Case analysis of Toyota
In the case of Toyota, there are a number of opportunities and threats which are at present, affecting the organization. The opportunities that were outlined by the case included the growing market size of the American market in the portfolio of the Japanese company. The biggest opportunity for this organization was the growing demand in the US for its products.
Another opportunity that came across the case study was the fact that Toyota’s competitors have as yet been unable to respond with efficiency allowing Toyota to expand its market base. The last opportunity that was presented was the favorable attitude by the local and US government towards the firm allowing it to expand further.
The threats that are faced by Toyota include the increasingly competitive market within Japan where it’s losing sales to Honda and Nissan. Another threat that became quite prominent was the slowdown of the economies of the developing countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia along with the European countries.
The strengths included the reduction of the dependency on the Japanese in terms of the day-to-day operating activities and the use of American designers for the US cars. Hence, allowing them to cater to the local American consumers. Strength included the reliance on the US factories to produce two-thirds of the cars hence decreasing the import taxes and lowering the currency risk.
One of the main strengths of Toyota includes the updated styling and the improved quality and efficiency levels. The company is already planning to create newer products in order to increase its strength capacity. The weaknesses are the inability to comprehend the American preferences at the highest level of the company management. Also, some of the traditionalists still want to stick to the previous methods which might prove to be an issue for Toyota.
The business-level strategy that the firm is using is the differentiation strategy according to which this organization is functioning as Toyota is emphasizing product and service quality. Its strategy of innovative new products which are in the development stage including an emission-free car etc. it has also taken on board American designers and it is quoted in the case that the Japanese have dominated the styling area indicating the fact that this organization is clearly working on a differentiation strategy level.
According to my, the strategy of Toyota to focus on the US market is effective as over the next fifteen years, their differentiation strategy would allow it to develop a market edge which would guarantee a strong market position. Also, the current market scenario in the home region and in other nations is quite dismal hence; this would be the optimal strategy for Toyota to function according to.
Case Analysis of Dale Inc.
The organization is Dale Inc which has annual revenues greater than 20 million dollars. As a result, of the death of the owner, there had to be a change in the ownership in order for the corporation’s growth to be sustained. The organization was a part of the stock car racing market and had four race teams along with a number of other business ventures.
The widow of the previous owner; Teresa Earnhardt, decided to take on the responsibility and the sort of leadership style adopted by her was a lassize-faire style. At present, she is allowing the team to coordinate the decisions along with her and is not adopting an aggressive style of leadership in which she would be dictating the terms and actions to her employees. The advantages of her leadership style are that she by allowing the employees to feel that she has full faith and trust in them is creating a motivated and dedicated team force who would want to pursue the corporate objectives.
Her leadership style is also more cautious hence, allowing her to take cautious decisions and such which are decreasing the added costs and adding value. However, the backend approach would result in the company having to meet fierce resistance in a male dominant society as she is operating from the scene and needs to take a more definitive and accessible approach.
The challenges that are being faced by her include the fact she is operating in a male-dominated arena and she needs to establish herself as she has no experience. Also, in the case of the company, there is a need to asset oneself as it is an organization that has seen a more dominant style of leadership. Therefore, she would need to become a more visible presence not only for the organization but also for the competition.
The leader of any well-known organization has to prove himself or herself in all aspects as only then can the leader continue running the successful organization. He needs to have complete control over all areas and aspects and needs to be truly dedicated and committed in order to run such an organization and needs to be aware of the market’s scenario at all times in order to establish the company position accordingly.
The way that Ms. Earnhardt dealt with these challenges was exemplary as she by maintaining quiet control was able to create a feeling of a silent and strong leader while at the same time her constant monitoring allowed her to make sure that the employees remained on their toes. However, there was an issue of lack of presence which had to be reviewed by Ms. Earnhardt as it could have major repercussions on the competitive position of this organization.
What I would have differently would have been to take myself as a more dominant figure rather than a quiet presence as I believe that assertiveness can go a long way in maintaining the leader’s position in the company. The fact that it is a male-dominated market means that Ms. Earnhardt would have to go even further to prove her case and herself as she by being a woman is already a case of much skepticism. Hence, she would need to make extra efforts in order to prove herself to the company and to the competitors.
The consequences of having a quiet presence could have major negative consequences for the organization as shown by the viewpoints of some people in the case study. According to them, it was important that Ms. Earnhardt took a more definitive stance.
I would have tried to adopt such a stance in which there would have been assertiveness but at the same time, the employees would have had room to prove themselves and provide opinions on the matter. The personality change of Ms. Earnhardt proved that she was aware of the importance of having a more visible presence later on in the case study.
The recommendations that I would provide to Ms. Earnhardt regarding the strategy next year would be to cut down on any additional expenses and looking for cheaper sort of advertisement options while at the same time trying to ensure greater sponsorship. In addition, the organization should be going for lesser races but for those which would have more prize money in order to ensure financial returns for the organization.
The company would have to cut down on some of the expenses such as the fees paid for publicity, training fees and would have to cut down on its labor force as well. It would have to streamline the organizational structure by decreasing some layers and laying off some workers.
Hence, if some of the above things are taken into account and implemented it would help the organization a great deal by cutting back on the necessary expenditure and streamlining the organizational structure.
References
Dale Earnhardt Inc. Toyota Case.