Comprehensive Analysis of the Toyota Company Organization Culture - Case Study Example

Organization culture Name Institutional Affiliation Organization culture Introduction Just like very individual has his or her unique personality, which makes him or her different from other individuals in the society, the same way a company has its unique personality. This unique personality in a company, which makes it different from the others, is referred to as the organizational culture. Though an organization culture is invisible, it is composed of a powerful force, which has a great influence on all stakeholders of any particular organization. By definition, an organization culture implies the systems of beliefs, norms, values, traditions and assumptions, which govern the manner in which people behave in a particular organization. These shared norms and values have a great influence on the peoples in the concerned organization, and they dictate the manner in which these people conduct themselves and perform their job. It is the responsibility of every organization, to develop and maintain its unique culture. The culture is used for the organization as a way of maintaining its culture, and providing guidance as well as boundaries of the behavior of all the stakeholders of the organization. There are seven main characteristics, which defines the culture of an organization. These characteristics include innovation, attention to the details, outcome emphasis, people emphasize, teamwork, aggressiveness, as well as stability. The culture of an organization has a great influence on its success of failure. In relation to this, the present paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the Toyota Company organization culture. The analysis will analyze the way its culture helps or hinders the performance of the Toyota Company. The analysis will also draw significant attention, to the relevant concepts, theories as well as approaches discussed in the learning topics. Toyota Company Organization culture As a company, Toyota Motor Company was founded in 1937 and later converted to Toyota Motor Cooperation in 2009. It is currently one of the top automobile manufacturers and sellers, in America as well as all over the world. Toyota offers several core products, which include automobile manufacturing and environmental technologies, where the company is conscious about environmental pollution hence specializing in offering fuel-conserving vehicles. Other products include personal mobility vehicles, Toyota financial services as well as robot technologies (Shafie, Siti-Nabiha & Cheng Ling, 2014). According to the information presented by Steers & Shim (2013), from its incorporation, Toyota has maintained a strong culture throughout the organization, and in carrying out of its activities. This organization culture has contributed significantly to its current progress and expansion. According to the specification presented by Welch, Rowley & Lakshman (2007), Toyota organization’s culture is a significant integral part in its progress. In the assessment of the company’s organization culture, the present paper addresses several factors. These factors include leadership, communication, teamwork within the company, the motivation of the stakeholders, and conflict resolution. In addition to this, the democratic leadership style exercised in the company will also be discussed, which is considered the most effective leadership style, where employees and junior staff n general are given a chance to contribute in decision making as well as other aspects of the company. Communication Communication in Toyota Company is one of the significant aspects of the company’s culture. According to Lukić, Džamić, Knežević, Alčaković & Bošković (2014), the company maintains a close and direct communication throughout the organization, as an aspect of encouraging collaborations. Communication in Toyota has an effective flow, where the management has a tendency of organizing different and frequent forums, between the management and the employees of all levels. In these forums, the company sorts issues that affect by holding a dialog, where the views of every individual are considered and regarded significant. Apart from encouraging effective decision-making and problem solving, these dialogs facilitate collaboration and cooperation within the organization. Further, as clarified by Steers & Shim (2013), the CEO and managers of the company are available and free to be approached by the employees of the company at any time. In this case, they can manage to solve the problems affecting the employees of the general organization, in case other forms of conflict resolution have been exhausted. As a result, this condition makes it easy to the subordinate to adopt and implement the decisions, which have made by the management in solving the company’s problems promptly. Teamwork Another significant aspect associated with the Toyota organizational culture, according to Miroshnik (2012), is the teamwork. The daily work of Toyota undertakes quite technical operations, which involves automobile manufacturing. As a result, innovation is considered a very significant to make work easier, more effective and cheap. To achieve this, one strategy employed by the company is encouragement of the teamwork as well as the innovation of new processes and products. Teamwork has been developed as a culture, which is geared towards growth and competitive advantage. In its implementation, the employees are grouped into different categories according to their roles and responsibilities. They are therefore allowed to work without any form of management interference. Shafie, Siti-Nabiha & Cheng Ling (2014) indicated that the Toyota company management encourages its employees to consider mistakes as a learning experience, which is used in more advanced performance. As a result, this has improved the level of innovation in the company. It is, therefore, evident that innovation has contributed significantly to the increased performance of the company. According to Steers & Shim (2013), the teamwork culture in Toyota is adopted in observance of the motivation theory-McGregor Theory X and Theory Y. In this theory, the company emphasizes ion theory Y, where the employees exercise their self-direction and self-control. In addition, the management has cultivated among the employees, to ability to make innovative decisions throughout the organization. Similarly, teamwork is used as a channel through which employees share their experience and expertise, as well as learn new ones. This in turn has a significant influence on the performance of the company. Conflict Resolution Inferring from Welch, Rowley & Lakshman (2007), the success of any particular organization depends on the manner in which it handles its conflicts. Conflict resolution dictates the relationship between the management and the subordinates, and the effectiveness of work performance in the organization. Conflict resolution is another aspect, which is, considers a part of the Toyota Company organization's culture. It has been the culture of the company for its employees to choose mediators, who are mandated to handle the conflicts among them. The decisions made by the mediators are final, and all the parties involved in the conflict should accept and bind with it. However, in case there are serious conflicts, the management handles handling them. Motivation Another important aspect of the Toyota organization culture is how it motivates its workforce. According to Steers & Shim (2013), Toyota considers motivation as one of its success strategies, which should be implemented in all aspects. They further clarified that motivation is a very crucial for the success of any particular organization, since it determines the effectiveness and morale of the workers, in their day-to-day activities. The workforce is the most important resource in any particular organization irrespective of the level of an employee. There are two reasons why the level of motivation in Toyota Company is quite high. The first is that the company actively incorporates the employees when making its decisions. Additionally, there is a fluent flow of communication within the organization, both horizontally and vertically. Practically, Toyota applies both the financial and non-financial means of motivation, to encourage efficiency of its employees. These include fair and considerable remuneration; employees share option, employee’s performance recognition as well as non-interference by the management, of the daily work of the employees. This aspect of the organization’s culture has helped Toyota company employees to improve their loyalty to their organization, as well as their effectiveness in their job performance. Therefore, it has contributed significantly to the success of the company. Internal Training development As indicated by Miroshnik (2012), the internal training development is one of the models of the Toyota culture, which was presented in the document of the internal training, referred to as “The Toyota Way 2001”.It was established and published for the purpose of introduction of the main features and values of the management, to the employees. The provisions of the documents are still pursued to date, which demonstrates how the company values its employees. In general, this aspect is presented in two pillars, which are the Respect for Employees, and Continuous Improvement. Continuous Improvement Continuous improvement incorporates the culture of the Toyota Company, which has been cultivated and maintained for a long time, within all its operations. The aspect is implemented through various aspects, which include challenge, kaizen, and Genchi genbitsu. Concerning challenge, the company maintains and encourages various approaches, in the presence of new challenges. These include long-term thinking on various strategies to overcome these problems. Further, it considers encountering different risks and problems as a way of strengthening the operations of the company. The reason is that they pave new channels for the development of new ideas and establishing the solutions. Another aspect of the continuous improvement is Kaizen. Kaizen implies the permanent evolution, innovations as well as continuous improvement of all sectors and aspects of the organization. The management of the company leads it, and it is aimed to making sure that the company remains updated of technological changes and active in the adoption and implementation of technological advancements. Genchi genbitsu, on the other hand, implies the seeking and establishing the various ways and techniques of making the right decision, establishing agreements and achieving the purpose of the organization. Respect for people According to Miroshnik (2012), respect for people is one of the most important organizational culture aspects, which has been maintained by the Toyota Company. It has been built and maintained under the observance of two principles, which are the respect and teamwork. Concerning respect, the company advocates for the respect of all people surrounding you. The principle encourages all the stakeholders of the organization, to try to avoid any misunderstanding among themselves. Further, it encourages formal mutual trust, and the acceptance of responsibilities for the overall benefit of the organization. With regard to the teamwork principle, Toyota company, as stipulated by Shim & Steers (2012), has adopted the theory-McGregor Theory X and Theory Y, where it concentrated on the provisions of theory Y. in this case, it encourages its employees to consider their work as a hobby, and encourages high level of innovation and independence to the workforce. This motivates their workers largely, which has been linked to the experienced growth of the company. Teamwork, as further illustrated by Ahmed (2015), is considered as a factor for personal motivation and personal improvement and development, which is easily and effectively achieved when working as a team. 4p Model Shim & Steers (2012) suggested that the organizational culture of Toyota Company has been maintained by the observance of the 4P model, suggested by Jeffrey Liker. It acts as a guidance principle to all the stakeholders of Toyota Company. The 4Ps as discussed below include philosophy, process, peoples and partners, and problem-solving. Philosophy: Philosophy functions as the foundation of the company, which emphasizes on the long thinking concept that concentrates on the consumers’ satisfaction. The concept advocates that Toyota is committed and dedicated to delivering products and services, which exceeds the needs and expectations of their customers. Process: the philosophy advocates that Toyota Company is dedicated to creating and delivering more efficient process. The concept is coupled and strengthened by the fact that Toyota Company investments are conducted in the sphere of research and development. The company also emphasizes on the development of continuous improvement f performance processes (Gambi, Gerolamo & Carpinetti, 2013). People and Partners: In these aspects, the company emphasizes that efficiency can be realized by the people who operate the company. Therefore, over the years, Toyota Company has worked to cultivate efficiency among all its employees, including the management. The culture has als emphasized in maintaining cooperation and work as a team, towards ensuring and achieving the common purpose of the organization. Problem Solving: problem solving is one of the ways Toyota Company has used to incorporate the employees in the participation of the management of the company. The employees contributions are regarded a potential source of long-term and solid solutions to the problems f a company. As a result, employees are encouraged to look for the various ways in which they can contribute in solving various problems of the organization. It, therefore, translates to constant learning and self-improvement. Effects of Toyota Organization culture on its performance The Toyota Company organization's culture, according to Demir, Ayyildiz Unnu & Erturk (2011), is considered one of the main factors, which have contributed to its current level of success and development. It currently represents one of the automobile manufacturers in America, with the capability of distributing and selling its products all over the world. Its level is linked to the integrity, innovation and passion, which is considered to extend beyond the vehicle manufacturing activities. These aspects form the major pillars of the organization’s culture. They are further backed by the procedures and policies, which has been put in place (Bortolotti, Boscari & Danese, 2015). As noted earlier, Toyota Company operates under a democratic style of leadership. According to Ahmed (2015), there are many leadership styles but democratic one is considered the most effective since it incorporates the views of the employees when making their decisions and solving their problems. Involvement of the employees in Toyota Company’s decision making constantly boosts their motivation, which in turn translates to increased performance. Further, we earlier noted that free vertical, horizontal and diagonal communication is one of the aspects of Toyota Company organization culture. It implies that there is an uninterrupted flow of information in the organization. This philosophy has brought about cooperation in the company’s working environment, as there is the free flow of information between the upper and lower levels of the management. Apart from ensuring the cooperation of all the company’s stakeholders, communication has ensured that all the decisions and strategies advocated by the management are easily accepted and effectively implemented by the company. Equally important is the conflict resolution mechanism adopted by the company, which ensures the harmony of all members of the company, for a good working environment. Mediation is implemented and maintained as the first and best avenue of solving the organization’s conflict. Further, the company implementation of continuous improvement aspects has helped the company to achieve development over the years, in terms of its products and services. Conclusion The organizational culture of Toyota Company has been analyzed in several aspects. From this analysis, it is clear that in the maintenance of its culture, Toyota Company has adopted several aspects such as motivation of employees, teamwork, Democratic leadership and free communication. These aspects have played a significant part in the growth and improved performance of Toyota Company. The company has an effective flow of information, maintained in its communications system. It also has an efficient and democratic leadership style, motivation levels of the employees as well as teamwork system. In addition, the employees are highly motivated by because of the chance to participate in decision making and having a stake in ownership of the company. In general, these aspects of the company’s organizational culture contribute to improving its performance and remain as the largest automaker in the world. References Ahmed Soliman, M. H. (2015). A new routine for culture change. Industrial Management, 57(3), 25-30. Bortolotti, T., Boscari, S., & Danese, P. (2015). Successful lean implementation: Organizational culture and soft lean practices. International Journal Of Production Economics, 160182-201. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2014.10.013 Demir, C., Ayyildiz Unnu, N. 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