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Toyota, the last standing Australian manufacturer, has announced that they will cease producing cars in Australia in 2017 (Toyota Australia Announces Future Plan For Local Manufacturing, 2014). The coalition government made it clear that it was not prepared to further assist the Australian car manufacturers and consequently Holden and Ford closed their doors. Toyota followed suit as manufacturing in Australia was no longer sustainable due to the unfavorably high Australian dollar, high labor costs, highly competitive domestic market and overseas competition. (Australian Government Productivity Commision, 2014). Manufacturing has been a great source of pride for Australians over the many years and so this is a solemn time for the industry.
This essay will look at the consequences of the termination of car manufacturing in Australia. Throughout the essay, parallels will be drawn from the Shareholder and Stakeholder theories of corporate social responsibility to analyse the closure of Toyota and where the ultimate responsibility lies. Friedman’s shareholder theory states that the only responsibility of business is to generate profits for its shareholders, within the constraint of law. In contrast Freedman’s Stakeholder view suggests that the business has responsibilities to all of its stakeholder groups and not just shareholders. These two theories will be used to look at the actions of Toyota, The Australian Government and The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union.
Toyota
Australia’s car market is extremely fragmented in the sense that there is an abundance of badges and models available for purchase. Stephen Long has said the market is “so fragmented that a local plant could produce four of the top selling models and still n...
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...horough looks at the 3 perspectives of Toyota, The Australian government or The Australian manufacturing workers union, it cannot be said that the closure of the manufacturing plant in Australia was the sole responsibility of any of the groups. Each played their unique role in providing setbacks and reinforcement. Unfortunately the collapse of Toyota and Australian car manufacturing was a result of factors that are out of the control of these three parties. The responsibility falls on the dramatic surge of the Australian dollar making exports less profitable as the demand decreases. Similarly the competition from regions of low labor cost and high demand growth were difficult to match. With recent years Globalisation and the fragmented and in turn competitive domestic market has led to the downturn and eventual collapse of the Australian car manufacturing Industry.
There are 5 stages that consisted in the buyer decision process of a traditional Porsche customer such as need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and postpurchase behavior.
This paper will have a detailed discussion on the shareholder theory of Milton Friedman and the stakeholder theory of Edward Freeman. Friedman argued that “neo-classical economic theory suggests that the purpose of the organisations is to make profits in their accountability to themselves and their shareholders and that only by doing so can business contribute to wealth for itself and society at large”. On the other hand, the theory of stakeholder suggests that the managers of an organisation do not only have the duty towards the firm’s shareholders; rather towards the individuals and constituencies who contribute to the company’s wealth, capacity and activities. These individuals or constituencies can be the shareholders, employees, customers, local community and the suppliers (Freeman 1984 pp. 409–421).
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, U.S.A. (TMM) is deviating from the standard assembly line principle of jidoka in an attempt to avoid expenses incurred from stopping the production line for seat quality defects. This deviation has contributed to the inability to identify the root cause of the problem, which has led to decreased run ratios on the line and an excess of defective automobiles in the overflow lot for multiple days. If this problem isn’t fixed quickly, an increased amount of waste will continue to be incurred and customer value will be threatened.
The HRM strategy in Japanese companies is supported by the six pillars of Japanese employment practice lifetime employment, company welfare, quality consciousness, enterprise unions, consensus management and seniority-based reward systems. Toyota is at the heart of global manufacturing, a company that has grown over 70 years to become the world's third largest vehicle manufacturer. (Toyota worldwide 2006) Toyota is the seventh largest company in the world and the third largest manufacturer of automobiles, with production facilities in 26 nations around the world employing more than a quarter of a million people. The decision to manufacture in Europe was based on a corporate policy of building vehicles where the customers are and The United Kingdom was chosen for many reasons including its history of vehicle manufacture, the large domestic automobile market, its components supply base and its excellent links with the rest of Europe.
As one of the leading automobile manufacturers in the world, Toyota ranks within the top three worldwide. Due to their unique business model, they are now have a market share of 14% in the first four months of this year. That is an astonishing 2.3% jump from the previous year. According to Autodata.com, the Toyota City based automaker ranks fourth in United States sales.
Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japan based company, whose headquarters are located in Aichi Prefecture. The company was founded by Kiichiri Toyoda in 1937. Currently the company’s CEO is Akio Toyoda. Toyota is basically into cars and it is one of the top players in the world in this industry. Toyota also owns two other brands namely Lexus and Scion, which gives the company a lot of advantage over it’s other competitors. Toyota manufactures sedans, saloons, suvs, muvs, pick-up trucks and buses. During the year 2013 Toyota had approximately 333,498 employees, who were working globally. In March 2013, Toyota was ranked as the thirteenth biggest organization globally in terms of its revenue. In the following table we can see the financial report of Toyota Motor Corporation in the year 2013-
Since its inception, the Toyota Motors Manufacturing, USA, Inc. (TMM) has been able to make tremendous improvements in terms of production levels, quality, and efficiency. The company produces, power train, engines, and axles which are then forwarded to the sheet metal stamping, plastic molding, painting, body welding, and assemble sections. In all the sections, TMM has implemented Toyota Production System (TPS) and other management tools to guide the daily processes. The various support functions have also benefited from the TPS and other quality management tools with the outcome being increases productivity and production of high quality cars.
Toyota’s uses both differentiation and low cost as generic strategies to try and gain a competitive advantage over their competitors in the automotive industry. The market scope that Toyota uses is a broad one that encompasses nearly every type of customer that is in the market to purchase an automobile. Toyota is able to target such a large market because they have something for everyone. Toyota has four wheel drive trucks and SUVs for the outdoor types or those who live in areas that face severe weather conditions, hybrid models like the Prius for the eco-friendly customers that are interested in saving the environment, along with the standard cars for general, everyday use. Additionally, Toyota provides vehicles for all price ranges.
Ford’s production plants rely on very high-tech computers and automated assembly. It takes a significant financial investment and time to reconfigure a production plant after a vehicle model is setup for assembly. Ford has made this mistake in the past and surprisingly hasn’t learned the valuable lesson as evidence from the hybrid revolution their missing out on today. Between 1927 and 1928, Ford set in motion their “1928 Plan” of establishing worldwide operations. Unfortunately, the strategic plan didn’t account for economic factors in Europe driving the demand for smaller vehicles. Henry Ford established plants in Europe for the larger North American model A. Their market share in 1929 was 5.7% in England and 7.2% in France (Dassbach, 1988). Economic changes can wreak havoc on a corporation’s bottom line and profitability as well as their brand.
Thurlow, R. 2013, Auto Makers Struggle in Australia; Industry Battles Cheaper Imports, Rise in Australian Dollar, New York, N.Y.
Toyota issues in automotive industry resulted from a lack of moral and ethical obligations to loyal customers. In fact, people encounter ethics at one time or another. A business expectation is to act in manner upholding society values. According to authors Trevino and Nelson, (2004) states, “a set of moral principals or values, or the principals, norm, and standards of conduct governing a group or individual.” On the other hand, three ethical criteria determined in this discussion like obligation, moral ideas, and consequences which this article highlights an ethical dilemma with automobiles makers.
In the year of 2000, Toyota was the world's 3rd largest automotive company and the largest automotive company in Japan. The current president of Toyota is Akio Toyoda. Toyota currently maintains a 9.8 percent share of the automobile global marketplace. Japan has scarce natural resources, which encouraged the Toyota Motor Corporation to develop fuel-efficient vehicles. Due to the variation in political environment in Japan, this pressured Japanese auto manufacturers to rely on new technologies to increase their relevance in the industry, such as the formation of the small car. On the other hand, other countries concentrated on large, luxury vehicles to appeal to their target market. The Japanese manufactures took a different approach that pertained to focusing on building small, fuel-efficient vehicles that would mature to dominate the automotive industry.
Introduction: Toyota Motor Corporation is a very successful automobile manufacturer that is recognized globally. They have continued to obtain and retain a competitive advantage over their counterparts, despite recalls over many years. Regardless of recalls, Toyota has been quick to rectify their shortcomings and continue to lead the automotive industry with their innovative measures. In this essay, I will discuss key internal factors for Toyota. Within those factors will include Toyota’s core competencies, which are what they do really well in comparison to their competition, three of their strength’s, which will include their posture within the automobile market and their heavy focus on research and development, and two of their weaknesses.
In the last few decades, America’s automotive industry has been losing revenue, decline of market share, and employment reduction but international business in the auto industry has been the opposite. For instance, General Motors (GM) have been doing poor in the automotive business while Honda, a Japanese manufacture have been increasing their sales, market shares and employment.
2. What is the difference between a.. We noted that SSM Health Care learned from manufacturing companies in their quality journey. What can nonmanufacturing companies learn and apply from Toyota’s philosophy and practices? Suggest specific things that education and government might learn.