Analysis of Leadership and Management Roles in the Toyota Company

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management roles within the Toyota company, a global vehicle manufacturer. It begins by defining the distinct roles and characteristics of leaders and managers, emphasizing their importance in achieving organizational goals. The report then explores how these roles are applied in various situations, including team-building and project management, highlighting the use of different leadership approaches such as situational, contingency, and system leadership. Furthermore, it delves into the application of leadership and management theories, such as transformational and classical management theories, within Toyota. The report also examines key approaches to operations management and the significance of operational efficiency in meeting business objectives. Finally, it discusses the impact of the business environment on operational management and decision-making by leaders and managers. This report uses Toyota as a case study to illustrate the practical application of leadership and management principles.

Management and
Operation

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Roles and characteristics of leaders and managers...............................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P2. How are roles of leaders and managers applicable in various situations..............................4
P3. Applying different models and theories of approach............................................................5
M2. Strengths and weaknesses of approaches to situations within work environment..............6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P4. Key approaches to operations management and role played by managers and leaders........7
P5. Importance of operations management in achieving business objectives............................8
M3. Leaders and managers improve efficiencies of operational management to meet business
objectives.....................................................................................................................................9
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
P6. Factors of business environment affect operational management and decision-making by
leaders and manager....................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is a large concept which is associated with assessment and
control of functions such as manufacturing or supplying of product and services within the
organisation. This is a process which take initiates from the control of raw materials and
regularity till they get changed into finished goods. This is determined with maintenance of the
quality of goods and managing to make a proper balance between cost and revenue of entity.
Along with this leaders and managers plays a vital role in operations management. The present
study depends on the Japanese company of Toyota which is a global vehicle supplying or
manufacturing entity. Their headquarters in Toyota city, Japan, that follows a divisional
organisational structure which is centralise around the world. This report involves in the various
roles and characteristics of leaders and managers. It will also explain different approaches of
operations management with the suitable theories and models. Apart, from this approaches of
leadership and pestle analysis of an organisation will also elaborated (Boyd and Dougherty,
2016).
TASK 1
P1. Roles and characteristics of leaders and managers.
Leaders and managers are very much essential part of an business enterprise. Through
performing their different roles and responsibilities in a perfect way, so that on the basis of this
they ensures the growth and profitability of an organization.
Leader:
Leaders are responsible to motivating their employees effectively for achieving targeted
goals and objectives in a perfect way. These are the kind of ability of a company's management
in order to achieve challenging goals and inspires other people to perform well. In the context of
Toyota, leaders makes their strong relationship and positive attitude with the employees and
team members. It also ensures timely completion of work and achieving goals for a company
timely.
Role of Leaders in Toyota-
 In the context of Toyota, leaders plays a vital role as they are allocate various task or
work to their employees towards achieving goals and vision of the company in a efficient
way (Ellitan, 2017).
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 Leaders of Toyota creates good vision for the company in order to gain profitability by
leading their employees in specified manner for the future growth of an organization.
Characteristics of leaders in Toyota-
 Leaders in Toyota are loyal and already prepared towards their work, so that they affect
individuals in order to take the same approach within the organization.
 Leaders of Toyota are very good in communication skills which helps in maintain the
team working on the right projects with the right attitude in a right manner. Therefore,
leaders are very effective part who always helps in achieving specified goals of an
organisation (Ellitan, 2017).
Managers:
A candidate who is concern about the certain group of task or certain subset of an
organization. It also controls various business activities and professional activities of a performer
in the company. Manager also managing various resource and lot of work for creating good
environment in an organisation. In regards of Toyota, managers gives the instructions for the top
level of management to subordinates and assures that operations are carried out according to
them. They are the crucial part for an organisation in a good manner.
Role of Managers in Toyota-
 Managers of Toyota are the primary force which increases the growth and expansion
globally. They are responsible for all aspects of company as achieving objectives or goals
in a well manner.
 Managers of Toyota are responsible for managing a single employee or team members or
a group of individuals. They can also make different services or product line of the
company.
Characteristics of Managers in Toyota-
 Managers in Toyota are very much energetic or creative. This character of managers
affect other people in a positive way in order to make good project within the
organisation.
 Managers are very knowledgeable which is very important for every organisation as per
the business concern. Through this characteristics they can focus their employees on the
basis of good knowledge.
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Similarities between Managers and Leaders of Toyota-
 Managers and leaders are work together in order to achieve same goals and objective and
increase profitability for an organization.
 Managers or leaders plays the same role within the organisation in order to maximise the
morale and confidence of employee’s to ensures timely achievement of targeted goals
and objectives in a good way.
Differences between Management and Leadership of Toyota:
Basis of Comparison Managers Leaders
Behavioural characteristics
Management of Toyota always
focuses on the good behaviour
of employees which shows the
candidates behaviours within
the working environment (Fan,
Liu and Zhang, 2015).
Leadership of Toyota is
focuses upon motivation which
affects of high confidence in
order to lead the team in a well
manner.
Authority and power
Management has authority to
do allot the work and ask for
their employees and also
controls organisational
activities effectively.
Leadership has the power
which maximise work
productivity of employees and
lead team timely in relation the
completion of tasks in
stipulated manner.
Subordinates
Management of Toyota have
lot of employees as the
subordinates.
Leadership have so many
followers as subordinates in an
organisation.
In the context of Toyota, managers and leaders use of various leadership and
management theories in order to long stay with their roles and responsibilities.
Transformational theory of leadership:
It is the theory of leadership which is focuses on how leaders can create positive and
valuable change in their employees within in the organisation. In this leaders focuses on the
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gathering compliances by giving benefits. In the addition of this theory, leaders of Toyota assure
that behaviour of team members or employees that can be affected according to the leadership
and their commitment about the work. In this, leaders use of this theory to achieve goals and
objectives in a desirable manner.
Classical theory of Management:
It is the ideology theory of classical theory of management, according to this managers of
an entity require to enhancing the profitability of company. For this, managers in Toyota focus
on meetings for organisational needs of employees in order to encourage them towards working
in a efficient manner. This is done through the optimal decision making policies which can
assured the high profits for business organization.
TASK 2
P2. How are roles of leaders and managers applicable in various situations.
Toyota is a leading dealer providing service in different region with innovative cars and
used cars, trucks, etc., and operating their business activities in an international market. For this
company it is important to generate business strategies as to be competitive in business
environment (Ma and Sun, 2012). In this, the managers and leaders also have to perform their
responsibilities for achieving their goals and objectives. Leaders in Toyota perform different
functions like strategies for projects, giving work to employees,etc. Toyota changes their
technologies on the basis of business environment. Toyota leaders trains team members to learn
concepts and adapt changes, new technology, motivate employees to enhance skills and attain
organisational objectives and goals. Additionally, the leaders and managers aim is to think about
the development of the business and organisation. They handle all situations electively and solve
crucial problems faced by the organisation. Toyota has given following statements for the
functions of its company which are listed below-
Team-building: This task is a difficult task for the company as it involves several
members of the organisational culture. In this, leaders of Toyota follow autocratic style of
leadership for making their workforce to work according to their team. In this, managers directs
its team members to work in a team that helps in enhancing the performance in business
environment and it helps in achieving the business objectives. Additionally, managers and
leaders of Toyota try to build trust among employees, which leads in creating a positive and
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healthy work environment in a business entity. Such practises by managers and leaders of Toyota
help the organisation in achieving the specified targets in the given time frame. Team building
practise makes Toyota to encourage creative thinking among their work and also helps its
employees to achieve their goals and objectives.
Project management: The success of many business organisations is associated with
the execution of the tasks and objectives in effective manner. In this context, the main roles and
responsibilities of leaders and managers of Toyota is to monitor performance of its team
members and also provide training sessions, in order to increase their skills and knowledge. On
the other hand, the role of a manager or leader is to provide proper guideline to their
subordinates, which leads in making the work effective and efficient in a competitive business
environment. This task is also considered difficult for an organisation as in this it is essential to
choose effective business strategies. In this context, it is essential for Toyota to utilise their
resources effectively and operate business activities with a motive to achieve aims and objectives
in a proper time frame. It is also essential for the manager of chosen organisation to assign roles
and responsibilities to their subordinates in accordance with their abilities (Nayak, 2015).
P3. Applying different models and theories of approach.
Leadership is the process or activity which includes having a group of people or an
organization or the ability or capacity to perform. This includes establishing a clear vision,
providing the information, knowledge and methods to realize that vision, and sharing that vision
with others so that they can perform effectively. This process is followed by leaders of Toyota
for keeping team spirit of their employees high and also focussing on the overall development
and motivation. There are different key approaches of leadership which are followed in the
company and these are discussed below:
Situational leadership: This approach of leadership is put into force when the leader or
manager of Toyota have to change their style to fit the development level of the followers they
are trying to influence. It is most important and basic theory of management which pays equal
importance to all leadership styles and approaches and is bias to no single leadership approach.
Contingency leadership theory: Contingency theory focuses not only on the leader but
also on the situation in which the leader is interacting. Contingency leadership approach is used
when skills of leaders have to be assessed which help in inspiring and motivating employees of
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Toyota. This approach runs on a twofold process where skills of leader as well as situation both
are analysed.
System leadership theory: System leadership approach helps the managers and leaders of
Toyota in providing a healthy work environment. This approach is followed when managers and
leaders establish changes and new policies which is going to help in maintaining productivity.
This leadership approach is also used for enhancing production process in Toyota. Due to this
goals can be achieved in given tie frame.
Leadership and management has their specified roles and responsibilities which have to
be completed in order to conduct of business activities. Moreover, there are several approaches
of leadership and management which can be used by Toyota to attain goals and objectives in a
timely and right manner (Plesser and et. al., 2014).
M2. Strengths and weaknesses of approaches to situations within work environment
The different types of leadership approaches with their own strengths and weaknesses
and these are discussed in the following paragraph:-
Situational leadership-
 Strength: Situational leadership is spontaneous to managers. Many managers
instinctively know that they need to adjust their response to control various situation at
hand. Situational leaders helps to maintain the relationship between the manager and the
employee. Employees feel more valued and respected and this leads to a better and good
working experience for leaders as well as employees.
 Weakness: This model of leadership can express one of four different leadership styles.
It creates trouble and chaos in mind as Using or opting for different leadership styles
every time creates a confusion for leaders. It is not that much effective in meeting
organisational goals in time.
Contingency leadership theory-
 Strength: Using contingency theory of leadership style the leaders of Toyota develops an
effective chart for human resource planning.
 Weakness: One major drawback of contingency theory is that it is difficult for
employees to handle business situations and complex problems.
System leadership theory-
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 Strength: This approach is focusing on achievement of the overall organisational goal
with increasing employee performance.
 Weakness: The Major drawback of this theory is that it reduces the effectiveness of
decision making ability of managers.
TASK 3
P4. Key approaches to operations management and role played by managers and leaders.
Operations management is the activity that starts from procurement of raw material and
regular till its conversion into finished goods. This is a management practice which focuses on
high elimination of wastage along with optimum utilisation of various resources. The big
purpose beyond this process is to increase the efficiency of operations of Toyota. Operations
management keeping a proper balance between revenue earned and cost that is formed by
company (Wang and Abareshi, 2015).
Their are two major operational functions of production and transportation which are
given below:-
Production: It is an organisational function which is cope up with the acquisition of raw
materials and their change into finished goods. This is the main activity for every manufacturing
organization.
Transportation: In this, goods are produced and they are sent from one place to another
place. This is the actual transformation of goods. It has another another function in Toyota which
assures that the vehicles manufactured by organisation reach consumers timely.
Their are various approaches which is being used within the operations management that
are explained below:
Six Sigma: It is a type of statistical approach which is mainly used within the
organisations in order to reduce any kind of defects or issues that comes within the products and
services which is being rendered by company. Six sigma mainly assists leaders and managers of
Toyota in order to maximising the working level of employees within the business enterprises.
Therefore, organisation can easily achieve goals due to the limited time. This approach creates
large number of statistical tools and techniques to reduce the some errors between demand able
and real results of production output.
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This operations management approach is used in Toyota for identifying and evaluating
the performance of staff members or employees within the company and find out if there are any
defaults or errors. Six sigma approach is further divided into two types that is DMAIC and
DMADV. This approach also assists management of Toyota in evaluating the current
performance of personnel in order to take steps in raise their standards of quality (Wen-chao, Fan
and Wen-wen, 2012).
Just in time approach: It is an important approach which is used by various
enterprises to eliminate the delay caused in manufacturing of materials and process of production
for changing these materials into final goods. Mainly it is used by leaders and managers of
Toyota for carry forward effective inventory management. This method uses of lean
methodology to increase the performance level of employees as well as company. Just in time
approach concerns about the cost reduction associated with inventory management and eliminate
old stock.
Total Quality Management: This approach is used by several organisation who has
large objectives that maintain the good quality of products and services. In the context of Toyota,
It helps in enhance the customers loyalty towards the brand for a long period of time. It is an
approach which mainly needs efforts from all the employees in a collaborative form. Therefore,
wastages can be minimized and customers can easily get high quality of goods, so TQM creates
good culture of Toyota through promoting operational excellence around the business
enterprises.
Role played by leaders:
Leaders of Toyota play a pervasive role in order to encourage employees position at
different levels, activities and various departments within the organisation in order to use of
productive techniques and tools (Williams, 2015).
Role played by Managers:
Some roles played by managers of Toyota in order to keep maintain a track of the
employees performance for evaluating the variances in between actual and desirable output.
Therefore, managers makes various policies in order to increase productivity for an organisation.
P5. Importance of operations management in achieving business objectives.
This process of operation management is make different management activities such as
planning, organising, controlling, monitoring and so on. In the regards of Toyota, their objective
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of operations manager is making sure that high quality of goods and services are made and that is
accessible for consumers. There are some Importance of operations management which is
elaborated below:
Reduction of cost: In this importance of Operations management behave as an effective
tool in finding the costs related to wastage within the Toyota. According to this managers find
out the creative and different ways to decrease the operation cost and increasing the quality of
goods and services. In this Leaders of Toyota also motivate their employees in order to work
timely as per the giving training on regular basis.
Enhancing overall productivity: It is a crucial aspect for an every organisation.
According to this managers and leaders of Toyota focuses on the elements which helps the
employees in their work task as completing their work within the given period of time in a
effective manner. Main objective of operations manager is to reflects various activities that can
result in maximising the overall productivity of employees within the Toyota. Therefore, in this
Leaders create a positive and healthy environment so that team members can be easily increase
their performance in a best way (XIANG, Chen and Zhang, 2013).
M3. Leaders and managers improve efficiencies of operational management to meet business
objectives
According to the above point of view leaders and managers of Toyota meets various business
goals and objectives in a effective manner. They also promote the unique culture that make self
confidence for their subordinates which helps in making good quality of product within the
organization. Apart from this, managers are responsible for providing the tasks to their
employees and setting goals and objectives for individuals, teams as well as organisation.
Leaders and managers make use of Six Sigma, Just in Time and Total Quality Management
approaches in order to gain goals and objectives. The completion of these goals creates the
sustainability of business enterprise for long duration of time in a marketplace.
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