Current Trends in the USA Automobile Industry - Essay Example

Current Trends in the U.S.A Automobile Industry Of late Japanese firms have started to dominate automobile industry in the United States Market overthrowing traditional United States of America companies such as Ford and General Motors. There are several factors that can be accredited to the current situation in this industry in the United States of America. These factors fall under the different organization structures that are employed by Japanese Automobile Firms such as Toyota and Hyundai. Advantages and Disadvantages of Specialization in U.S Firms Specialization is incorporating workers to do specific roles and tasks in their daily activities in a business establishment (Morroni 45). This is done with the aim of realizing maximum output hence maximum profits. There are various merits that may accompany specialized job designs if incorporated by United States of America Firms. Specialization saves a lot of time for both the business establishment and the workers. An employee does not waste time because they do not keep moving from one task to another since they are used to one process. As an employee continues to work on one process, they learn to perform their tasks faster, hence saving a lot of time. Specialization is also advantageous since firm will spend less in training. For example, if Firms such as General Motors incorporate specialization employees will be used to performing specific tasks hence they will perfect their skill requiring no training. On disadvantage that might face United State of America firms in the automobile industry is that it results in increased cost for the firms. The firm has to employ many workers to carry out the various specific duties in the business establishment which will result in the firms incurring a lot of operation costs hence reducing their profits. Specialization may also lead to employee demotivation hence reducing the firm’s income. Demotivation occurs as a result of employees being bored by performing only one task repeatedly day in day out. This will definitely result with the employees being bored hence they will lack motivation which is essential for a company’s success. Tall and Flat Organization Structure A tall organization structure is whereby there is a long chain of command, and as the company grows so does management while a flat organization structure is where there are few levels of management where every level of management controls a huge group of workers (Jain p29). A tradition United States of America firm usually employs the tall organization structure. By analyzing the organization structure of automobile firms such as General Motors, one can see how traditional united States of America firm use tall organization structure. Management in such firms is designed in a way that there is a lot of hierarchies like in the military. There is superior management, which runs down vertically depending on the size of the firm. Characteristics that accompany this structure is that there is minimal relationship between the management of the firm and its workers. This causes problems in the company since employees are not able to relate freely with their supervisors. On the other hand, flat organization structure is applied in Japanese firms. For example, Honda has put up a plant in Ohio U.S.A where t use non traditional methods of management where employees are allowed to question their managers or supervisors during their daily operations in the firm (384). This organization structure is beneficial to such companies since it allows for innovation since employees are free to do what is best for the company. This model allows for employee motivation of employees since they feel they are part of the organization since they relate to managers and supervisors as team leaders hence they do not have the fear that comes with a management style that represents authority. Culture and Relationship Coordination Japanese firms such as Toyota use relationship and relationship as a coordination mechanism to ensure that the firm realizes maximum profits. According to Fargus, employee motivation is a key factor that determines the success of a business institution (Fargus 12). He also stipulates that employee relationship both with their supervisors and with other employees contributes greatly to employee (Fargus 19). For example, if tension between employees and their superiors is present then there will be immense employee demotivation since employees will not feel the urge of going to work since their supervisors will always be on their backs. This means that a lot of employees will come up with measures to ensure that they do not report for work every day by employing tactics such as fake sick leaves which will result in the company losing large sums money since it does not produce its maximum output. The above example clearly shows how bad relations among employees and management can result in a company’s failure The traditional and culture mechanism of coordination is incorporated by Toyota which is a Japanese firm. The firm has come up with a relationship of employees and managers which has been transformed into a culture of the organization. In this culture, reporting relationships are not done in a horizontal manner where there is no hierarchy. For example, communication within the company is done with other team members and not supervisors. This does not necessarily mean that there are no supervisors or managers present in the company, but they are rather considered as team members. Hence communication or direction from them is considered by other employees as communication from a team leader. This has been effective for such companies since when one considers the new Toyota venture together with General Motors since it has resulted in maximum profits due to the high output produced by employees since they are highly motivated as a result of the culture and traditional approach of coordination adopted by New United Motor Manufacturing Inc. these techniques adopted by Japanese firms are more effective than the traditional methods used by United Sates of America firms since they result in ultimate employee motivation which in turn leads to maximum outcome hence the realization of huge profits by such firms. Works Cited Fargus Peter. Measuring and improving employee motivation: New Jersey: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2000. Jain. Organizational BehaviourVol. 2, Volume 2. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2005. Morroni Mario. Production Process and Technical Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. Read More