Strategic Direction for Toyota Motor Corporation

Abstract

This paper contains a written plan that will suggest a practical strategic direction for the Toyota Motor Corporation, Japan. The Paper is divided into 6 sections which are as following: Strategy (TCO F), Core Competencies (TCO C), Industry Dynamics (TCO A), Technology Sourcing and Internal Innovation (TCO D), Product Development Strategy (TCO E), Strategy to protect innovations (TCO B). The business plan in it's first section suggests as to how, the Toyota Motor Corporation can achieve a better market share in the automobile industry with the help of new technological innovations. Technologically Toyota Motor Corporation has to make a new engine based on hydrogen-Fuel-Cell system and they have to cut down on their production costs by making the company leaner by taking cost reducing actions. It can either be the removal of redundant employees, or maybe the shifting of some of their manufacturing facilities to China, and benefit from cheap labor there and thus reducing the cost of their new engine. To further reduce the costs the company has to follow the current automobile trend by using the Chinese model of cost effective mass-production.

The second sections consist of developing newer technologies for better Hydrogen Fuel Cell power units and get these patented so as to protect themselves from copyright infringements by their competitors.

The third section consists of a better study of Industrial Dynamics by analyzing the quantitative data of countries producing the highest number of automobiles.

Fourth section of this paper would be based on the appropriate technology sourcing that will utilize it's Research and Development department and engineering department to better implement the new Hydrogen Fuel Cell system.

In the fifth section the aim is to re-define the production development strategy so that all stages of the product development cycle are effectively used. Which starts from the Research and Development and leads up to the stage when final product is delivered to test customers in order to gauge what the average buyer response would be towards the new product.

The last section of this paper contains strategy planning for the protection of innovative intellectual property tools that the company develops along the way.

Strategic Direction for Toyota Motor Corporation

Introduction

In 1937, Kiichiro Toyoda established the Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan. The name Toyota came from the family name of Toyoda, and today it is one of the top most car manufacturers in the world. The Toyota motor Corporation believes in new innovations and ideas. It's success is due to the unconditional belief in customer feedback (Toyota, 2013). For Toyota, customer feedback is the most important factor in planning their future products. The company saw enormous growth by passing the giant automobile manufacturer General Motors of the US in 1980. Moreover, the company established many factories all over the world because of massive demand for it's products. The company was the first one that introduced assembly line and kanban systems in manufacturing. These systems are now used by all the manufacturing giants of the ...