HR Intern Report: Leadership and Management Impact on Toyota

This report, prepared from the perspective of an HR intern, provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management practices within Toyota. It begins by defining the roles and characteristics of managers and leaders, highlighting the key differences between them. The report then delves into the functions and roles of leaders and managers in various situational contexts, including conflict resolution and operational planning. It applies situational, system, and contingency leadership models, demonstrating how these approaches are utilized within Toyota. Furthermore, the report explores key approaches to operations management and emphasizes their importance in achieving business objectives. Finally, it examines the factors within the business environment that influence operational management and decision-making by leaders and managers, concluding with a synthesis of the findings and implications for Toyota's overall success. The report draws upon academic research and practical examples to provide a clear understanding of leadership and management in a real-world context.

UNIT - 4

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Define roles and characteristics of managers and leaders along with difference between
them........................................................................................................................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................5
P2 Analyse functions and role of leader as well as manager in different situational contexts.5
P3 Apply situational, system and contingency leadership.....................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P4. Key approaches of operations management.....................................................................7
P5. Importance of operations management for attaining business objectives........................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
P6. Factors within business environment that influence operational management and decision-
making by leaders and manager.............................................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Management refers to administration of organisation. According to F.W. Taylor, it is an
art of knowing what is needed, when it is needed and surety that it is carried out in best possible
as well as in cheapest manner (Boyd and Dougherty, 2016). Operations are defined as activities
which are performed by organisation to convert their raw materials into final product so that
profit can be attained. This assignment is based on Toyota which is a multinational automotive
organisation. They render services worldwide and were the world's first automobile manufacturer
who produced around 10 million vehicles every year. In this scenario, individual is working as
an HR intern and responsible for responding to CEO with respect to impact of managers and
leaders on operations which are carried out within Toyota. This assignment deals with
description of leader and manager in terms of their roles as well as characteristics. Furthermore,
their roles are applied in various contexts along with models and theories of approach. Apart
from this, key approaches to operations management are explicated and impact of business
environment on decision-making is illustrated.
Task 1
P1 Define roles and characteristics of managers and leaders along with difference between them.
Leader: An individual who creates an impact on people for attaining goals is leader.
They are the ones who holds superior or controlling position within their field and exercises
higher degree of impact on others. Leaders utilise their affirmative as well as confidence within
Toyota to inspire employees to perform to their complete potential (Ma and Sun, 2012). This will
assist them to accomplish their tasks in stipulated time duration.
Manager: People who are expert within their field and acts as high support system for
their employees along with this they are in charge of various tasks are known as managers.
Managers within Toyota passes the instructions to subordinates which are given be top
management so that work can be carried out accordingly. They act as intermediates among low
as well as top management (Eraki, 2015).
Role of Leader:
 Leaders within Toyota make sure that tasks are performed in appropriate manner by
which efficiency as well as effectiveness of tasks can be maintained.

 Leaders of Toyota align individual’s behaviour in accordance to vision of organisation
and make sure that operations are conducted as per that.
Characteristics of leaders:
 They possess attractive personality by which they act as an idol for their associates so
that performance can be improvised (Ellitan, 2017). Leaders within Toyota are committed as well as honest for their work; by this they are
able to create an impact on individuals to make use of same approach.
Role of manager:
 Within Toyota managers are liable for communicating applicable and important
information to lower level staff so that they can have a support for achievement of
organisational objectives as well as goals. Within Toyota, the primary role of managers is to manage and control performance of
personnel within their day to day activities.
Characteristics of Managers:
 Managers within Toyota prioritise their tasks as per importance and accordingly they
allot work to individuals with respect to education and professional experience so that
tasks can be accomplished in give time duration (Idris, 2016). Managers of Toyota are emotionally stable as well as they are innovative which aids
them to eliminate anger and frustration among their subordinates.
Differences between Managers and Leader within Toyota
Basis of Comparison Managers Leaders
Behavioural characteristics Within Toyota, management is
epitome of decision-making,
facilitators and innovation
(Fan, Liu and Zhang, 2015).
Leadership aims on possession
of high confidence, influencing
as well as motivation for
leading a team.
Subordinates In this case, management have
employees as their associates
or subordinates.
With respect to this, leaders
possess employees as their
followers.
Authority and power Management possess the Within Toyota, leaders have

authority to manage tasks,
make allotments, control
organisational activities and
decision-making within
Toyota.
power to make sure that
enhanced productivity is
obtained and tasks are carried
out within stipulated time
frame (Han and et. al., 2017).
Task 2
P2 Analyse functions and role of leader as well as manager in different situational contexts.
Toyota is a car dealer which serves the large region with used and new trucks, cars, etc.
and carries out their business operations within global market. It is necessary for an organisation
to formulate business strategies to remain competitive within impulsive business environment.
Leaders and managers to have play crucial role within organisation to attain their objectives as
well as gaols. Managers within Toyota are responsible to carry out different operations like
allotting work to subordinates, making plans, etc. It is essential for Toyota to alter their
technologies as per the prevailing business environment so that team members can gain
knowledge about new things and can make use of latest technology. Apart from this, employees
must be motivated so that they can enhance their skills which will create direct affirmative
impact on performance and attain goals (Han and et. al., 2017). On the other hand, manager is
responsible for development of organisation. Leaders and managers of Toyota work in
collaboration with each other so that critical situations do not arise and if they occur and
appropriate measures are being taken. The examples with respect to this, in context of Toyota are
illustrated below:
Conflict resolution: It is one of the most critical tasks for an organisation as employees
are from diverse culture. This assist both of them to handle any kind of critical situations which
arises within organisation and the main reason can be the culture through which they belong.
Managers of Toyota make use of autocratic style of leadership by which they are able to make
their employees work as team. Managers give directions to their team members which assist
them to enhance performance within competitive business environment for attaining objectives
of business.

Role of a leader: Leaders within Toyota builds trust between their subordinates through
which healthy and affirmative working environment is built. These activities assist leaders and
manager of Toyota to assist organisation to attain their organisational objectives and goals within
stipulated time as well as avoid a situation which can turn conflicts into major fights (Idris,
2016). The crucial role of managers within Toyota is to plan activities and operations which are
carried out within organisation. They are responsible for formulation of strategies and policies on
the basis on which day to day activities are carried out. For this, they coordinate with leaders and
accordingly built strategies by which employees can give their best.
Functions of manager can be explicated by usage of a conflict situation. An example
can be taken to understand this like, a dispute has been occurred within Toyota among
employees due to misunderstanding of guidelines which were given by leader.
Planning: Some predetermined steps are formulated by manager to handle any specific
conflict like if people are not working on desired manner and do not attain target then they will
be given warning once but if for the third time same thing happens then they will be sued as it is
obvious that Toyota will not go through any kind of loss. In this case manager can plan the way
in which they have to handle situation. In this case, they can listen to arguments made by them
and even can take leader into this so evaluate entire situations.
Organizing: Manager will organise an environment and make sure that effectual
guidelines are being given to employees through which they can conduct their tasks. They will
be responsible for organisation of which tasks are being carried out and prioritise them. By
listening to both of them involved within conflict, manager can think and virtualise the entire
situation.
Co-ordinating: In this case, manager will coordinate with leader to analyse it and come
to a decision through which situation can be handled without affecting the work. As leader
knows the team members it will yield affirmative results in such a way that ego or self respect of
employees is not hampered neither project of organisation is affected.
Directing: Manager will give appropriate guidelines for employees through which they
can carry out their operations and come to a conclusion. Like in this case manager of Toyota can
give directions to employees way in which they will conduct their task.

Controlling: After giving directions, it is crucial for manager to ensure that again such
kind of problem do not occur. So they can hand over responsibility to leader through which they
can monitor each individual.
Multi tasking: It is essential for organisation to execute projects within effective way. In
this, Toyota needs to impelling strategies and make appropriate use of resources through which
business functionalities can be carried out in required way and within required moment of time.
In this case both managers and leaders ensures that tasks are carried out on the basis of priority.
Manager need to make sure that roles and responsibilities to employees are assigned on the basis
of their capabilities and skills.
Role of Leaders within Toyota, monitor performance of their team members along with
that they make sure that training sessions are provided to employees by which knowledge and
skills can be enhanced (Ma and Sun, 2012). The role of manager is to furnish appropriate
guidelines to their subordinates, which leads them to have effective work and enhanced
competitive environment both within as well as outside premises. In this aspect, function of
manager is to organise their activities along with this monitor the job and responsibilities carried
out by employees. This will aid them to prioritise their tasks and organise them. For this it is
essential for managers of Toyota to communicate with leaders so that any kind of
miscommunication and tasks which are important are not left out. Multi-tasking can be carried
out by controlling the activities of employees which are not important.
Functions of manager: With respect to this, management needs to make sure that
employees carry out their operations in desired time frame as well as way in which they are
required. An example can be taken to understand this, like within Toyota an order has came for
manufacturing of car but teams are already engaged within other project. Both the projects are
crucial and cannot be left out. In this case functions of managers are provided below:
Planning: As per the situation which prevails within organisation, manager needs to
make sure that both the projects are carried out simultaneously. For this a proper planning is
required so that projects can be completed with in time. In this case, it is crucial for both
manager and leader to work together so that employees can be influenced for working for extra
hours.
Organizing: Manager within Toyota need to provide an environment in which
employees can work with encouragement, zeal and a passion rather than feeling overburdened by

the work. For this, manager can give them some monetary or non-monetary benefits so that they
can motivate employees for working.
Co-ordinating: It is crucial for management of Toyota, to coordinate by leader as at the
end they will be responsible for giving guidelines to employees and if any kind of query arises
then they are responsible for answering. Along with this any kind of disputes do not occur each
employee will be given separate guidelines for both projects so that any kind of confusion do not
occurs. This will occur only when there is impelling communication among all of them.
Directing: Manager will give guidelines to leader and will also give the guidelines by
which objectives can be attained within time so that entire goal can be achieved before before
deadline. This will assist them to conduct their operations in specific manner.
Controlling: Manager will be responsible for controlling actions of leader as well as
employees. The success of project will completely depend on ways through which manager will
manage projects. For this effectual monitoring is needed by which if manager feels that
performance of employees is declining then they can be motivated.
From above it can be concluded that functions of managers play crucial role in various
situations and the way in which they are being handled is important. Manager as well as leader
needs to make sure that they carry out their operations in accordance to prevailing conditions and
should not make strategies in such a way that it may over burden employees.
P3 Apply situational, system and contingency leadership.
Leadership refers to activity of leading an organisation or people. This comprises of
formulation of clear vision, furnishing exact information, knowledge and methods to realise and
share vision with employees so that they can follow it. This process is being used by Toyota for
managing team spirit as well as enhancing motivation level of employees. There are various
approaches of leadership, they are specified below:
Situational leadership: This approach is used when manager or leader within Toyota
need to alter working style which will fit into development level of followers whom they are
trying to convince or influence. It is basic and crucial theory of management in which equal
importance is given to leadership approaches as well as styles and there is no bias towards
specific leadership approach (Situational Leadership, 2019).
Contingency leadership theory: In this context, focus is on the situation which leader is
going through and not on the leader. This approach is being utilised when skills of leaders have

to be accessed which will aid in motivating as well as inspiring employees of Toyota. This
approach is based on twofold process in which both skills of leader and situation are analysed.
System leadership theory: This approach assists leaders of Toyota to set up affirmative
working environment. This approach is taken into account when leaders frame new procedures
and policies which will further aid them to maintain its usefulness. This approach is being used
within production process and to attain goals as well as objectives of Toyota (Nayak, 2015).
Therefore, leadership and management have their own peculiar responsibilities as well as
roles which must be accomplished to make sure that business activities are conducted orderly.
Apart from this, there are different approaches of management and leadership that can be used by
Toyota to attain objectives and goals within stipulated time duration (Fan, Liu and Zhang, 2015).
Within Toyota situational leadership theory has been used as in this case management implement
strategies on basis of prevailing situations. By this they can adapt to various conditions which
exists within market as well as working premises.
Autocratic: This leadership style aims at centralisation of power as well as decision-
making among themselves. Duties, tasks and orders are given to employees without consulting
them. With respect to Toyota, if this style is adopted by them then leaders will take complete
authority as well as responsibilities. In this case, subordinates will act as per directions given to
them along with this no one cares for permits and opinions for creating impact on decision. This
will have negative impact on employees as at present scenario, people opt for ego satisfaction
from their work, increase in expectations will lead to alterations within attitude of people and
they are less submissive & more independent. It will also create a negative impact on
performance of employees as they are not open work under control. This is the reason that
management of Toyota has not opted this style.
Bureaucratic: It is identical to autocratic leaders in which team members are expected to
follow certain set of procedures as well as rules that are written precisely. In this context, if this
style is chosen within Toyota management along with leaders will focus on assigning duties as
per hierarchy where each employee has been given certain set of responsibilities which they have
to carry out. This can be attained by thorough creativity and collaboration. Basically they are
implemented within highly administrative and regulated environment in accordance with rules. It
is mostly used within government, healthcare and finance. An example can be taken to
understand this concept like within Toyota management at offices of motor vehicles gives

instruction to their employees along with speculated framework. For this, certain steps may be
taken to accomplish their work through strict rules and orders.
Democratic: This style of leadership involves subordinates within process of decision-
making. It is centred around employees. If this style is used within Toyota then final
responsibility will be with leader or delegate authority. In this case both upward as well as
downward communication will occur between subordinates. The major vantage of this style is
that it encourages competence, fairness, creativity, honesty and intelligence. Input will be taken
from team members before final decision is made. This style drives participation and discussion
along with this focus is on innovation & creativity. An instance can be taken to illustrate this
concept like management of Toyota has hired different employees whom they can trust.
Management can take ideas from employees with respect to designing but the final decision lay
with the leader.
Coercive: It denotes that authoritarian approach is utilised to relationships with direct
reports. In this case manager is responsible for issues of orders and then direct reports are needed
for follow up. If this style will be adopted by management and leader of Toyota then they will be
responsible for examining entire situation. Furthermore, they will furnish their employees with
what they have to do, how it can be done and when it is to be done. Any orders which are being
given must be without any questions. An example can be taken to understand this like leaders
can make the people to conduct their jobs done quickly, in this case excuses are not taken and
any kind of ifs, buts, or ands are not allowed. There is a need for immediate compliance, it is
exactly similar to” Do what management tells you (employee)”. In case of crisis this style can be
used by management of Toyota like if fire breaks out within premises.
Transactional: In this style, focus is on performance, predetermined incentives are
established which are usually in the form of monetary rewards when success is attained and
disciplinary action for failures. With respect to Toyota, if this style is used then focus will be on
instructions, training and mentorship for achieving goals. This type of style can be utilised for
attaining peculiar sales and revenue. For an example, when management of Toyota will meet
employees of team on weakly basis for exceeding goals to attain their bonus. They can give
monetary rewards for best 5 performers. But with respect to Toyota it is apt as this do not drive
creativity. In this case a clear chain of command will be formulated. This is effectual manner for
completion of short term projects.

Transformational: The focus of this is on formulation of goals, clear communication
and motivating employees. When this style is implemented within working structure of Toyota
then leader will be focusing on overall organisation's objectives rather than giving importance to
individual goals. For an instance, within marketing department a leader is hired, who will be
responsible for setting goals and evaluate the understanding related with current trends through
this they will be able to set limpid goals for teams. With respect to this, management can have
bigger picture. Furthermore, it can be utilised for handling tasks which do not need any kind of
supervision.
Laissez Faire: This focus on delegation of various tasks for team members by providing
less supervision. In this case management of Toyota will not spend their intense time for
management of employees rather than they will try to accumulate other projects. This style can
be used by Toyota, if they feel that their team members have gained adequate experience, need
little oversight and are well trained. This will lead to dip within productivity when employees are
confused with expectations of leaders or when team members require constant boundaries and
motivations for working well.
TASK 3
P4. Key approaches of operations management.
Operation management refers to process which initialise from procurement of raw material
into final product. This management practice aims at utmost eradication of waste with optimal
usage of resources. The focus behind this is to improvise efficiency as well as effectiveness in
terms of operations carried out within Toyota. Operation management aids in managing proper
balance among cost as well as revenue earned by organisation (Plesser and et. al., 2014). There
are basic two operational functions which are carried out within Toyota are mentioned below:
Production: This process is related with attainment of raw materials as well as they
convert transform them into final product. This is the major operation which is being carried out
within manufacturing company.
Transportation: After production of goods, they are distributed from one place to other.
This makes sure those vehicles that are manufactured by Toyota to reach customers within
stipulated duration of time.

Approaches to operations management: It is defined as controlling or guidelines
techniques and tools that will make sure that trenchant planning associated with storing,
manufacturing and selling services as well as goods to their customers (Eraki, 2015). It monitors
complete process which comprises of transformation of raw materials into a complete product.
There are different approaches, they are illustrated below:
Six Sigma: It is a statistical approach which is being used in organisation so that errors or
defects which exist within products can be eliminated. Six sigma aids managers and leaders of
Toyota to enhance employees’ productivity level so that organisational objectives and goals can
be attained. In this case, variance can be decreased among actual and desirable results. This
approach is being used within Toyota to evaluate and analyse performance of employees so find
out if any kind of defaults exist. This approach aids to evaluate the current performance of
employees within Toyota so that desired standards of quality can be attained. Leaders played
crucial role to inspire employees positioned at different departments, functions and levels so that
productive techniques can be used by them. Managers major role within Toyota is to track
performance of employees to evaluate performance via results obtained. In this case, managers
formulate procedures and policies
Just in time approach: This approach is being used to reduce delay which is caused
during procurement of products. This is utilised by managers and leaders of Toyota to conduct
their inventory management effectively. In this case, lean methodology is being used to
improvise the performance level of organisation and employees (Tristancho and Gutiérrez,
2012). In JIT focus is to reduce cost related with inventory management while reducing dead
stock. In this aspect both managers and leaders plays crucial role as they provide accurate
guidelines to employees with respect to inventory management and elimination of waste along
with timely delivery of services.
Total Quality Management (TQM): This approach is being used by organisation to
manage quality of services and products. This assists Toyota to make sure that customers are
loyal for the brand.