Management and Leadership Strategies at Toyota PLC: An Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management practices within Toyota PLC. It begins with an introduction to the organization and its management structure, emphasizing the importance of operational management for business success. The report then explores the distinct roles of managers and leaders, contrasting their responsibilities and illustrating their application in different situational contexts within Toyota. It delves into various management theories, including situational, system, and contingency leadership, evaluating their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, the report examines key approaches to operational management, the roles of leaders and managers in this context, and their impact on achieving business objectives and improving operational efficiencies. The analysis extends to factors within the external business environment influencing operational management and decision-making, concluding with an assessment of how managers and leaders can effectively enhance operational efficiencies to meet business goals. The report offers a detailed examination of Toyota's organizational structure, leadership styles, and operational strategies, providing valuable insights into its success in the automotive industry.

MANAGEMENT AND
OPERATIONS

Table of Contents
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. Introduction to organisation and its management structure....................................................1
2. The different roles of managers and leaders in the organisation are:......................................2
3. Roles of managers and leaders in different situational contexts. ...........................................4
4. Examples of different situations in Toyota.............................................................................4
5,6. Application of different theories and models of leadership with advantages and
disadvantages..............................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
1.Key approaches to operational management and the role that leaders and management plays.
.....................................................................................................................................................6
2. Roles and responsibility of managers and leaders..................................................................7
3. Importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives which
help in improving operational efficiencies..................................................................................9
4. Evaluation of how managers and leaders could be effective in improving operational
efficiencies to successfully meet business objectives. ...............................................................9
5, 6. Asses the factors within the external business environment that impacts upon operational
management and decision making............................................................................................10
7. CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................11
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................11

TASK 1
1. Introduction to organisation and its management structure
In the current business world for any organisation to be successful it is compulsory to
manage the operations of the business in proper manner. Operation management is the
administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency within the
organisation (Accomazzi, 2012). It is a process of converting material and labour into goods and
services in an efficient manner so as to obtain maximum profit for the organisation. For
understanding this the organisation which is taken here is Toyota plc which is a Japanese
company dealing in Automobile sector. The report includes the functions of managers and
different roles that they perform in this. Also how these roles of leader and functions of manger
apply in the different situations are explained. Lastly the understanding of relationship between
leadership and management would be demonstrated.
Toyota is one of the largest manufacturers of cars in the world. It is the most successful
and most profitable car maker which has the largest sales turnover. The company made its
platform from Toyota Australia and learned many lessons from that. The first car that the
company exported outside was Land cruiser the flagship SUV of the segment. Toyota's
organisational structure is based on its various business operations. As it is the one of the leading
automotive manufacturers, it has implemented the structure to support its business goals. The
structure defines the patterns or arrangements in the firm's resources and processes. The
company follows the divisional organisational structure. The organisational structure of Toyota
includes Just in time inventory system, Total quality management system and supply chain
management system. As JIT seeks to eliminate waste, TQM develops the culture that is customer
focused and lastly supply chain integrates buyers and suppliers decision making to improve the
flow of materials in supply chain.
2. The different roles of managers and leaders in the organisation are:
Leaders: They are the person in the organisation who are leading their subordinate to get
the work done so as to accomplish organisational goals. They play an important role in
motivating the employees through their competent skills and knowledge. They develop a level of
learning in an organisation so as to implement the vision of the organisation among the
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employees. The major aim of the leader is to provide a path to the employees of the organisation
so that it becomes easy to achieve organisational goals.
Managers: They are the people who are positioned at the top level in any organisation.
They design and manage the work of an organisation so as to achieve the overall objectives of
the organisation. For the successful accomplishment of the objectives the task of the
management is to establish the policies and plan the working of employees with the aim of
performance improvement. The manager in an organisations are divided under different
department so as to manage their department in an effective way. The managers are also entitled
to create the working environment in an organisation which supports motivation among
employees.
Comparison between managers and leaders
The role of Managers and leader are often considered as the same in an organisation.
Sometimes it is considered that managers are the person who lead any organisation. But they
have a huge amount of difference which are enumerated below:
Leaders Managers
Leaders are the person who formulate the
policies and plans and then they
communicate it to the leaders
Managers are the person who take the orders
from the managers and then communicate
these orders to the subordinate so as to
achieve the organisational goal.
Leaders set the objectives of the company. Managers helps mangers in achieving the
objectives developed by managers.
Leaders provide direction to the group of
leaders
Managers provide direction to their
subordinates.
Leaders create the ideas for achieving the
organisational goals.
Managers implements those ideas with the
help of the employees in achieving the goals
pre-set by them.
As in the case of Toyota plc, the management of the company is efficient and the strategies
developed by them lead to increase in productivity of employees (Ageron, B., Gunasekaran and
Spalanzani, 2012). The different roles of managers and leaders helps the company to grow and
perform task in better way.
Various functions and roles of managers and leaders are as follows:
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 Organising: The managers of any organisations, organise and utilise the resources in an
effective manner so as to achieve its pre-set goals. The role of leader here is to allocate
the resources among the employees in an effective manner so it results in maximisation
of profits.
 Planning: Here managers in the organisation plans and set out the goals of the company
for the coming future. The managers prepare the plans so as to achieve the overall
objectives of the organisation. Here leader prepare their goals considering the goals as set
out by the managers so as to motivate the employees to work for the betterment of the
organisation.
 Directing: The managers direct the task to be performed by the employees and leader
create the team of employees who will perform these task.
 Staffing: It is the function of the managers to recruit the staff which best suits the job
profile. Leaders are required to get the best out of employees recruited by the employees.
 Coordinating: The functions of different departments are to be coordinated by the
mangers to achieve the overall objective of the company (). Here leaders helps the
employees in making the coordination among them so that the common goal of the
organisation can be achieved.
 Controlling: The strategies and policies created by the managers are controlled by them
and monitored if they are giving the desired result. Leaders verify the outcomes of the
policies and plans that are implemented whether giving desired results as predicted or
not.
3. Roles of managers and leaders in different situational contexts.
The roles of managers and the leaders makes the organisation work in desired path so as
to fulfil the overall objective of the company (Brandon and Mullan, 2013). There are various
functions of management and different role of leader and various traits and styles which helps in
management of operations in the organisation. There are various theories of management which
if applied with different leadership styles will lead to performance increment of the employees
and overall growth of the organisation. In the case of Toyota plc, they have applied the
contemporary theory of management which helped them to deal with current situation of rising
prices of fuel and increased cost of production. Here managers have to select the plan where it
has different suppliers who provide them raw material at a lower rate as compared to old one
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without compromising the quality. The leaders have to use their different traits so as to motivate
the employees to use new technology for the development of the product. The theory of objective
in the management means that the employees and managers work towards the objective of the
firm (Brown and Bessant 2013). Here the manager’s work with the employees and set out the
standards for the work to be done. Leaders delegates the duties towards the employees so that
they are motivated and help in achieving the goals of the organisation. The managers also apply
the classical management theory so as to enhance the productivity.
4. Examples of different situations in Toyota.
In Toyota plc the managers have created a policy named KAIZEN where management
and employees work together to improve the productivity of the employees. The managers also
apply Behavioural theory so that they can know the behaviour of the employees and can create
the working environment according to their need. Leaders use transformational style of
leadership where they communicate with the employees to make them understand the policies in
an effective manner. The theory of contingency used by managers in Toyota plc helped them to
change the policies according to change in the working condition and the environmental change.
The leaders here play an important role in motivating the employees to change according to the
change required by the industry.
The manager of Toyota plc found that the increased price of raw material was hampering
their production cost so they apply the different theories of management to bring some
operational change. This way they implemented the theories and achieved the motive of cost
reduction.
5,6. Application of different theories and models of leadership with advantages and
disadvantages.
Situational Leadership: In this leadership style where leader or manager of the
organisation has to adjust his style of leadership so that it may fit with development level of the
subordinates. Here the leader is at his will to change the style. leader can continuously change
the style of leadership to meet the needs of others in organisation. The operation management of
Toyota plc can be affected by this type of leadership as the management and leaders adopt
different types of leadership styles which can lead to make confusion among the employees. As
the company is facing the situation where it is facing problem of increased cost this could be
helpful in gaining the advantage of change. This type of leadership also has some disadvantages
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where the individual may struggle to remain flexible and adapt various situations that could
benefit from more listening and less telling. This type of leadership can create too much
emphasis on immediate needs and can thus shift the attention from the organisational goals and
objectives. This theory emphasis the importance of adjusting the leadership process to fit the
needs of customers.
System leadership: This type of leadership enables the leaders to create the condition where the
people at all departments can work productively to their fullest potential (Cucoranu 2015). This
leadership style uses the model of good leadership, organisational strategy and social process.
This helps the leaders to know the behaviour of the people working with the organisation. It
describes the way the organisation needs to work when it faces the large, complex, difficult and
seemingly intractable problems. In this style the employees comes together to work out the
problem and fix it. Here people works consesosly to work out solutions. In Toyota plc the leaders
of the organisation control the working of the organisation and communicate the working of the
organisation to employees so as to attain the organisational goals. System leadership also comes
with disadvantages as it takes the time away from managementperforming the tasks, it makes the
leaders to spend more time on instructing the workers to make sure that they perform their duties
well.
Contingency leadership: The style of contingency states that the effectiveness of leadership
depends on how the style of leadership matches with the situation. In this the leader has to find
the best practice that he/she can implement so as to tackle the situation. Here leader with good
personal skills relies on the fact that relationship can create the best working environment among
the employees. The limitations of contingency theories are, as there is no definite solution to the
problem, managers think of alternative to arrive at the right choice. This is costly in terms of
time and money. This also does not defines the theoretical foundation upon which management
principles will be based. Here the managers are not able to determine the factors relevant to the
decision making situation.
TASK 2
1.Key approaches to operational management and the role that leaders and management plays.
The approaches to operational management that the organisation undertakes involves
customer satisfaction. The leaders and the managers play a vital role in operational management.
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While planing and formulating the policies the leaders and managers should think about the long
term goal that the organisation has build. The process that Toyota involves in producing the
product includes TPS system which is thinking production system and JIT system.
Total quality management: It is defined as the process of bringing efficiency in the
management of the organisation. This approach focuses on continuous improvement of quality of
products and services that the organisation is offering. The basic principles of TQM are as
follow:
 Customer focus: The organisation main focus should be to satisfy the customer wants.
Every organisation should look at the demands of the customer and should provide the
goods and services accordingly.
 Strong leadership: It is the main function of TQM as the quality leader directs the task
that is to performed by the people of the organisation. Therefore for TQM to successful a
strong leader is required who will take control over and will direct the organisation
towards its objective.
Systematic approach to management: All the business organisation has to follow the
systematic approach of management to improve the quality of product and the services that they
provide (Ferguson 2017). It is very important part to implement in the core of the organisation so
as to ensure the quality product every time.
 Continual improvement: An organisation should strive and seek for continuous
improvement in order to survive in the competitive market. As the industries are
changing regularly in a competitive way so the organisation should also change
accordingly.
2. Roles and responsibility of managers and leaders.
The roles leader’s plays in this approach are as follows:
 To ensure effective involvement and utilisation of entire workforce
 To ensure performance management for the processes.
Just in time inventory: It is defined as the inventory which increases efficiency and decreases
wastage in the production process. The application of just in time helps the organisation in
reducing the storage space of the organisation it also helps in reducing the wastage due to extra
production of goods which are available at the store. This strategy is use by Toyota plc so that it
can maintain sufficient stock which leads to maximum profit.
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The role of managers in JIT approach is as follows:
 To order for raw material to supplier at the right time.
 Analyse the demand and order right amount of raw material.
 Maintain good relation with the supplier of raw material
The role that leader play in this are:
 They make sure that the goods received are properly utilised and are not wasted
 To ensure that all workers are properly aware of their role.
KAIZEN
The approach of KAIZEN is defined as the process when applied at the workplace improves
every function of the business. It aims to eliminate waste in all systems of an organisation
through improving standards in the organisation (Haksever and Render 2013). The principle of
KAIZEN is based on 5s which are sort, set, shine, standardise and sustain. By implementing
KAIZEN process in organisation managers can encourage development of teamwork and
innovation.
The role of mangers in KAIZEN approach are as follows:
 Ensuring everyone is aware of the KAIZEN process in the organisation.
 Measuring the success of KAIZEN team.
Role that leaders play in this approach are:
 Identifying employees who will be there for performing the task.
 To assist the subordinate in any kind of problems and support needed.
Six Sigma
This is the approach which is disciplined in nature and data driven approach and acts as a
methodology in eliminating defects in the organisation. It helps the organisation in operational
management and achieving maximum customer satisfaction by minimising the defects and
improve the quality of the product.
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Image 1: Six Sigma
Source: Six Sigma. 2018
Role of leaders in six sigma approach:
 To promote six sigma training among the employees.
 To communicate the importance of six sigma.
 Recognising and supporting employee participation.
3. Importance and value of operations management in achieving business objectives which help
in improving operational efficiencies.
Operational management involves the overseeing, designing and controlling the process
of production in an organisation (Jacobs Chase and Lummus 2014). It is the key feature of any
business organisation because it controls the operating system in it. The functions of operational
management are as follows:
 Control and distributional system: The controlling and distribution function is a very
important factor in the operation of any organisation as it is responsible in controlling the
production process in it. It checks that the objective of the organisation which is
utilisation of its resources are followed.
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 Transformation of raw materials into finished goods and services: This is one of the
important function in operation management as by analysing the customer demand of the
product. It fulfils the objective of the organisation which is to manufacture quality
products for their potential customer. This process can be improved by reducing excess
resource so that the cost of the organisation is reduced and the company is able to do
more saving resulting in achieving the overall organisational goals.
4. Evaluation of how managers and leaders could be effective in improving operational
efficiencies to successfully meet business objectives.
Leaders can increase the operational efficiency to successfully meet business objectives
by following steps:
Empowering remote employees to work productively: The leaders can help empowering
the employees to produce on highest level while working. They can create a private network to
boost the morale of the employees who are working in the remote locations (Kato, NEC Corp
2012). These network will help them to work with the organisation round the clock. It can help
in operational management as the workers are getting flexibility to work with the organisation.
The leaders and the manager must adopt this so as to develop a good operational management.
Clearing labour redundancies: It is very important for a leader to abolish all the useless
departmental position that are there in the organisation. From the operational management point
of view it helps in clearing all the ineffective and unproductive elements of the production
process. Leaders should ensure that the communication process which is present in the
organisation is effective in the nature which will help in performance enhancement.
Managers can improve the operational efficiencies by following these steps which are:
 Improving collaboration: this is one of the main technique that every manager should
ensure to increase the productivity among the employees. This improves the team work
and results in proper bonding and understanding between the employees.
 Creating incentive programs: This is another major technique that managers needs to
follow in order to increase operational efficiencies as it works as a motivation among the
employees. this fulfils the objective of the company to motivate its employees.
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