Organisational Management Style - Structure and Culture

Question: Discuss about theOrganisational Management Style, Structure and Culture. Answer: Introduction Objectives The reported paper has been specifically developed to understand the organisational background of Toyota Motor Corporation. Moreover, the research study also identifies the management style, organisational structure, and organisational culture of the leading automobile manufacturing firm providing conceptual references and management theories. Purpose By understanding the conceptual aspects of Toyotas management style, organisational structure, and corporate culture, the study will identify the major issues, management problems and practices (Wada, 2015). Furthermore, the role of each of the paradigm in the organisational success can be evaluated through the study paper. Scope The primary emphasis of the study has been centred on management style, organisational framework, and corporate culture leading to human resource management. The study has recognised to draw the best management practices leading to business development. At the same time, the role of the cultural values of Toyota Motor Corporation and the impact on the same of leadership as well as an international business have been drawn to a conclusion in the study paper. Company Background Toyota is a Japanese automobile manufacturing company and the 13th largest company in the world through its revenue. The company produces more than 10 million vehicles every year and was awarded as the largest vehicle seller in the world in the year 2012. Mission, Vision and Core Values The mission of Toyota is to become the first choice of its customers and to get widely recognised through its innovative services and products. The vision of the company is to lead its way to the future of mobility by enriching lives across the globe (Gao and Low, 2015). The core values of the firm are its innovative services and futuristic products that help Toyota to meet its challenging goals. Business Model and Product Range Toyota offers different range of products that include electric technology, cars and buses. Toyota is better known for its luxury type vehicles and electric vehicles. The organization is also known for its non-automotive investments such as aerospace, robotics, agricultural biotechnology and sewing machine technology. It is also a leading organisation in the education industry (Osono, Shimizu and Takeuchi, 2008). Evolution of Workforce and Markets Toyota employs more than 340,000 people across the globe belonging to different countries and culture. On the other hand, the company has been termed as the largest automobile seller in the world as per the Fortune 500 reports. Furthermore, it is the largest listed company of Japan by revenue and market capitalisation (Gao and Low, 2015). Recent Financial Highlights and Challenges Toyota earned revenue of 29.79 trillion in the 2015 with an operating profit of 3.87 trillion and net profit of 2.17 trillion in the same year (Gao and Low, 2015). But, irrespective of its growth in the market, the company has been facing increased competition and legal obligations in different countries that have emerged to be major challenges for the organisation. Management Style Toyotas management style had majorly followed the traditional management practices in the past as most of the senior managers and executives were selected according to their ranks and performance over the years. Meanwhile, since 2009, the current set of management practices have been largely criticised after the event for vehicles safety defects. Leading into the event, a massive shift in the management style of Toyota can be found contributing towards leadership change and corporate governance (Johnson, King and Srinivasa, 2016). The largest automobile manufacturing firm, Toyota has identified the most significant management style suitable to control the shortcomings regarding global business. Moreover, the contribution of Taiichi Ohno, the inventor of Toyotas Production System developed sustainable management theory to be followed in the production (Dutta, 2011). The management style of Toyota Motor Corporation includes significant hiring and employee training methods leading towar ds innovation and market advantage. During the employee resourcing, the right set of skills; talent and knowledge of the candidates have been identified. Notably, Japanese citizens have majorly occupied the top most senior executive chairs whereas more diversity in the workforce can be found at the lower level of corporate structure. The management principles and practices of Toyota are directed towards career development of the workforce. By doing so, the top management can encourage the managers and engineers attached to the structure on a positive note. However, the employees working under overseas condition have found life challenging and hectic, to say the least (Lavanya, 2012). Furthermore, rigorous hiring style of the new talents is eminent to select the best talents suitable for definite positions. In the existing set of management style, Toyota Corporation puts significant value on leadership development, employee training and retention, and organisational culture to influence the workforce (Gherardi, 2004). Precisely, the brand identity of the organisation has certainly favoured the human resource management of Toyota to att ract the best talents to create latest technologies in the automobile industry. Organisational Structure The organisational structure of Toyota Motor Corporations is based on the business operations of the firm across the globe. The company employs its organisational structure to support its strategic direction and business goals. The previous structure of the company is linked to the traditional organisational structures that are commonly used by the Japanese organisations (Gregory, 2015). Furthermore, the effectiveness of the organisation in maintaining its global presence supports Toyota in maximising its efficiency and utilise its capacity appropriately. In short, the current organisational structure of the firm is recognised as a key factor for the success of Toyota in the international market. Previously, Toyota used to have a hierarchical structure under which all decisions were made by headquarter. Furthermore, the individual business units were not allowed to communicate with each other (Lavanya, 2012). All communications were made through the headquarter that led to a slow processing of its operations and become a major challenge for the firm. In the year 2013, the CEO and top executives of Toyota decided to flatten the organisational structure by introducing divisional organisational model. The current organisational structure of Toyota has the following characteristics: Geographical divisions: The new organisational structure of Toyota has been divided into eight regional divisions that are Asia, Middle East, Japan, Europe, East Asia, China, and North America (Bellingham, 2011). The regional heads needs to report to the head office. On the other hand, the regional divisions help the company to develop its services and products on the basis of regional market. Product based divisions: The organisational structure of the firm is also divided on basis of its products (Saruta, 2006). The four major product based division of the firm are Lexus International, Unit centre responsible for the production of engine, transmission and other related operations, Toyota No. 1 for the operations in Europe, Japan and North America, and Toyota No. 2 for the operations in different regions of the world. Global hierarchy: The Organisation still maintains its global hierarchy after the reorganisation in the year 2013. But, the organisation has increased the decision making power of the business unit heads and regional heads (Saruta, 2006). Hence, the decision making process of the company has become less centralised. Organisational Culture The corporate culture of Toyota Motor Corporation indicates the role of the workforce to face the market challenges of the firm at the global stage. The main idea of Toyotas organisational culture is to elevate the capabilities of the human resources management leading towards technological innovation (Sergey Sosnovskikh, 2016). On the other hand, the leading automobile manufacturing company has been largely benefited by its corporate culture to create problem-solving techniques among the executive level employees. Alternatively, the organisational culture influences the workforce to learn substantial things endeavouring innovation and incessant development (Meyer, 2015). The corporate culture of the firm encourages the workforce to identify that all the orders have been translated according to the decisions made in the headquarters situated in Japan. Incredibly, there are four major aspects attached to the Toyotas organisational culture as discussed below: Teamwork: The corporate culture of Toyota has encouraged the management to utilise teams to achieve a greater level of performance and success. Herein, the culture of the firm has led the human resources to go under teambuilding programmes directed to be integrated into the team works. Quality: The brand identity of Toyota Motor Corporation has guaranteed high quality and services of their manufactured automobiles. Therefore, to integrate quality at the highest level, substantial practices within the management have been developed (Meyer, 2015). Continuous improvement: The top level management of Toyota Motor Corporation facilitates long-term development of the workforce through continuous learning. As a part of the continuous development of the human resources, a number of activities, as well as assignments, have been delivered to influence the performance and productivity of the individuals. Secrecy: Last but not the least; the corporate culture of Toyota has developed a substantial degree of confidentiality. The corporate culture of the firm influences the workforce and management executives to keep the information and research secret. Conclusion By considering the above analysis, it can be seen that Toyota has been a successful car manufacturing in the world. On the other hand, the changes made by the management of the company have helped it to fight the increasing level of competition in the global market. Toyota has adopted modern management style in order to improve its production and service quality. Furthermore, the company has made changes in its corporate structure in order to speed up its decision making process. Additionally, the company has improved its corporate culture by implementing innovative ideas and technology. Hence, it can be seen that the changes made in the policies and strategies of Toyota has worked in the favour of the company to maintain its growth in the international market. References Bellingham, R. (2011).The manager's pocket guide to corporate culture change. 1st ed. Amherst, Mass.: HRD Press. Dutta, P. (2011). Corporate Sustainability: A Case Study on Toyota Motor Corporation.Indian Journal of Applied Research, 4(8), pp.105-108. Gao, S. and Low, S. (2015). 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