Paper Example on Toyota Company's Change Management

A manufacturing company has recently acquired two new subsidiaries that manufacture new product lines, each in a different country.

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Introduction

Change management is considered a critical process for the organization to achieve its core objectives. Companies engage in consistent reviewing of their structures, directions and capabilities to cope with the continuous changing needs of their internal and external customers. Change management enables the organization to deal with emerging changes at both individual and organizational level. A success change management process should enable the firm to adapt, control and effect the change. This is because change is considered inevitable and an organization has to establish effective strategies to ensure it achieves successful change management. Suitable concept and practices of human resource management are considered significant during the time of dealing with change in the organization. It is important to take into account essential factors before restructuring the organization, these aspects include Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), ethics and culture. The objective of this paper is to use Toyota Company as an organization to analyze the aspects such as culture, CSR, ethics as well as their corresponding implications on planned change after acquiring two new subsidiaries that will be used for manufacturing a new product in different countries.

Scenario

Toyota Company is one of the largest vehicle manufacturing firm that operates across the world. The company has decided to acquire new subsidiaries that would be used to manufacture a new product and would be based in two different countries. The strategy is meant to expand the business and increase the level of profits realized by the company. Headquarter of the company is located in Tokyo, however, it has branches in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries worldwide. The number of workers employed by Toyota Company is approximated to be 325,000. The company was established in 1937 by Toyota Kiichiro to serve as a multinational automobile manufacturing firm. Toyota has experienced tremendous growth to attain a global status because of its products purchased by customers from different parts of the world. The firm is headed by a competent president who is in charge of overseeing the general operations. Toyota Company is committed to manufacturing outstanding products to achieve a competitive advantage and attain sustainable growth. The objectives are contained in the company's mission and vision statements. The organization works towards honouring the legal procedures, customs and cultures of diverse countries that it operates from. Toyota is determined to maintain its global position as the leading manufacturer of automobiles in the future as well as obtain the largest market share.

Cultural Issues

Culture refers to certain ideologies or beliefs perceived and practiced by an individual or a group of people. The ideologies or behaviours are learned from the social environment and can be transferred to the next general, thus not biologically adopted. The company is expected to consider the cultural aspects of employees and other subordinates when restructuring the organization. This helps at identifying specific cultural factors likely to affect the operations. Since Toyota Company is planning to operate in different countries, it is important to analyze their cultural aspects in order to run the operations smoothly. Every country is surrounded by its national or local culture that defined the operations of various businesses. Therefore, Toyota must recognize the cultures of the two countries to avoid the clash. National culture plays a significant role in determining the type of operations that Toyota needs to establish. For instance, it involves aspect such as firm registration processes, languages, tax, legal frameworks and other national values exercised by the host countries. Employees from Toyota intending to manage the newly acquired subsidiary may speak a language different from the people in the host country, this communication barrier eventually affects the success of the business operations. As a result, the company will be obliged to hire new employees from the host country to help in the running of its operations. The country's values may also vary with Toyota which is likely to cause misunderstanding. Existence of different registration procedures in terms of eligibility and time may as well hinder the company from meeting the expected requirements and this forces it to conduct a negotiation with the host country.

Similarly, each organization is governed by a specific culture, thus vary from one company to another. They have their own way of conducting the operations of executing tasks. It is vital for Toyota Company to identify and promote its culture for the purpose of delivering the services or products efficiently. The culture of an organization or a company is based on a variety of aspects such as business environment, technology, leadership structure, values, dressing codes, history, and ownership among other factors. The company must ensure that the culture it is built on reflects the needs of stakeholders and customers. With these considerations of organizational culture, it is evident that Toyota Company will encounter several cultural aspects while trying to adapt to the new locations. Common organizational culture to be faced by the company include dressing codes, leadership challenges, changes in interacting with people, and time management. Toyota may as well organize for training forums for the employees to equip them with essential skills to relate with people in the new subsidiaries. Educating the staff about possible issues likely to arise in the new location would help to build a strong and competent workforce.

Ethical Issues

Every organization needs to operate based on acceptable business ethics in order to demonstrate desirable behaviour. The business must be governed by ethical standards to enable the company to relate well with its customers, stakeholders, staff and competitors. Adherence to moral and ethical frameworks help the company to grow as it practices healthy competition. As the company acquires the new subsidiaries located in two different countries it is likely to encounter ethical challenges related to stakeholders and staff. For instance, Toyota may manufacture products of low quality in order to penetrate the market faster as it sells at cheap prices. The company may practice this unethical behaviour to outshine the existing businesses. Another ethical issue could arise from poor working conditions and low salaries for the workers because of the time that will be taken by the company to gain a large customer base in the new locations. Also, the company may focus on making more profit and forget about the welfares of employees. This is likely to lead to unethical action because workers are the backbone of every successful company dealing in manufacturing and production. Ignoring the welfare of workers infringe their rights and this is highly discouraged. Other common unethical practices could be corruption, unequal distribution of employment opportunities and employees discriminations. The company should come up with effective strategies to ensure that ethical standards are embraced. This will help Toyota Company to grow and gain approval in the new subsidiaries without much resistance.

Corporate Social Responsibility Issues

Many organizations uphold corporate social responsibility by supporting the societies around. The company would ensure that the environment is kept clean and safe to encourage society to support its operations. Organizations are required to observe the diverse needs of the stakeholders and societies in which they operate in order to maintain a positive environment. In this regard, the Toyota Company will be work in connection with the community around it as well as respond to the stakeholders' needs. The firm will offer equal opportunities to the people from the nearby locality to serve in different positions in order to support the entire community. Besides, Toyota will take part in various environment conservation programs. This will be achieved through the creation of measures aimed at reducing environmental pollution while carrying out its business operations. Additionally, the company will be required to manufacture safe products that will not cause harm to the environment or people around the community. The company's products will first be tested by legal bodies that protect consumers before releasing them on the market. This will ensure the products meet the expected standards and can be sold to the customers. Finally, the company will be involved in various charity programs to support the needs and less privileged members of the local community.

Human Resource Implication

The human resource is entitled to make sure that the company selects, recruits and retain excellent employees. Also, it ensures that the firm is equipped with the right systems and people to increase the efficiency of operations. Human resource management helps the company in change initiatives in several ways. For instance, HR ensures that the organization uses effective strategies and approaches when conducting the process of selecting and recruiting employees. When restructuring the organization, factors such as corporate social responsibility, ethics and culture are essential to consider. This is because these aspects have implication to the human resource functions and the organization staff as they determine the overall performance or success of the business. Ethical, CSR and cultural issues enable to contribute to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives. It is important for human resource to establish appropriate plans to achieve an efficient transition. For instance, the exercise of recruiting employees should be done fairly considering the cultural aspects. Competent workers with required qualification should be retained and even promoted to serve better positions. Diversity and inclusion should be incorporated into the hiring process to minimize complaints and resentments. The mission that guides the organization should be emulated in the process to make sure that the operations reflect the expected standards. The process of restructuring the organization should meet the best practices outlined by the cultural framework of the company. Employees should receive appropriate remunerations based on their level of skills and qualifications. The company should provide a conducive working environment for the employees as well as ensure that the final products manufactured to meet the expected quality standards. Embracing positive corporate social responsibility enables the firm to gain an outstanding global image as well as receive the approval.