Strategy Implementation - Admission/Application Essay Example

? Strategy Implementation Strategy Implementation Strategy Implementation in Toyota Scandals The implementation of new technology inthe Toyota industry fid not go down well with most of its partners as it was seen as a move that would be of benefit to certain individuals who were involved in the business (Shirouzu, 2010). This resulted to the argument that they should restructure the management in order for all those involved to benefit. The technology which is referred to as the new JIT (Just in Time) is regarded by many as one that would require a lot of capital in order to effectively install and maintain it as the company was initially used to the old technologies that were less demanding and did not require expertise (Johnson et al, 2008). This was attributed to the fact that the new principle of technology would also lead to a change in the next generation management whereby there would be need for corporate management. Everyone in the management position was expected to use the hardware so as to be at par with the information that was relevant to the company. Therefore with the hardware in place, they would turn out to be global marketers who with quality management will be able to be at par with the competition being experienced in the market. This would definitely impress the users of their products and despite the scandals; they remain as the excellent producers of quality products within a given specific amount of time. The new JIT was a technology that was preferred by the management as the major source of improved manufacturing in the 21st century (Nag et al, 2007). It had a combination of both the hardware and software which would change the management technology into a strategy acceptable by all. The hardware part consists of the Toyota development system, Toyota marketing system and the Toyota production system and all these would improve the work process as well as the final product quality. All the divisions concerned with the process of development had been taken into account in terms of development and sales. The software to be utilized in order to reduce the scandals was the total quality management utilizing science (TQM-S). This technology has reduced the scandals that were being experienced in terms of the quality of cars which most people were now complaining to be of poor quality. As a result workers had less impact when it comes to contributing to the improvement in terms of the levels of production. Fears had grown that the cars being constructed from the new technology had become complicated in terms of the design as most of them were computerized a factor that was not accepted by many. The poor designs were argued out by Toyota as being outdated in the 21st century and this clearly illustrated the presence of a conflict between the old and the new world in terms of technology (Johnson et al, 2008). For instance the accelerator and the floor mat defects were all computerized and their designs were aided through the computer especially the supplier parts which in turn cause a software glitch. The company failed to consider the issue of man-machine interface as most of those who had access to vehicles knew little computerized issues that were related to their Toyota products. It is agreed that as years move on, there is need for industries to be at par with the technology and this is evident mostly through innovation. As much as Toyota Company has tried to be innovative, they failed to put into consideration the issue of risk assessment by the product users and managing the risks too. At first, those who had the initial access to the vehicles were frequently involved in accidents as they found it challenging to handle the cars using the computerized model. Lessons Learnt This meant that in order for their products to be effective for those using them, a training session had to be organized by the company where they were to explain the new technology to them. It was argued by the company that continued manufacturing of the same products repeatedly would in turn leave the company less competitive an issue that Toyota did not want to experience. Considering such factors, the senior management had to go back and pay attention to their business profitability, and this would go hand in hand with the quality of their final products. Innovation now became a key driving factor to achieving their objectives as a company (Johnson et al, 2008). It was not a smooth process as most of the time; they failed to connect the dots especially as a result of the conflict of interests between the management and the technology to be implemented. Countries that were also business partners did not agree to the changes to be implemented easily as they saw to it that they stood a great chance of experiencing losses. This was attributed to the fact that, most buyers were likely to resist from buying the new cars as they would term them as being complicated. Such disagreements resulted to poor leadership in the company as most of them were not conversant with the requirements of the new technologies. The general GDP of the company went down because of the huge capital that had been used during the implementation phase of the new technology. For instance, the company suffered a loss of 16% in the sales alone an indication that the marketing department in ensuring that the new products were a success (Shirouzu, 2010). As a scandal it was clear that the speed at which Toyota wanted to grow was unsustainable. To avoid this scandal, it is advisable that Toyota equips its model with the brake over ride system which will ensure that the accelerator and the peals are pressed together once. This was an implication that the two would definitely be brought to a stop at the same time whenever the driver felt like an accident was likely to occur (Shirouzu, 2010). In case of unexpected acceleration this would serve as a good backup so that as the driver learnt slowly about the new changes on the cars, they would be using the alternative. This was attributed to the fact that most of the car manufacturers did not make the brake over ride system a factor that was standard. This scandal indicates how quickly a corporate may fail due to failure to implement simple but vital measures. This leaves a company with wounds to heal in terms of the capital and this may be regarded as self inflicted. It is therefore vital to have a management structure that is well conversant with the current technology in order to ensure innovation. Conclusion Downplaying problems in a company could leave a large organization paralyzed and this could be attributed to the fact that most of them suffer from the denial spirit. Diagnosing the cause of failure is likely to be a challenge in itself in the sense that capital may still be required in terms of reaching a remedy. It was also evident that, Toyota Company had failed to implement what they had initially preached as a result of the fact that they had a better project but lacked the best skills to be used in ensuring that the whole idea would be a success. Implementation of strategies should be considered a long term project that has to be handled with reference to the time factor. References Johnson, G., Scholes, K, & Whittington, R. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy, 8th Edition. New York: FT Prentice Hall, Essex. Nag, R. Hambrick, D. C. & Chen, M.-J,What is strategic management, really? Inductive derivation of a consensus definition of the field. Strategic Management Journal. Volume 28, (9). P 935–955. September 2007. Shirouzu, N. (2010). Inside Toyota, executives trade blame over debacle. Wall Street Journal (Eastern Edition), p. A.1. Retrieved August, 2011 Read More