Toyota Strategy Essay Example for Free

Toyota Strategy Essay Seventy four years since its founding, Toyota Motor is almost at the pinnacle of the global auto industry, having overtaken Ford Motor and General Motors in vehicle sales. Toyota was established in 1937 in Japan. Toyota has grown from being a small Japanese carmaker in the 1960s to the biggest carmaker in 2007, outranking General Motors. The founding principles for this success were embodies by the â€Å"Toyota Way† – a respect for learning, truth, trust, team-work, challenge and continuous improvement. First time it introduced its product Corona in the US in 1965. By the 70’s, Toyota was the best-selling import brand in the US. During the 80’s, it started manufacturing vehicles in the US. In 2006, it had globally become the second largest car seller and third largest car sellers in the US having more than fifteen percent market share. It is estimated that by 2008 it is going to be the number one car producer and seller both in the US and across the world. This profound success of Toyota is associated with its most proficient market strategy. The case of Toyota notably proves that how important is market strategy in the life of a company to be a market leader. Toyota Company has so many successes in its production history. Toyota even in Japan and in worldwide is one of most important and successful multinational companies. One of the most important reasons for success of a company is its marketing strategy. In continue I will try to peruse Toyotas success reasons and good planning for achievement in international market around the world. The reasons for achievement of a company in international markets is belong to variety elements such as good production and assembly system, good strategy both in local and international markets, good planning and managing and so on. In practice this innovation means that line workers not only have the right, but are obliged to take the time which is necessary in order to carry out the tasks necessary to ensure the maintenance of the highest quality standards at each stage of production, even while production is taking place. Just-In-Time This system is a method of production programming involves a series of innovation in the production and the preparation of the work more generally in the logistics of production and in the management of the flows and stocks of intermediate and semi-finished goods. These innovations take together constitute a system of production with much reduced stocks, made possible a system of information processing unique and unprecedented in the history of work organization. Supply Chain Management Supply chain or value chain management is composed of the operational or tactical activities and can be defined as ‘managing the entire chain of raw material supply, manufacture, assembly and distribution to the end consumer (Jones 1989 cited in Lowson 2002). Christopher (1998) defines supply chain management as the management of upstream and downstream relationships with the suppliers and customers to deliver superior consumers value at less cost to the supply chain as a whole. Toyota has a great supply chain management. This system helps Toyota to deliver its needed parts to all around the world without any problem in least time, so we can say that this system has great role in success of Toyota corporation. Lean Manufacturing The goal of lean manufacturing is to create a manufacturing environment that is driven by demand and that holds only a small amount of inventory and product at any given time (Bacheldor 2004 cited in Ndahi 2006). Lean Manufacturing is a unified, comprehensive set of philosophies, rules, guidelines, tools, and techniques for improving and optimizing discrete processes. â€Å"Toyota Motor Corporations vehicle production system is a way of making things that is sometimes referred to as a lean manufacturing system or a Just-in-Time (JIT) system, and has come to be well known and studied worldwide. †3 The above reasons are just a summary of simple rules that helps Toyota to build its brand and market share in the world. But the most important reason that Toyota uses it for building its brand as a international brand is marketing strategy. Toyota as a Japanese company could operate good strategy for acting around the world. In continue I will try to write about Toyota’s international marketing strategy that helps Toyota to become today’s Toyota. Toyota International Marketing Strategies As it has from its humble beginnings in 1937, Toyota continues to win success by blending smart business with social, cultural and environmental awareness. Toyota’s marketing material and news releases consistently stress social awareness and responsibility as strongly as profitability to measure corporation’s success. For example, Toyota’s mission statement calls for â€Å"stable long-term growth, while striving for harmony with people, society and the environment,† while their website repeatedly describe their social contributions and efforts to be a â€Å"good corporate citizen† (Toyota website, 2005). This approach is key to Toyota’s global success from a marketing standpoint. Toyota has a special way for promoting its products. In fact Toyota with using its smart business tried to build its brand in so many countries. Unlike many other auto manufacturers, Toyota has gone beyond promoting the product itself in the creation of their brand. By extending manufacturing operations into their target markets, Toyota makes their brand socially and politically more acceptable. Americans can buy Toyotas and still â€Å"buy American. † Europeans can spend their Euros at home. 4 In fact Toyota makes its brand as a local brand in every country and by this work Toyota can find loyal customers. Toyota use one of principles of international marketing to build its brand and increase its market share. This strategy helps Toyota to have a good growth strategy in U. S. and Europe market. But beyond this strategy Toyota uses so many other factors to have successful international markets. Among others, three distinctive competencies of Toyota are remarkable. These distinctive competencies appeal the consumers, build trust with them, and make them satisfied. These competencies are as follows: Popular Economy Car Toyota is best known for ‘popular economy car’. It has successfully branded the concept of ‘popular economy car’, by producing cars matching to the concept. It has garnered its success by selling the concept to the consumer. It has also become profoundly successful in segmenting, targeting, and positioning. As a result, based on the pricing reports generated by over ten million visitors, out of top ten cars, three are Toyotas – Toyota Camry (No. 2), Toyota Corolla (No. 4), and Toyota Avalon (No. 8). (Kelly Blue Book, 2007) It produces eight varieties of cars. Among them, the prices for the four varieties cars range 10,000. 0 US $, three varieties range 15,000. 00 US $, and one variety ranges slightly over 20,000. 00 US $. Cutting-edge Technology Toyota simply did not stop to the concept of ‘popular economy car’. This concept could have easily turned into product maturity and decline. But Toyota continuously engaged in improving technology – design, looks, comfort, fuel efficiency, environmen tal friendliness, and other technical improvements. For example, Toyota Corolla was first introduced in Japan in 1966 and in the US in 1968 as a first generation Toyota Corolla. Since then roughly in every three years it is being developed and marketed in a new model. By 2006, tenth generation of Toyota Corolla was already launched with significant technological improvements. Toyota’s hybrid cars can be taken as another example. It started producing hybrid cars in 1995 however till 1999 Japan was 2 the only market for its hybrid cars. Coming to 2005, it became successful to capture a large chunk of US market. Today, it is selling almost seventy five percent of its hybrid cars alone in the US market. Low Operating Cost Why consumers purchase Toyota? The simple answer is that Toyota’s cars are distinctive with the properties of low operating cost. For example, a survey carried out by Toplin Strategy Group in 2007 has revealed that 73% of Prius owners had bought Toyota Prius because of financial incentive to purchase the vehicle such as lower sticker price or lower operating cost than other choices. (Marketing Green, 2007) Similarly, based on 45% highway driving and 55% city driving with annual 15,000 miles Toyota Prius has been proved to be the most fuel efficient car than any of its competitors such as Honda Civic Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, and Lexus GS 450. Fuel Economy, 2008). Toyota enjoys much lower labor costs in the United States and benefits from an undervalued yen for cars made in Japan. In the United States, this comes to about $2500 per vehicle. The entry level and middle level market segments are very sensitive to price and vehicle durability. Toyota has been able to translate its cost advantage into vehicles with higher, more attractive content and longer life than General Motors. Toyota is constantly looking for ways to lower costs and improve products. It translates most of the additional profits it earns, over GM, into better product design and additional capacity. At GM, the Executives vote themselves bonuses and the union demands more benefits and featherbedding at the first sign of profits. From the perspective of marketing strategy, Toyota can be taken as a company that has successfully achieved its mission statement, successfully branded its distinctive competencies, and profoundly achieved its organizational objectives.

Fundamentals of Management :: essays research papers

Functions of Management There are four different functions of management. In this paper, I will define these functions; planning, organizing, leading and controlling. I will also explain how each of these functions relates to my own organization. Bateman and Snell (2004) define management as the process of working with people and resources to accomplish organizational goals. By utilizing the four different functions of management companies can work with their employees and other resources to reach the organizations goals. Planning can be used to help the organization map out a way to efficiently achieve their goals. The beginning of the planning process should include analyzing of the current situation. From this information the company can determine the goals and start to outline the steps that need to be taken to ensure that the goal will be met. Other planning activities that should be completed are determining the company’s objectives and were they want to be in the future. This will help them to choose their business objectives and strategies. In addition, the company should look at the resources that they have available and determine if they are sufficient to achieve the organizations goals. This leads to organizing. Organizing is done through assembling and coordinating financial, human, physical, informational and other resources need to achieve the goals. (Bateman & Snell, 2004) Recruiting is a large part of organizing. Human resources are an important role. The company must try to attract the people needed to properly staff the organization to be able to meet the goals. The employees in an organization can be considered the most valuable asset at times. In addition, by specifying job tasks and grouping them into work units it helps to better organize the work load and resources. In order to do this the organization must management the tasks and personnel. Leading is mobilizing or stimulating people to achieve their best. Managers need to be able to motivate their employees to achieve the business group and overall organizational goals. One way for a manager to do this is through close contact and communication on a daily basis. Workers that get positive feedback and motivation from their managers are going to be more willing to help the team achieve the goal at hand. Through leading their employees the manager can ensure that the team is working well together and is efficiently reaching their goals. If the manager is working closely with the team they will know when something is not working and can take immediate action to correct it.

Case Study: Rogers’ Choclates

CASE 9: Rogers' Chocolates Strategic Management INTRODUCTION Rogers' Chocolates is the oldest chocolate company in Canada based in Victoria, British Columbia. Rogers' Chocolates focuses on the premium chocolate market and differentiates itself by delivering award winning quality products at a fair price; this combination creates a good value for its customers. They also have expertise at creating an outstanding customer experience within their Victorian themed retail locations that have also won awards. The company is privately held and currently focuses its business in four market areas, direct retail , online/mail order , wholesale, and sales from a restaurant in Victoria. The company also produces and sells a line of premium ice cream. The company employes 130 people, the majority of which are in retail. Sales from the company's retail establishments account for 50% of revenue. Production takes place on a one-shift operation in a 24,000 square foot facility and is labor intensive. There are currently no measurements in gauge productivity and efficiency in the plant. The past president focused a growth strategy in the wholesale market and current order fulfillment strategy is to give priority to online and mail-order business, followed by wholesale accounts, leaving the retail locations last to be serviced internally. Sales have seasonal swells during the holidays and demand forecasting has been an issue; they have increased inventory to deal with these sales patterns but still encounter out of stock situations. The new president has been given a goal by the board of directors to double or triple the size of the company within 10 years. PROBLEM STATEMENT The focus on the wholesale market does not inline with the strengths of the company. Furthermore, the issues in operational efficiency with regard to production capabilities and demand forecasting are hindering the company from increased growth potential. ALTERNATIVES Focus on strengthening current retail operations. Focus growing the retail business into new geographic markets. Continue to grow complementary business lines (ie. Ice Cream) Develop core competence in operations management to drive efficiencies and reduce inventories. Upgrade technology in production to increase capacity Create new product lines and packaging to broaden the customer base. Franchise Sam's Deli. Franchise retail chocolate stores. ANALYSIS In 2006, the chocolate market size for Canada was US$167 million with the premium chocolate market growing at a rate of 20% annually. Competition within the premium market is a broad mix of small local niche players to large multinational corporations and is growing as larger traditional manufacturers enter the market via acquisitions or new product launches. Product differentiation is healthy and there are no indications of a price war starting between rivals. Product innovation appears limited, mostly focusing on new flavor introductions and variations in molding and coloring. Seasonal demands, especially the eight weeks prior to Christmas, can create demand that can challenge small companies with low production capacity and/or inadequate forecasting and inventory management. Competitors vary in the level of vertical integration and companies with large-scale operations and distribution networks enjoy a competitive advantage through economies of scale. Rivalry among competing sellers is active and fairly strong due to the following conditions: There is little to no cost for buyers to switch brand. There is a fair amount of product standardization in the industry. The products in the chocolate market have large seasonal swells and are perishable causing some price competition. Higher fixed production costs adds to this pressure. The addition of new competition by established companies such as Hershey's and Cadburys. Competitive pressure from potential new entrants is medium as most of the major players in the industry are already in the premium chocolate market; the projected growth rate in the market will strongly attract new upstarts but they will have challenges developing distribution and retail penetration with little to no brand awareness. Firms in other industries will have little impact in this market as there aren't any strong substitutions to premium chocolate. Competitive pressures stemming from supplier bargaining is mixed; large-scale manufacturers will enjoy less pressure from suppliers due to economies of scale while smaller niche companies will not have as much influence, especially in the area of organic and fair trade raw materials. Pressure from the buyer community is fair; demand is high but so is the ability to switch brands. Growing demand for socially responsible products, such as fair-trade and organic will increase pressure from the buyers. The current driving forces in the market are the high growth rate in the premium market and the entrance of new major firms; consumers' emerging interest in fair-trade and organic products is also a force to be considered. Key success factors in this market include a well known and respected brand and strong direct sales and/or wholesale distribution; quality and efficient production capabilities are also key success factors. Although profit margins are down, Rogers' Chocolates is in a strong financial position. Retail accounts for 50% of the company's revenues although the two new stores in the company's portfolio are not performing to expectations. Ice cream sales, although small compared to retail, show a strong contribution to overall sales. The key financial indicators are shown below; one area of concern is the major increase in the â€Å"days of inventory† and the accompanying decrease in â€Å"inventory turnaround†. This is a concern due to the perishable nature of the product and the negative affect on customer quality perception when product is sold past the expiration date which has occurred with some sales via wholesale accounts. {draw:frame} A SWOT analysis of the company has turned up the following points: STRENGTHS: a distinctive competence in retail, specifically the â€Å"customer experience† a strong financial base to grow the business a strong regional brand and company reputation to build upon better product quality relative to rivals ood customer service capabilities in retail and online sales. WEAKNESSES: weak wholesale network brand/company awareness is poor outside of the region weak supply chain competences in forecasting problems with operational efficiencies with old technology and high cost changeovers. OPPORTUNITIES: expansion into new areas entering into alliances or joint ventures to expand market coverage continued expansion of complementary products (premium ice c ream) explore new technology within production THREATS increased competition by new entrants in the market slowdown in market growth hift in buyer needs and tastes RECOMMENDATIONS I believe that Rogers' Chocolates should implement a combination of the following alternatives: Focus on strengthening current retail operations. Focus growing the retail business into new geographic markets. Continue to grow complementary business lines (ie. Ice Cream) Develop core competence in operations management to drive efficiencies and optimize inventories. The Rogers' Chocolates brand has been built based on a high quality product and the retail experience of their Victorian themed shops and packaging. This is their core competence and strength and it should be the focus of their growth. By solidifying the performance of the current locations and then opening additional stores in new areas the will expand their brand recognition while preserving the quality of their product. There ice cream line is complementary to the business and should be further developed and sold in the stores. Internally, and operational strategy to improve efficiencies in production and demand forecasting will reduce costs, preserve product quality and optimize production and inventory capabilities.

The Mathematics Of A Large Nutshell - 959 Words

Math through the Ages provides an interesting and concise analysis of the mathematical culture of different societies in history. The section â€Å"The History of Mathematics in a Large Nutshell† provides an interesting discussion of Greek mathematics. The mathematics of the culture both influenced and was influenced by the culture of the society. The Greeks were most likely the most important historical society in the Western world. They spread their vast knowledge and affected the mathematical traditions of the world. According to Greek historians, their mathematical pursuits began somewhere around 600 B.C.E. Our earliest record of Greek mathematics, however, is from 300 B.C.E. Unfortunately, most of what we know about the Greek mathematical tradition comes from the 3rd and 4th century. These works seem to do a decent job at preserving the past, but how well they preserve the works scholars cannot know (Berlinghoff Gouvea, 2004, p. 14). One reason for the Greeks’ ext ensive influence on mathematics was the broad range of Greek speaking people. Greek mathematics is not limited to Greece, but rather extends throughout the Mediterranean world. Greek was the language of the educated in most of the Mediterranean. Building on the work of the Egyptians, the Greeks made many great mathematical achievements (Berlinghoff Gouvea, 2004, p. 15). The Greek numeration system was very similar to the Roman’s and rather primitive compared to that of the Babylonians. The system used theShow MoreRelatedWhat Are The Grants For Statistics3115 Words   |  13 Pagesis now actively used infographics data visualization: modern approaches to uncover new opportunities for growth. Infographics are used to provide a visual effort for the social media facts and statistics. 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