Strategic Choices at Toyota Corporation - Assignment Example

Toyota Company Introduction Sakichi Toyoda designed Toyota’s inventory automobile in the early 1930s at a cost of 1 million Yen under the licensing of the British. The invention of the Toyota was largely because Japan imported trucks from other republics during the First World War therefore proving costly for it. Toyota, formerly Toyoda, made its first car in 1936 after comprehensive restructuring and improvement of its manufacturing structures. Initially, the Toyoda Company was a family affair as Sakachi’s son, Kiichiro Sakachi, headed its car operations. The Japanese government later took notice of their efforts and there after enrolling their services in the manufacture of war vehicles. The company’s first truck design weighed one to one and a half ton after assembling. After the Second World War, other nations developed interest in Toyota’s trucks due to their astounding efficiency during the war. Although they were low on speed, their involvement in the war was highly consequential in that they had eased mobility. This paper will take a broad look into the history and evolution of Toyota, the strategies it used to stay on top of the motor world and its recent strategic moves into making it the leading car brand in the World today. Toyota after World War II Toyota experienced remarkable growth during the post war period as the United States encouraged them to venture into the manufacture of other locomotives other than those for war. Remarkably, their invention would later be used in the agricultural sector and above all in the public transport industry. As a result, this led into the designing of the Toyopet, which was a one door minimized vehicle. After the withdrawn involvement of the U.S military, its production rose to two hundred and fifteen cars yearly. By the year 1965, Toyota automobile made six hundred thousand units per annum compared to eight thousands four hundred units in 1955. In its expansion process, Toyota designed a weapon carrier truck, the Land Cruiser, whose features resembled those of a jeep. On the contrary, its engine capacity was bigger than that of the Jeep by a slight margin. Its first comfort car, the Crown, emerged in 1955 with a four-power cylinder, half- liter engine capacity and a customized column shift. The Toyota Corona was the second luxury vehicle incepted into the Toyota stable whose manufacture growth per month increased to fifty thousand car units by 1964. Since that time, Toyota has continued to release remarkable brands into the world market. SWOT analysis of the Toyota Company The SWOT analysis is the critical evaluation of the Strengths and Weaknesses from within an organization in relation to the external Opportunities and Threats essentially to determine its growth and development. For the Toyota Company, its great financial performance and its strong image are its primary strong pillars. Secondly, its car market mainly includes Asia, the United States, Europe, and its country of origin, Japan hence it serving as its strength compared to other vehicle manufacturing companies. In addition, its continued research over the years to improve on the quality of its output helps it to be on top of the vehicle manufacture game (Williams, 2010). However, Toyota still has its weaknesses that inhibit its relative expansion which include low profit margins in the rolling out of its financial products. Their internal expenditure on employees after their retirement also causes the company to strain financially. Other, financial factors also include health insurance for its employees and the retrenchment compensation for employees who would loose their jobs due to global recession. Equally, Toyota has opportunistic factors from without itself to facilitate its ultimate growth. The continued increase for the demand of electrically controlled automobile makes Toyota stand a chance in outdoing its rivals in the car manufacture industry. Moreover, continued venturing into unexplored markets in the Asian continent would open many business doors for Toyota. Lastly, the introduction of more improved or new Toyota car models also puts this company much ahead due to the unique nature of its output even as the company tries to better itself, various hurdles stand in its way. For instance, high competition by other locomotive manufacturers inhibits its development as other automobile outshines those of the Toyota (Williams, 2010). Economic meltdowns experienced by many nations also pose a threat to it as if these nations undergo such then it lowers the venturing chances of the Toyota vehicles into their markets. In addition, the global tightening regulations on the carbon emissions into the atmosphere also proves challenging to the manufacture of cars. Lastly, the depreciating value of the dollar against the stabilization of the Japanese Yen greatly influences the buying and selling of their cars because if the dollar becomes valueless then they would not achieve the intended profits. Implantation of Toyota’s sustainable strategy According to Borowski (2010), Toyota experienced major economic snarl-ups that led to its profit plunge in past years. Therefore, its top management put in place structures that would oversee its sustainability in the crisis. Essentially, it introduced the large discount action on its products in the United States by allowing its customer base to acquire their products at a reduced rate. Toyota also ventured into wide research and developed economic friendly automobile that would suit the current times with the invention of less fuel consuming vehicles. They have also designed environment friendly vehicles in accordance with the emission regulations set by the European Union. Amazingly, Toyota managed to reduce on its internal expenditure by removing the extra unnecessary allowances on its top management organ (Borowski, 2012). This move saved the company lots of revenue by not allowing it to go bankrupt. The cut on cost measure imposed also enabled the company to be less financially dependent on its government and the lending institutions. Its improvement strategies became worthwhile as they helped the company stay afloat in a highly competitive locomotive market. Recommendations In this regard, the use of electricity-powered automobile has been significant in the present day although their pollution rate remains high. Hence, Toyota should strive to achieve the production of less environment-polluting automobile. The company should also put in place localization strategies to fit in to their specific market. In that, they should develop locomotives based on the local terrain and not on what they feel is best for them. Therefore, development of such would prove essential to the client, as they would get additional value for their money or investment. The company can also focus on its abilities, opportunities, and successes through the SWOT analysis as a tool to spur it to its speculated growth into being the world’s leading vehicle manufacture company. Ideally, expected results are about by the difficult experiences of a company, as is the case for Toyota automobile company. Over the years, its ability to overcome the various economic pressures has made it a common household name when it comes to exceptional vehicle brands. References Borowski, A. (2010). Report on the Toyota Company. Santa Cruz, Carlifornia; GRIN Verlag. Williams, C. (2011). Effective Management : A Multimedia approach.Gale; Cengage Learning. Read More