Toyota's Leadership and Management: A Comparative Analysis

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MANAGEMENT AND OPERATIONS
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Table of Contents
LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................ 5
LO1 & LO2..................................................................................................................................5
1. INTRODUCTION TO TOYOTA AND ITS MANAGEMENT........................................................5
2. COMPARISON OF THE ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF A LEADER AND A MANAGER WITH
DEFINITION................................................................................................................................ 7
3. DIFFERENT ROLES OF MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP IN APPLICATION SUPPORTED BY
THEORIES AND CONCEPTS.........................................................................................................9
4. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT..........12
5. CONCLUSION ON HOW MANAGERS AND LEADERS IMPACT ON THE ORGANIZATION.....13
TASK 2.......................................................................................................................................... 14
LO3 & LO4................................................................................................................................ 14
1. INTRODUCTION OF KEY APPROACHES ADOPTED BY OPERATION MANAGEMENT OF
TOYOTA....................................................................................................................................14
2. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MANAGER IN OPERATION MANAGEMENT OF
TOYOTA....................................................................................................................................16
3. THE KEY OPERATIONAL APPROACHES TO OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN TOYOTA AND
THEIR VALUE............................................................................................................................ 17
4. EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF EXTERNAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT FACTORS THAT
AFFECT DECISION-MAKING BY MANAGERS AND LEADERS......................................................18
5. IMPROVING OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCIES TO MEET BUSINESS OBJECTIVES USING
MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP APPROACHES.....................................................................19
6. CONCLUSIONS AND SUPPORTED RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENTS TO
BE TAKEN BY THE ORGANIZATION...........................................................................................20
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 21
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................22
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE.............................................................................................6
3

INTRODUCTION
This report contains as the production manager of Toyota, the focus will be on resolving and
analyzing the difference between the leader and the manager along with their roles and
responsibilities towards the organizational objective and their function. This will focus on the
functions of management that signifies the difference between leadership and management at
Toyota and also emphasis on the different approaches and theories of leadership and
management in Toyota by evaluating the strengths and weaknesses in support to the theories
of leadership which will impact on the organization and the recommendations for future
improvements of Toyota.
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TASK 1
LO1 & LO2
1. INTRODUCTION TO TOYOTA AND ITS MANAGEMENT
Toyota is a Japanese company which deals in manufacturing of automobiles and focus on
production of vehicle and sales. The company has established its empire 75 years ago by Sakichi
Toyota. He built Toyota automatic loom in 1924 and established in 1926, in 1937 he laid in the
foundations of Motor Corporation of Toyota. The company focused on the satisfaction of its
customers majorly in Europe which built an excellent position in the market for customer
service and reliability (Mehri, 2018).
Toyota Motor Corporation covers its operations effectively and efficiently globally. It uses wide
varieties of strategies to take decision for operations management, regional and local
automotive market conditions and has an example of globally successful operations
management (Mehri, 2018). Roles and responsibilities are get fulfilled by the senior
management staff as Toyota follows the hierarchy for controlling and managing organizational
segments which help in adopting the changes through a change in technology and human
resource.
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Figure 1 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE
(Source Chiarini and Vagnoni, 2015)
Managers and leaders of Toyota form the pillars for the success of the business. They have
different or some similar responsibilities and roles for the organizational objectives. Managers
and leaders use effective management styles for the success and efficacy of the organization
(Chiarini, and Vagnoni, 2015).
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2. COMPARISON OF THE ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF A LEADER AND A
MANAGER WITH DEFINITION
MANAGER
At Toyota, a manager is a person who manages and designs the work of the entire organization
effectively with efficient use of resources available to the business for achieving the determined
objective or goal (Lucas, 2016). For performing the task in the same direction relevantly,
manager layout the strategies and policies to perform in the business and later communicate
with leaders.
LEADER
A leader is a person who guides his subordinates to understand the task and work for the
business. At Toyota, leaders are referred to guide the employees and get the work done by
them related to company's goals which are disbursed by the manager and the leaders objective
is to inspire the employees for performing well towards the objectives (Van Gils, 2018).
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MANAGER AND LEADER
Roles and functions of managers and leaders are different but sometimes similar to achieve the
craved work in the organization.
There are some differences which can be understood by highlighting the differences between
managers and leader’s roles and functions at Toyota:
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MANAGERS LEADERS
 The objectives of Toyota are set by
managers
 The manager at Toyota delegates the
responsibilities to leaders to get the work
done for the desired objective
 They maintain the decorum in the
organization to manage employees
 They administer and responsible for the
running of an organization
 Drive team members instead of an
individual
 Managers presume the future scenario on
the basis of the present
 Managers have positional power
 Managers get the best out of resource
 They set work priorities and goals
 Managers of Toyota generates and shares
the ideas (Lucas, 2016)
 Leaders at Toyota are responsible to
persuade the objective laid by managers
 The leaders at Toyota delegates authority
of doing work to the suitable person to get
completed on the desired time
 They develop the decorum to lead and
guide the employees
 They Innovate and inspire employees to
work
 Leaders coach team members instead of
an individual
 He explores the present scenario and
takes the decision
 Leaders have personal power
 Leaders organize the best resource
 Leaders follow the manager
 They execute the ideas generated by the
manager (Van Gils, 2018)
Comparison of the roles and functions of a manager and a leader at Toyota
At Toyota, the roles and functions of managers and leaders are compared on the basis of their
duties and roles in which they get engaged in the organization (Chiarini, and Vagnoni, 2015).
Management and leadership are different as management focus on planning, organizing,
staffing, directing and controlling and leadership is a part of directing function of management.
A leader focuses on listening, teamwork, motivating, building relationships, inspiring and
persuading the followers (Van Gils, 2018).
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3. DIFFERENT ROLES OF MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP IN
APPLICATION SUPPORTED BY THEORIES AND CONCEPTS
Roles and functions of managers and leaders are different but sometimes similar to achieve the
craved work at Toyota. The tasks are provided by the managers and the leaders meet the
standards of performing the task through their interpersonal communication skills.
The constant changing in the technologies and automobile industries increase the workload of
a manager at Toyota, because of these changes the manager and the leader require the quality
of running with the changing environment to increase the productivity to the organization
(Raelin, 2016).
Focusing on the functions of management that signify the difference between leadership and
management at Toyota:
 PLANNING
A manager plans the objectives and on the other hand, a leader is liable to handle all the
procedure and policies planned to motivate the employees to work effectively using their skills
for the desired objectives. Managers plan strategies which have to be followed by the
employees under the motivation and guidance of leaders.
 ORGANISING
A manager function at Toyota involves organizing which helps in achieving the organizational
goals and objectives by effective using of resources given by the management. In order to
achieve the organizational objectives, the role of leader at Toyota is the same as the manager is
to undertake the resources for the desired outcome (Raelin, 2016).
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 DIRECTING
The leaders at Toyota are directed by the manager. A manager provides the strategies and
policies which are needed to be achieved. The role of a leader is to influence the employees for
the desired objectives through motivation and guidance (Raelin, 2016).
 CONTROLLING
The managers and leaders are responsible for monitoring and controlling the strategies framed
for implementation, for effective outcome leaders motivate the employees and examine the
performance by comparing with the standards set by the manager.
LEADERSHIP IN APPLICATION TO DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONAL SITUATIONS:
Leaders create a way for people to contribute something extra for business. A good leader
motivates and guides their followers to achieve the objective. For better understanding, the
theories of leadership in the organization help to grow and develop skills of leadership
(Northouse, 2018).
 TRAIT THEORY
Trait theory includes the idea of leadership derives from individual traits. According to the
implementation of trait theory at Toyota related to leadership includes 6 personal traits-
extraversion, conscientiousness, intelligence, adjustment, self-efficacy and openness to new
experiences.
 BEHAVIOURAL THEORY
According to the behavioural theory in Toyota, leadership is a set of behaviours. There are 3
types of leadership styles- authoritarian- where leader tells what employees must do,
democratic- where a leader is responsible for decision process, and laissez-faire- where there is
no participation of leader in a decision process.
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 FUNCTIONAL THEORY
Functional theory proclaims that a leader's primary responsibility is to check the needs of the
followers and ensure the need to be getting fulfilled. There are 5 primary functions of leader-
organize activities, motivate followers, monitor the environment, train and coach employees,
and group participation (Adamo, 2015).
 TRANSACTIONAL THEORY
It argues that leadership arises from the ability of an individual for reward or punish are based
on their performance. Leaders at Toyota evaluate performance after training and motivating
them for organizational goal and given an authority to get a reward.
 TRANSFORMATIONAL THEORY
It focuses on the motivation by effectively communicating with employees to execute them
their vision. This theory of leadership is to be visible and accessible for seeking out ideas for
activity.
 ENVIRONMENTAL THEORY
According to this theory, leadership focuses on psychology and self-awareness. The leader
develops a culture where he excites and motivates the employees to complete the required
task.
 SITUATIONAL THEORY
According to situational theory, the situational needs of Toyota can be determined and the
Managers and leaders use effective management styles for the success and efficacy of the
organization (Northouse, 2018).
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4. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP AND
MANAGEMENT
 TRAIT THEORY
Its strengths include that it completely relies on statistical analysis and on personal experiences,
personal interpretation leads to trait theory. Its weaknesses include that it cannot predict
future behaviour and cannot guide to change the trait aspects (Northouse, 2018).
 BEHAVIOURAL THEORY
Its strength is that it learns the development of the idea of a trait in leadership through
experience. Its main function is to develop leaders to produce the results. Its weaknesses are
adaptability, people cannot easily adopt the behaviour of any individual and accepting these
changes are the challenging task (Donate, and de, 2015).
 TRANSACTIONAL THEORY
Its strength is that it provides rewards to the employees while performing the best in the
expected given task and have a suitable leadership situation (Northouse, 2018). Its weakness is
that it has to focus on the basic needs of employees depending upon the situation.
 TRANSFORMATIONAL THEORY
Its strength is that it uses inspiration to motivate employees and promotes enthusiasm. Its
weakness is to struggle with detail orientation as a challenge (Achenbach, 2016).
 SITUATIONAL THEORY
Situational leaders can easily move with the change in the situation this is the strength of this
theory of leadership. Weakness is that the leader cannot take immediate action for changes it
will create problems and result in conflation between the employees and leader (Donate, and
de, 2015).
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