As the head of Toyota’s quality control department it is obligated that the Toyota product meets standards of safety and quality. The Toyota brand should maintain high standards from the onset of production; from the raw materials to the actual finished product. The principles of production should also meet the stipulations of the documentation of purchase. In order to efficiently manage this department one should make sure that factory visits are made so as to supervise the whole process. The functions of quality control include; testing, monitoring, auditing and reporting.
In this department testing is the most basic function. The car manufacturing process has to undergo testing from the beginning, middle and final stage. This is meant to ensure that the quality in production is maintained throughout (Liker, 2004). If any issue or problem arises the quality control personnel works with the production staff to remedy the matter.
Monitoring is a continuous process that quality control specialists perform on a regular basis. The personnel repeat the tests and with every time record the results. The reason for doing this is to look for any quality trends and reviewing them. In case of any decline in quality, the tests and done thoroughly and repeatedly.
The auditing of process entails the reviewing of results handed in by the quality control personnel in order to determine whether the original tests were performed correctly. After auditing the manufacturing processes, the management gives the quality results by the specialists. Management take action whenever there is an occurrence of a high number of quality problems. This means that the production process has something that is wrong, resulting into unhappy customers. In the case of Toyota, a flaw in the production process of their vehicles means that their customer base or Toyota clientele will be unhappy. This results in low sales.
As acting vice president it is mandatory to set goals that are both short term and long term. The goals set should also be able to describe a team’s or department’s accomplishments. The directors of the various divisions in the Toyota organization should agree with the set goals. The goals should follow the management criteria of S.M.A.R.T goals. The goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.
In line with the company’s goals of providing hybrid alternatives for models sold in the market, a short term goal may be achieved. The goal would be to aim at making a total sale of one million hybrid cars within a year. That would be by June 2015. This goal would be in support of the company’s environmental action plan which was devoted to the reduction of carbon dioxide emission in vehicles and keeping the environment clean.
The long term goal would be aligned to the Toyota objective of world domination in car supply. Toyota aims at remaining a market leader by providing high quality cars that add value to their customers. The goal that Toyota ought to achieve in the long run is cost cutting and this can be achieved by engineering platforms that are much smaller and can be used to assemble its variety of models.
In re-organizing the departments it is of importance to know and define the problem. In this case it is low morale in the departments. After identifying the problem one should determine whether department goals are being met with the existing structures and jobs. This will give a clear indication of what factors are contributing to the structures’ and jobs’ ineffectiveness. In view of the fact that the problem is low morale within the staff in Toyota, identifying the groups and departments that are most affected is next. This will help in communicating with them and the different types of motivational messages and incentives they will need.
All this will be possible by setting up meetings with employees whose jobs will change due to the departmental re-organization. Directors of the other departments in the Toyota Company will also be involved in the restructuring of the organization. Their main roles will be to plan communication within the organization by scheduling informational meetings with employees. They will also determine the update meetings with the management and review series.
The restructuring will also determine each position within the company, the skills needed and the current skills available. It is important to implement and design training camps for the staff. This will improve communication among employees and create a workplace bond. After achieving all the above, the organization can implement the restructuring. During the implementation, it is advisable to gather input, reassess and review the process. Getting feedback from reliable sources about the implementation development will provide regular feedback from staff, clients, management and groups.
Whenever an organization is restructuring a department or the whole company, challenges from both within and without are bound to be faced. Resistance to change will be most felt when the purpose of reorganization is not clear or understood. Suspicion and anxiety occupy the information void when employees do not understand and see the reason for the change (“Supervisory”, 2005). Communication would also be a major challenge, especially if employees are not part of the planning process. The reorganization communication could be poor and result in rejection. Employees will resist the reorganization plan if they notice their job descriptions have decreased their autonomy or the importance the organization has placed on them. Their job enthusiasm will also diminish greatly if they believe the reorganization is ill planned.
Toyota directors should have leadership traits that encompass the organization itself. The organization thrives on perfection and remaining a market leader in the vehicle industry globally. Some of the traits include; inspirational, integrity and decisive. They should be inspired by getting the staff to be their best and this is possible by painting a vision of Toyota’s future and leading them there. Employee’s constraints and organizational obstructions are cleared by the very best leaders. These are the kind of leaders required by the Toyota motoring company. Another leadership characteristic that is paramount in a company’s growth is integrity. Leaders who have integrity are usually fair, honest, forthright and candid with their employees. Research has shown that some of the most important things that result in employees’ satisfaction is integrity among the leadership.
Leadership is all about making decisions are being they right or wrong. Effective leaders are never frightened by making decisions and tough calls when required. Directors in Toyota should be able to make informed decisions when they have all the information needed. Leaders should also stick to the decisions they make unless there is a substantial reason to change. With leaders who have the aforementioned characteristics, the Toyota manufacturing company will always be able to uphold their corporate reputation and maintain their workplace diversity. The workforce will always be enthusiastic, capable, skilled, and drawn from an array of backgrounds, experiences and views.
References
Liker, J. (2004). The Toyota way: 14 management principles from the world's greatest manufacturer. New York: McGraw-Hill
Supervisory skills (2005). Rugeley: Focus Multimedia Ltd
