Organization Presentation

profilecatsaturday
Demo_Tech_wk5.docx
Home>Business & Finance homework help>Operations Management homework help>Organization Presentation

2

Demographics and Technology

David Leonard

University of Phoenix

MGT/526

12 September

Based on previous studies, the article will evaluate Toyota Motor Corporation and focus on two major aspects that is the company's demographic characteristics and Company's technological position. Demographic characteristics in Toyota company are very important as they help in identifying the appropriate customers through selecting their characteristics, needs, and wants. According to Brito (2015), demographic characteristics allow companies to improve their products and services based on specific market segments and customers' needs and wants, and therefore any company needs to identify its demographic characteristics to operate effectively and understand its potential customers well.

The current demographic characteristics of Toyota company include, first is its main deal and location, it is an automotive manufacturer and its head office is located in Japan, the company has displayed a lot of effort in streamlining customer’s services and enhancing sustainable development whereby in 2014, it established a new head office at Texas in the US. Second is the vehicle models target groups, according to Manna (2011), the Toyota Corolla model is the leading and most bought type of car mostly by middle-aged customers and commonly used as a passenger vehicle, Tundra and Rav4 are preferred by long-distance travelers and people employed in blue-collar compared to white-collar jobs, the Prius car models, on the other hand, are preferred by a group of people who mind and care about sustainable development to conserve the environment while Lexus model vehicles are aimed by high spenders.

Other demographic characteristics are based on employees working in the company, for example in the US, most workers have attained college education and have diplomas and degrees, the common mean of transport used personal vehicles, a huge population is married, females are more compared to males, most people are born in the US, and lastly most employees work in white-collar positions compared to blue-collar jobs.

Toyota company has been experiencing a lot of changes currently, on 2nd September 2021 The Economics Times newspaper reported that the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has greatly affected Toyota company after one of the key factories in Vietnam was affected. The company is a major supplier to Toyota with wires that produce cables used in automobile manufacturing, with the increased infection of the Covid-19 pandemic, Toyota company has strained to acquire such quality products leading to low production of cars. Toyota Company’s chief purchasing group officer Kazunari Kumakura acknowledged the issue and the company reported plans to reduce by 40% of its car production.

Toyota company faces the challenge of where to acquire substitute parts used to manufacture cars as most of its source countries have been affected by the pandemic and the government has imposed measures such as lockdowns to curb Covid-19 from spreading. Vietnam is Toyota's number one and best supplier of wire harnesses and having been affected the company had to bear the loss and reduce its car production. I think the issue was handled ethically since the lives of people matters than anything else. Some supplying companies like Furukawa Electric Company were forced to reduce the number of staff to allow social distancing as a measure of controlling the spread of the pandemic.

Concerning technological operationalization within Toyota company, it conducts a lot of research and development on different aspects (Morgan & Liker, 2020). The company utilizes technology by innovating cars that continue to offer more comfort, convenience, and fun to users. Toyota company has established two main types of technologies, the first one is called "Jikoda" meaning automatic response to human touch, if the equipment detects abnormal operation, it automatically switches off to avoid damages. The second type of technology is just in time whereby the equipment is developed to offer the satisfaction required at any moment in a uniform flow. Finally, any change of technology in the company will lead to increased sales since more customers want to have new experiences and the company gains a competitive advantage.

References

Brito, P. Q., Soares, C., Almeida, S., Monte, A., & Byvoet, M. (2015). Customer segmentation in a large database of an online customized fashion business. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 36, 93-100.

River D, Tsuyoshi I, & Bloomberg (2021, 2nd September), How a single Covid case rocked the World’s biggest carmaker. The Economics Times https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/how-a-single-covid-case-rocked-the-worlds-biggest-carmaker/articleshow/85856418.cms

Manna, D. R., Marco, G., Khalil, B. L., & Meier, S. (2011). Sustainable markets: A case study of Toyota motor sales, USA, inc. Journal of Business Case Studies (JBCS), 7(3), 63-72.

Morgan, J. M., & Liker, J. K. (2020). The Toyota product development system: integrating people, process, and technology. Productivity Press.