How my chosen organization compete within its business area
Toyota is a leading manufacturer of automobile in the global setting, a position that has been earned through overcoming various hurdles over the past decades. One of the primary attributes that have contributed to the company's success is its focus on effective quality management (Toussaint, 2016). Moreover, the company's success is associated with a strict management system, which is based on the different principles of operations management as will be explained in the study. By embracing the above techniques, the company has experienced tremendous growth over the recent past. Therefore, the above study seeks to account for the significance of logistics and operations management to the success of an organization in the global setting with a focus on Toyota.
Operation's management, as defined by Ilie-Zudor et al. (2014 p. 337-344), refers to the process through which effective and efficient management of production process is achieved as well as adequate management of business operations. Besides, different scholars agree that the concept of operation’s management plays a significant role in contributing towards success and gaining competitive advantage in the market. Toyota uses a broad range of techniques to gain a competitive advantage over other companies in the automobile industry. Some of the common strategies used include differentiation and low-cost strategy, and these features have given the company an upper hand in the business area. Toyota targets consumers from all lifestyles hence able to gain a significant market share. Moreover, it has a broad range of automobiles for customers to choose from, unlike other companies that target narrow market share. Through operation management, Toyota can conduct sufficient market research, giving the company the capacity to understand its consumers hence seeks to meet customers’ needs in the most efficient way possible.
Toyota, unlike other competitors in the industry, has succeeded in the utilization of differentiation strategy in the market. The virtue can be associated with the superior design and quality of products produced by the company (Ilie-Zudor et al., 2014 p. 337-344). The concept has made Toyota develop a strong brand image, an attribute that has over the years been appreciated by the firm’s loyal customers. Besides, the company can engage in mass production of quality cars that meet consumer’s expectations.
Through operation’s management, Toyota Company is recognized for its lean manufacturing, a concept that allows the company to manufacture quality products within the shortest time. Besides, the attribute is appreciated as it develops a culture of continuous improvement hence essential for product development. The above attributes, therefore, gives Toyota a chance to be the market leader hence power to manage a significant market share. As indicated by Xiang (2014 p. 1), Toyota employs operation management in almost all of the industry activities as the concept gives the company a chance to stay ahead of other competitors in the industry. The lean manufacturing technique is appreciated due to its ability to integrate people, processes, and technology.
The four processes of operations management and how they apply to Toyota Corporation
Operation Strategy Formulation
Strategy formulation, as will be utilized in the above study, indicates the process through which Toyota as a company chooses the most effective strategy to employ in achieving its set goals. Through the concept, Toyota is able to achieve its objectives hence meeting its desired vision in the long-term. For instance, Toyota has the vision to become the leading company in the manufacture of an automobile, a strategy that can be achieved through different tactics as will be outlined in the study.
During the formulation stage, an organization has to set its objectives that it desires to accomplish in the long-term. However, the set business has to indicate the process through which the said objectives will be achieved. For instance, Toyota has an objective of meeting consumer needs in the most efficient way possible; however, to reach the set goal, the company employs its Just in Time (JIT) principle (Benders & Morita, 2004). In the formulation stage, Toyota engages in the evaluation of the company's external environment as an indication of the firm's competitive position. Another requirement in the formulation stage is setting quantitative targets as an effective strategy to compare operation of different departments. Moreover, each department at Toyota Company sets its goals that it strive to accomplish, as one way through which the organization will establish its set aim. Based on the organizational objectives, strengths and other potential opportunities in the external market, the corporation management has the mandate to choose an effective strategy through which the set goal can be achieved.
Operation strategy implementation
This is the second step after formulation, and it implies putting Toyota plans into action as an approach through which the strategic goals and objectives are achieved. The concept explains the manner in which the Company utilizes the available resources and set strategies to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Through the concept, efficient management of organizational structure is achieved that involves dynamic allocation of tasks and roles to the company employees to meet the set objectives. According to Francis et al. (2014 p. 6576), implementation incorporates different activities that turn the business ideas into actual production through utilization of effective strategies. The effective implementation, therefore, implies that the set objectives of the organization are achieved. However, in operation management, five aspects ought to be involved in the effective implementation and includes setting in place the adequate infrastructure for the operation, and initiate decision-making process to enhance in strategy activation process. The process requires an efficient team that will be involved in the monitoring and control process. Moreover, there is the need to set in place an effective plan for the implementation, which will be made successful through embracing strategic leadership.
Operation strategy monitoring
Monitoring is an important task in operations management, and it is a strategy through which Toyota can engage in improving workplace operations. Moreover, the concept assists the company to stay on track and meet its set goals in the most efficient way possible. The concept further makes the organizational management at Toyota to identify its shortcomings and devise effective ways through which it can overcome its respective shortcomings.
Operations management control
This is the fourth process in operations management, and it plays a critical role. Through the concept, the management can identify areas of weakness and use efficient strategies and devise strategies on how to overcome the challenge. For instance, at Toyota, the management conducts regular auditing of the different processes that are involved in the production process, and any processes that are associated with inefficiency are therefore eliminated.
The business/competitive strategies that Toyota Corporation might employ using the different operations objectives
Operations management contributes towards enhanced production of quality goods and services, with an aim of achieving efficiency. At Toyota Company, operations management tends to improve the manufacturing performance, and some of the aggressive techniques that are employed include quality management (TQM), and JIT among others.
Toyota Production System (TPS)
TPS is one of the Toyota's operation management techniques that contributed to lean production as the company strived to eliminate waste. The technique plays a significant role in the success of the company and assists the company in achieving efficient production. Moreover, it is based on the principle of continuous improvement and contributed to embracement of JIT, a feature that gave Toyota a competitive advantage in the global market. The manufacturing system experienced because of using the concept gives the company a capacity to meet the changing demand of the market. The primary purpose of TPS is to detect, assess and eliminate any source of inefficiency in the production system.
JIT Inventory Management
The JIT tactic used by Toyota as mentioned earlier gives the company a chance to engage in improved productivity and enhancing the level of efficiency experienced in production. It, therefore, creates a flexible environment that prioritizes different tactics of eliminating waste whatsoever. The JIP technique was introduced to the company in the mid-1970's and is based on three main features which include an effort to reduce waste, engage in continuous improvement and creative a participative work culture. Moreover, the concept (JIT, assists in eliminating any defects in the production system, a concept that upholds production of quality merchandise.
Lean Manufacturing
Toyota employs this operation management technique in helping economize the scarce resources. Moreover, the concept incorporates broad range activities such as quality control, labor administration and supply chain management. Different scholars have indicated that lean manufacturing reduces production costs significantly due to increased efficiency.
the operations management contributions to the Toyota Corporation’s ' strategy improvement
Operations management has varied contributions to the success of an organization as it incorporates the different operations of an organization. The concept has different implication to an organization in the production of quality products and services. Furthermore, it includes use effective techniques that help enhance productivity, experience reduced costs and increase flexibility as an efficient strategy through which consumer needs are met (Hitt, Xu & Carnes, 2016 p. 77). Furthermore, it helps in developing a safe workplace to employees and ensures that consumers get quality services.
The contribution made by the operation management techniques is that they offer the company a competitive advantage over other businesses in the market. For instance, by employing the use of JIT technology, Toyota engages in the production of products that meets the market demand without experiencing any loss whatsoever. The feature plays a significant role in the organization management as it enables the company to deliver required products to the final users without wasting time. In summary, JIT enhances the efficiency of the organization's operation, a feature that results in increased profit for the business. Moreover, the concept is embraced in almost all the activities carried out in the organization hence lowering production while at the same time increasing the quality of the products (Santos, Goncalves & Leite, 2015 p. 2). The different techniques used in the process play a role in the identification of any defect in the production system and devise effective strategies on how to eliminate them.
Recommendations
Conclusion
However, for practical implementation of the strategy, four primary processes need to be observed and include operation management formulation, implementation, monitoring, and control. As evidenced by the study, use of operation management in organizations makes companies to develop competitive strategy in the market such for the case of Toyota. Some of the competitive strategies employed include JIT, TPS and lean manufacturing that enabled the firm to experienced increased efficiency in production. Therefore, the competitive strategies established because of using operation management make the company experience enhanced capacity of meeting the consumer needs in the market.
In conclusion, Toyota first embraced use of operation management after the Second World War as it identified the need for change. The company's management discovered that using the concept would enable the company to compete effectively with other primary players in the industry such as Ford. Moreover, the strategic goals of achieving efficiency are the ones that contributed to the company's success in the market. The issue was further supported by the firm's decentralized management that engaged in continuous improvement of its operations.
Bibliography
Benders, J. and Morita, M., 2004. Changes in Toyota Motors’ operations management. International Journal of Production Research, 42(3), pp.433-444.
Francis, M., Fisher, R., Thomas, A. and Rowlands, H., 2014. The meaning of ‘value’in purchasing, logistics and operations management. International Journal of Production Research, 52(22), pp.6576-6589.
Hitt, M.A., Xu, K. and Carnes, C.M., 2016. Resource based theory in operations management research. Journal of Operations Management, 41, pp.77-94.
Ilie-Zudor, E., Kemény, Z., Ekárt, A., Buckingham, C.D. and Monostori, L., 2014. A solution for information management in logistics operations of modern manufacturing chains. Procedia CIRP, 25, pp.337-344.
Santos, T.F., Gonçalves, A.T. and Leite, M.S., 2015. Logistics cost management: insights on tools and operations. International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 19(3), pp.329-346.
Toussaint, JS 2016, 'Mending Management: Improving Customer Value by Transforming Operations', Physician Leadership Journal, 3, 2, pp. 22-25.
Xiang, L., 2014. Operations Management of Logistics and Supply Chain: Issues and Directions. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, pp. 1-7.
