Leadership, Management, and Operations at Toyota: A Detailed Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Toyota's management and operational strategies. It begins with an introduction to Toyota, its organizational structure, and its management principles. The report defines the roles of both managers and leaders, highlighting the differences between management and leadership styles. It analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of different leadership and management approaches, such as situational leadership and management by objectives, and applies these theories to various organizational situations within Toyota. The report further explains key approaches to operations management within Toyota, including design of goods and services, human resource management, and lean management. The impact of external business environment factors on decision-making by leaders and managers is also evaluated. The report concludes with a discussion of the key findings and recommendations for Toyota's management and operational practices.

Management and Operations

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................1
P1 Definition and roles of both managers and leaders, highlighting the differences between
management and leadership...................................................................................................2
M 1 Role of a leader and function of a manager....................................................................3
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................4
P2 Analysis of the different roles of management and leadership in application to different
organisational situations, supported by theories and concepts. .............................................4
M 2 Strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to leadership and management to draw
conclusions that support theories of leadership......................................................................5
D1 Critically analyse and evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership in given
contexts...................................................................................................................................5
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................6
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers.................................................................................................................................6
P5 Define each of the key operational functions, identifying the roles and responsibilities of
managers in the key operational functions. ...........................................................................7
M3 Evaluate how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management
to successfully meet business objectives................................................................................7
LO 4.................................................................................................................................................8
P6 Impact of external business environment factors on organisation....................................8
D 2 application of operation management............................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Management and operations focus on coordination, planning, organising, manage the
process of creation of service and goods. Report will be based on Toyota which is a
multinational auto mobile manufacturer which produce auto-mobiles, engines, commercial
vehicle (Bozarth and Handfield, 2019). It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937. This report
will describe management system of Toyota. It will define roles of both managers and leaders,
highlighting the differences between management and leadership. It will evaluate strengths and
weaknesses of different approaches to leadership and management. It will explain key
operational approaches to operations management and their value. It will evaluation impact of
external business environment factors that affect decision-making by leaders and managers.
LO 1
Introduction and management structure of Toyota
Toyota Motor Corporation is Japanese multinational automotive company. It was
founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 and headquartered in Toyota city, Aichi, Japan. This
organisation consists of 364,445 employees worldwide. It produces luxury vehicle, auto mobiles,
engines, commercial vehicles, etc. Toyota is sixth largest company in the world with
¥29,397,510 million revenue. It is the world's market leader hydrogen fuel cell and hybrid
electric vehicles (Mahadevan, 2015). It produces vehicle via five brands including Toyota such
as Lexus, Hino, Daihatsu and Ranz.
Management of Toyota
Management includes planning, business goals, methods to obtain them, sources, people,
motivation, direction, instruction, supervision, etc. Toyota has Divisional organisational
structure. This have various organisational functions into regional division.
Divisional Organisational Structure
It is divisional structure in which each division has mandatory information, resources and
functions to support product line, IT and marketing department, finance, etc. In multi divisional
structure, parent company owns subsidiary companies and each use brand and name of parent
company. Disadvantage of this structure is operational inefficiencies of separate specialised
functions and it can affect accounting and taxes.
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Divisional structure includes product departmentalisation in which various activities
regarded to services or products are authorised by managers. It supports flexibility in market
strategies and product offering.
P1 Definition and roles of both managers and leaders, highlighting the differences between
management and leadership
Leadership and management are an important key for Toyota. Leadership can be defined
by the ability and capability to lead a group of people in organisation. Objectives of leader is to
achieve shared goals by developing clear vision and share that vision with team members.
Leaders role is to motivate and ensure that employees of teams are engaged in achieving goals.
Whereas management role is to organise and coordinate the activities of organisation.
Managers manage all the resources that is required to obtain goals. They contribute to increase
performance and productivity of Toyota.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
Based on Leadership Management
 Creativity  Leaders are creative
and unique. They are
willing to be
themselves and self-
aware to make
differentiate brand for
Toyota.
 Managers are
presentable in creative
objects. (Zinovieva and
et.al., 2016)
 Communication  Leaders are great
communicators, the
influence their
employees and
employers with their
vocal skills (Ewest,
2017).
 Managers only
communicate, what they
are instructed to like
polices, plans, hierarchy,
etc.
 Engagement  While making vision,
leaders start to
 Managers measure and
manage resources.
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engage employees
towards it.
Engagement is based
on guiding employee
to attain certain
target. The individual
is directly engaged
with employees.
Management of firm
engages with employee
for specific purpose and
shares formal
relationship with staff.
 Risk  Leaders always try to
do something new.
So that they are
willing to take risks
in order to get
success.
 Managers make efforts
to reduce that risks. They
try to minimize all risks
and hurdles.
 Relationship  Leaders shares
informal relationship
with employees
through motivating
them.
 Managers concentrate on
structure and therefore
shares formal
relationship with
employees with the
motive of achieving the
goals.
M 1 Role of a leader and function of a manager
Role of leader
Situational Leadership Theory: It suggested that leaders adopt different leadership style
regarding to situations that they face in Toyota. In different stages of this theory, leaders take
decision by themselves and no other one is involved (Kato and et.al., 2015). After that, inputs
that received by team members they analyse it owns decision making. In this stage leaders allows
employees to take decision themselves and make them responsible for all the tasks.
Role of manager
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Management by objective: this management theory that helps to improve performance
of Toyota. By defining objects which are agreed by employees of company and management.
According to this theory, management want to involve their employees in decision making in
order to make them responsible.
LO 2
P2 Analysis of the different roles of management and leadership in application to different
organisational situations, supported by theories and concepts.
Leaders and managers have different roles and functions in different situation. Both play
an important role in Toyota to achieve goals.
Conflicts: solution of conflict is necessary to increase the morale of employees,
improving productivity of Toyota. In that case, leaders make effort to resolve conflicts via
listening individuals’ side without biased. While manager is mediator to address the problems.
Managers can deal with via focusing behaviours not to personalities. Organising training and
activities to engage employees with each other.
Labour Turnover: Labour turnover is employee percentage who leave the organisation
in certain time of period. Reason of increasing labour turnover is employee’s dissatisfaction with
working environment. In that situation leaders have role to ensure employee about goals of
Toyota and motivate them via high level of involvement practices. That would support
employees to engage towards Toyota and increase employee retention. While managers are
concentrating on providing resources that necessary for employee’s engagement and develop
schedule to work with them to understand their needs.
Role of leader
Situational Leadership Theory: according to this theory leaders has to focus on
situation that will help manager and leaders within Toyota to help the management of the
organisation to have a good employee reorientation policies. it will play a very important role in
sustaining the qualities and maintaining customer satisfaction level.
Role of manager
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Management by objective: this approach is been undertaken within the organisation like
Toyota to have a good employee retention rate. The main objective of this approach is to have a
good interaction and communication of a manager by its employees, understanding their needs
and meeting them in the best possible way to reduce their turnover.
M 2 Strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to leadership and management to draw
conclusions that support theories of leadership.
Approaches Strength Weakness
Situational Leadership
Theory
It helps to motivate employees
and improve their decision-
making process to make them
feel valuable for Toyota.
It increases awareness and in
employees regards to situation
and monitor their style as
well.
It focused to short term
strategies on current situation
rather than long term vision.
Lack of high-level experiences
employees are unable to adapt
with changes quickly.
Management by
objective:
The major strength of this
approaches which will help in
searing upon goals and this
will help in proper assessment
of operation within the firm.
It requires regular
communication in order to
make it a successful approach.
Situational leadership theory guided leaders to lead situation according to situations and
help them to engage employees towards tasks and improve their decision making in any situation
(Ivanov, Tsipoulanidis and Schönberger, 2017). System leadership theory enhanced potential of
leaders via providing framework for the presentation and interpretation. Via contingency theory
healthy relationship can be built. This theory supported engagement of employment relation
which boost productivity of business operation which is effective for attaining goals and
objectives.
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D1 Critically analyse and evaluate the different theories and approaches to leadership in given
contexts.
It suggested that leaders adopt different leadership style regarding to situations that they
face in Toyota. In different stages of this theory, leaders take decision by themselves and no
other one is involved. Management theory that helps to improve performance of Toyota. By
defining objects which are agreed by employees of company and management. According to this
theory, management want to involve their employees in decision making in order to make them
responsible.
LO 3
P4 Explain the key approaches to operations management and the role that leaders and
managers.
Manager and leaders are an important resource for Toyota. Both has impacted positively
with their effective skills, knowledge and capabilities. Here the leaders showed that they are
creative and unique and always tried something new. For this, they set vision, goals and
objectives and share it with their team members. While managers provided all tools and
resources to finish the assigned tasks. This gave Toyota right direction to achieve business
objectives. This emphasized that employees must be made aware and responsible through proper
guidance given by both leaders and mangers in systematic manner.
Leaders and managers are great communicators. Leaders make healthy relationship with
employee via motivating, encouraging sand solving their problems. Due to this, employees feel
free to ask and share anything. Via this employee engagement and retention have increased and
labour turnover has decreased and profit of Toyota has influenced through these efforts of
leaders. While managers make plans and sets goals and objective effectively and try to manage
and organise all things in right manner to save time.
Key operations of Toyota
Toyota uses a wide range of strategies for successfully managing its operational
functions. It lays focuses on various strategic areas like design of goods and services. All the
designing in this area is done by technologically advanced methods. Research and development
team of firm is involved in doing new innovations in motor cars. Toyota also lays focus on other
department like human resource management and job design. Also, organisation conducts
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training programs for new and existing employees. Learning and education is based on TPS so
that lean manufacturing is ensured in the company. Toyota utilizes lean management for
managing cost effectiveness in supply chain (Laureani and Antony, 2017). In this aspect Toyota
makes use of automation system adjusting real time in supply chain management. Other
operational function of company is management of inventory. In this they minimise inventory
cost through HR and resource manufacturing. Firm is also engaged in maintaining the quality of
their products, goods and services. Also, the firm addresses this strategic decision area of
operations management through continuous improvement. Laying emphasis on all these keen
operational areas has helped company in improving their capabilities and also productivity is
been enhanced. They are able to attract more consumers because of it. It has supported them to
enhance their business globally.
P5 Define each of the key operational functions, identifying the roles and responsibilities of
managers in the key operational functions.
Managers of Toyota has some roles and responsibilities towards operational functions.
That helps to increase high productivity at a global scale.
Decision of Goods and Services: Managers has duty to decide strategies needs to be
incorporated in operational management with advancement of technology and quality.
Process and Capability Design: For this role of Managers is on lean manufacturing.
Manager of Toyota is responsible for prioritizing and minimise waste for increasing the process
of efficiency and capability utilisation.
Quality Management of production of goods: Mangers are responsible to ensure the
quality of products via Toyota Production System. They make strategies to improve quality
continuously. It is important to satisfied customer with quality to maintain the revenue of
organisation.
Logistics: To manage smooth supply chain, managers use lean logistic that includes
farming, design, packing and transportation through this, managers are able to minimise
ineffective chain supply and adjust effective supply chain.
M3 Evaluate how leaders and managers can improve efficiencies of operational management to
successfully meet business objectives.
Managers and leaders must organize training, team meetings on regular basis and other
and other such activities to increase the morale, effectiveness and skills of employees. With the
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help of this, employees would be able to focus in their work and would engage themselves in
effective manner and bring profits to Toyota and its business objectives.
The key operational approaches to operational managements
TQM Focus on both internal and external consumers. It creates value in the organisation
by improving Quality and performance of employees in company. Toyota can improve quality
of its product by assimilating quality-related functions and processes of the company.
Six Sigma is used by Toyota company to monitor and boost the internal process of it,
enhance the efficiency, cut costs, eliminating defects and to reduce variations of products.
There are two types of approaches for operational management:
Six-Sigma Lean
Six sigma strategies aim for quality improvement of the output of a process by analysing
and eliminating the reasons of defects while reducing the variation in manufacturing of the
products and Toyota company processes.
Six sigma reduce waste of materialised in costs like rework, scrap, excessive repetition
and delays, unsatisfactory customers in terms of goods and services provided. It can regain the
cost of opportunity loss because of lack of human resources. It also improves the quality of
product and services of Toyota company.
Total Quality Management (TQM)- Total quality management a management
framework relying on the belief that all the members of the organisation from low level
management to upper level management will concentrate on long-term success of process
improvement and will deliver customer satisfaction.
The objective of Total quality management is to extract unwanted materials and produce
the efficiency by assuring that the products and services of Toyota company is done right.
Total quality management makes the goal-oriented connection between customers,
management and workers. While each employee is encouraged to contribute in Toyota
company's production and it promotes the great team work.
The benefit of TQM is that the customers have very few problems with products and
services. Customer satisfaction is better and it improves great customer care.
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LO 4
P6 Impact of external business environment factors on organisation
Economic Factor- The Global Economy is one of the huge external factors which will
affect Toyota company. Market variations is based on some keys as Wages, government policies,
Laws, tax rules, terrorism attacks, wars, currency reduction, unemployment and finance (expense
or fall in income, change in market conditions, failure of a product).
Legal Factor- The company had to suffer a huge loss because of this. In this way
Government regulations affect the profit of the company which cannot be controlled by the
company. The leaders and managers must look after maintaining the quality of the product to
avoid such conditions. If there is changes in employment law then leaders have to create
workplace environment in such manner so that working atmosphere can be created as per the
requirement of legal framework. If government makes changes in wages rate then leaders and
mangers of company will have to face conflicts and resistance. In such condition they have to
make changes in their decision so that harmony can be developed at workplace.
Technology Factor- Technology factor could affect the profit of Toyota company if it is
not up-to-date with the latest technologies like increasing use of e-commerce, mobile technology.
If new technologies are taking place in the market then leaders have to take decision of
implementing these new techniques and mangers have to take decision of conducting training
session for workers so that people may get to know actual working process of these technology
so that they can perform well.
M4
All these terms of economic factor have direct impact on how company produce and
deliver the product and services. If there is poor economic condition then leaders and mnagers
will have to make changes in their marketing decision. This would impact on overall demand of
business to great extent. State, local and federal changes in the laws has direct impact on
business if the service or product is banned. e.g. in 2016 the UK agency banned the nutmeg
production because of high levels of toxic chemical was discovered when tested.
5. Improving operational efficiency by using management and leadership approaches.
Operational efficiency of Toyota company can be improved by using Participative
approach in leadership and Contingency approach is management.
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Participative Approach- This approach invites all the employees or team members of
the organisation to give their contribution in all decisions of Toyota company. The staff is given
relevant information regarding the issue of company and then the majority of employee's
supports will decide the decision of the company.
 When the employees get chance to keep forward their suggestions and ideas on issues of
company, the company gets a collection of suggestions to choose from. While
participative leadership encourage the team members to use their creativity to enhance
work productivity and make Toyota company more efficient.
Contingency Approach- The contingency approach relates to sudden contingent
circumstances and managing changes because organisation, people and situations changes and
vary with time in company. This approach helps in meeting operational efficiency of business by
managing changes on the basis of specific change and employees’ behaviours.
Conclusions and recommendations for future improvements of organisation efficiency.
Summary
The Six sigma lean and Total quality management approach is used to improve customer
satisfaction and productivity by managers and leaders of Toyota company. What is the impact of
external factors on the environment of Toyota company and how to avoid such factors by
retaining the quality of product and services. How the operational efficiency in term of profit can
be increased by implementing two approaches i.e. Contingency and participative in enhancing
the skills and developing techniques of the employees by leaders and managers.
Recommendations
The organisational efficiency is its capability to execute the plans by investing on small
possible resources. The resources being selected for accomplishment of task should be
intelligible, interactive and efficient to create goals and achieve it. The leaders and managers
should make them efficient and suitable planning for the task by giving employees proper
training and communicating effectively with each employee. This makes them feel as an
important part of the organisation and they attempt to give their best to obtain the objectives.
Managers and leaders should include this approaches i.e. Six sigma and Total quality
management approaches to attain the objectives and must involve this approach for further
improvement of operational management.
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