyota can regain the market share
and high profits in a short period of time. For this Toyota can hire an operations manager who
can implement various strategy to regain the high market share. To this it involves the various
tools and techniques related to operations management so that problems can be minimised and
helps in retaining the customer base for the longer period of time. Further it involves the various
operational strategies that helps the Ford and GM to regain their market share as compare to
Toyota(Stark, Fresemann and Lindow, 2019).
MAIN – BODY
Explain company operations improvement strategy that also includes tools and techniques
Operational improvement
This is an fundamental term that is needed for the continuous improvement within the
organisation that is required to succeed within the today' business world that contains the diverse
nature. It plays a significant role in the profits and growth by reducing the wastage, saving the
cost and set the sustainable programs to achieve the desirable results. This improvement activity
helps in increasing the production for generating high market share. This helps the Toyota to
enhance their auto lineups for a longer term. To recalls their opportunity Toyota can hire an
experienced operation manager who can handle all the situation at the operation level that helps
in reducing the waste and enhancing the productivity so that large base of customers get
attractive and company enjoys more profits margin with high sales. Operational improvement
can helps in optimisation of assets, improves the quality, execution of task, focusing on safety
performance, improvement process, focus on reliability, managing all the inventory so that cost
of production would be minimised etc. There are some quality issues that is face by the company

and to overcome this issue operation manager of organisation can apply effective tools and
techniques that can be shown below(Ahmed and et. al., 2020).
Quality issues faced by Toyota
Toyota is one of the largest Japanese car manufacturing company with the 364,445
working employees in all over the world and it is the grate competitor to the Ford and GM. In
recent years there is increasing Changing customer perception that would affect the quality of
the Toyota. Due to this it will benefited for the Ford and GM to enhance their market share as
compare to Toyota. So at this time operation manager of Toyota can analyse the area of issues
so that they can overcome it by applying the various tools and techniques. Currently company
has to face the problems related to varieties of demand in the seats that means in their car need of
seats cannot be match with the car model and due to this there sales may be affected. In this KFS
cannot focus on the supply replacements that is related to the defective seats due to this
customers are not satisfied with the quality of seats that play a significant role in every car.
Toyota also face crises in their communication system due to this they cannot research the
market properly. Another quality issue is depend on the procurement schedule that is not match
with the production schedule due to this problems can be faced in designing the car and due to
this General motors and Ford can take the advantage of it to enhance their market share(Yu,
2017).
To improve the quality there production department is equal to the scheduling
department, create a direct and smooth linkage between the production and operation
department, after manufacturing the whole car final quality check should be done perfectly.
Material of seat should be manufactured as per the requirement of the model of the car. All this
problem is solved by applying the operation management tool and techniques and it is the
responsibility of the operation manager so that wastage can be eliminated and optimisation can
be incremented.
Tools and techniques of operation management
Management of operations is very essential in the field of the business venture gaining
the large brand image. It is useful for directing the physical and technical activities within the
organisation or an enterprise. In case of Toyota they can maintains their market image as
compare to Ford and GM for this they can apply the effective tools that helps in developing,
manufacturing and producing the whole goods and services within the guidance of the operations

management. For improving the quality of the cars operation manager of the Toyota can follows
the various tools and approaches that can be shown below(Strydom and Rudansky-Kloppers,
2016).
 Total quality management- It refers to that system which is based on the management
principle that every employee of the organisation can committed to maintained the
standard for work in every aspects of the operations of the business enterprise. It is an
approach that is used in the climate of the organisation for enhancing and improving the
quality of ability so that demand and needs can be increased and customers finds the
value in this. In case of Toyota, operation manager can apply this theory for enhancing
the productiveness of the employees so that quality can be improved and results get in a
positive way. In this manager can focus on developing the quality check teams in this
they work with collaboration and with the suppliers so that quality of the products can be
good and due to this defects can be minimised in the manufacturing of the car. This terms
helps in gaining more market share with the limited range of price of the car because of
low production cost involved in the manufacturing of cars. In this operation manager
gives the right to employees to take participate in the operational level decisions so that
small issues can be solved effectively and also helps in encouraging employees
motivation to work due to this quality of the work can be improved and enhanced(Ju,
Kim and Ahn, 2016).
 Lean Operations- It defines the term that suggest the running of the business by majorly
focusing on the satisfaction of the consumer by using the appropriate resources as much
as possible. It is basically considered two aspects that maintaining the value for the
customers by proving the quality goods and services to eliminating the waste from
manufacturing and designing the goods and services. IN case of Toyota, operation
manager can adopting the lean operation tool in their working area and in various
activities that includes inventory, production times, transportation. In this manager can
apply the Toyota production system i.e. TPS for lean operations that shows managing and
maintaining the interactions between the people and technology with in the working
environment so that waste related in production of cars can be minimised and consistency
can be maintained. TPS is a type of socio technical system that helps in gaining the
competitive advantage within the market place. Because it helps in decreasing the

absenteeism by enhancing the morale of the workers so that problems related to the
identify the needs of customers related to seats can be identified and it can be solved in
an effective way without wasting of resources. It is generally based on the fifve key
principle i.e. identify the value, map the value, creating flow, establish pull and seek
perfection all this five principles can helps in gaining more profits and also rebuild the
market share for a long period of time(Bithi, 2018).
 5 S concept- This term is related to the effective system that is concerned with the
managing spaces so that work can be done effectively, safely and efficiently. It is a
significant system that puts everything in a systematic way and also create a healthy and
clean environment that encourage people for the productive work and also create
satisfaction in their mind. Applying this system helps in working with eliminating waste
and risk present in the working. Operation manager of the Toyota can adopted this 5s
system in their operating management department that consist of sort, set in order, shine,
standardize and sustain and it can be explain below for enhancing the market share of the
Toyota by improving the quality that was present to their customers. This 5 concepts can
leads many importance that is reducing cost, improving quality, enhancing productivity,
maintaining workers satisfaction in the work and their job role by providing the better
and safe working environment so that they work effectively and efficiently. It helps in
focusing on Toyota's Achilles' heel in which they may face the crises in effcetive
communication. To reduce this issues company can apply this system tool. It is also
represents as a hands on tool that see as an organising the work cycle within the business
organisation. It can be shown below(Montini and et. al., 2018).
◦ Sort- It is the first aspect that shows the manager of the company can go through all
the tools, techniques, processes, raw materials, furniture, machinery etc. so that it is
easy to determine the present needs so that no usable items and resources can be
removed. In this operation manager of Toyota can focus on maintains the relations the
relations between procurement, production and supply department so that material
can be get into the reasonable cost so that cost of production would be minimised. In
this they could focus on the designing the seat of the car as the needs of the customers
so that they can beat their strong competitors i.e. ford and general motors. In cars seat
place an important part because if it not comfortably design than customers are not

satisfied with the quality due to this they can focus on their their production and
supply department that there connection would be strong so that the problem related
to seat can be minimised by improving the quality.
◦ Set in order- This term is denoted that every items and resources can be there
designated place so that it helps in saving the time of searching the resources that was
needed at the time of manufacturing the goods and services. It also means that the
material is placed in that place where movement of the people will be reduced. In
case of Toyota, manager can analyse and examine that all the resources stays in their
position and for this they can label the spaces so that no extra storage can be included
that shows the expenses in the company. This helps in maximising the
communication effectiveness in the organisation due to this firm will satisfy the
demand of customers by more focusing on the quality of the seat(Tao and et. al.,
2018).
◦ Shine- After sorting and placing the resource on their right position it is the time of
shining and it is possible by refining that was done in this stage. It is only considered
for fixing the issues. In case of Toyota, operation management can focusing on that
the working area should be clean where workers can enjoy their work and due to this
wastage can be removed and efficiency can be increase.
◦ Standardize- A manager of Toyota group can focus on standardize the resources
after fulfilling the objectives related to above task. In this they can adopts the basic
three framework that is 5s checklist in which they can examine the work of the
employees by evaluating their performance so that optimum utilisation of resources
can be done. Job cycle charts helps the operation manager to properly assign the duty
of the workers as per their skills and abilities so that task can be achieved on time.
Procedure of labels and signs used for guiding the workers according the operations
instructions so that wastage can be eliminated and quality of work should be
improved(Mert and et. al., 2016).
◦ Sustain- It is the last step of the 5S concept in which operation manager of Toyota
can focus on that workers can do their work in a systematic way by following proper
guiding. It shows the continuing commitment where employees need management
support so that workers get proper training for completing their task.

Advise operational strategies that Ford and GM can implement to gain market share from Toyota
Operational strategies
It refers to the long term strategies that helps in shaping the capabilities of the company
and their operations to gain the competitive market in the same industry. In this business models
are constantly changing in the business environment to look into the successful future. This
strategies can be executed by the Ford and GM to increase their profits and market share as
compare to Toyota. For gaining the growth firms majorly focus on improving the operation of
business rather than fixing the issues for a temporary basis. It is very essential to develops the
strategy for gaining the competitive a market by Ford and General motors that can be shown
below(Kumar and Sheel, 2015).
 Go lean- It is the first strategy that was adopted by the managers of Ford and General
motors for enhancing their market share. As lean is shown as a operational philosophy
that helps in delivering the goods and services to the customers for creating internal and
external values. By improving the quality and working conditions within the firm on a
regular basis manager need to do changes according to the analysis of the internal and
external factors. This helps in maintaining the market share for a longer period of time.
 Focus on quality- For enhancing the market share of the company by Ford and GM there
manger can focus on the quality they offers to their customers. In this they can
forecasting the demand in the marketplace so that customers get attracted towards the
products. In this they offers the quality products on low price as compare to the Toyota so
that they can encourage customers for buying this. They work on reducing the wastage
and saving their production cost so that company can delivers their products on low cost
with high profit margins(Yu and et. al., 2019).
 Improve forecasting- To become famous and enhance the image of the brand company
need to forecast the demand and capability related to products and services in the market.
For forecasting the market company need to hire a professional candidate that can adopts
the tools and techniques According to the demand of market and manufactured the
products would be easy. It is very essential to gain the profits and covered the large
market share in the worldwide business platform(Wijaya, Sitokdana and Hapsari, 2019).
 Launching customer centric thinking- In Ford and GM managers can introduce their
thinking power on a customer centric basis. So that they can experience the demands and

needs of the customers easily. And if they always put their customer first than company
will sustain in the marketplace for a longer period of time. It shows the incredible results
in gaining the high market share. It helps in operations of the business and due to this
wastage in the resources can be eliminated and resources can be utilised in an optimum
way.
 Try old fashioned business process re-engineering- It is the best strategy that was
developed by the business in this manager of the organisation like Ford and General
Motors can focus on trying the old fashioned process by doing some modifications so that
cost cannot be included more but it gives the effective results to the company profits. By
focusing on this strategy they can takeover the Toyota market. In adopting the old
fashioned process manager can easily removing the wasteful resources so that time can
be saved in working and goals can be achieved in an appropriative manner(Phanthiam
and Taeporamaysamai, 2019).
 Analyse the competitors weaknesses- It is the best strategy that is adopted by the
companies like Ford and General Motors because it helps in gaining the high market
share. In this they can overtake the Toyota market for this they can focus on their
weaknesses so that they can work on this and grab the opportunities in the marketplace.
In this Toyota main weakness is their seat that is not design properly because of Toyota's
Achilles' heel in which they face a crises related to non effective communication. In this
managers of Ford can focusing on providing the best quality seats with effective
communication so that they can gain the high profits as compare to Toyota(Pinto,
Fernandez-Esquinas and Uyarra, 2015).
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is to be concluded that business operations and services play an
essential role in the organisation to gaining the high profits and revenues for a longer period of
time by doing a productive work. This report shows how Toyota has increase their market share
as compare to previous year. For this they can appoint an experienced operation manager so that
they can regain their sales to beat the competition in the marketplace within the same industry. In
this they can improve the quality by involving various operations management tool and
techniques that is lean production, total quality management, 5 S concepts so that they can
overcome the issues related to the quality with an effective manner. At last it also provides

various operations strategies for the Ford and GM so that they can regain their market share on
the comparison of Toyota motors so that they can longer sustain in the market with a large
customer base.

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