Groups and teams of all kinds across the organization need to engage in the creation of their new culture. In this way, organizations are able to move beyond the games and techniques used to acquire and use power, beyond dysfunction and conflict in relationships, and toward a workplace of trust, integrity and authentic, genuine relationships. In this new environment, the workplace culture becomes an asset and not a liability. People are able to trust that their leaders are doing their best to keep their organizations sailing smoothly, irrespective of the salaries that their top leaders, whose work may extend even when they are at home.
Growing interdependence among nations has accelerated the increase of international influences on U.S. business. The same is true for other countries. Since the traditional business education has been almost entirely inward-looking, U.S. managers are generally intellectually unprepared to cope with the new business realities that are rooted in the international sphere. International conflicts initially can be gleaned as a divider of nations. Yet when one looks at it closely, it is in fact a way of making nations cohesive and united in areas they thought will create divisiveness.
An example here is the respect for people which has always been the philosophy of Toyota especially among its associates. Management notes that the hard work of these associates has made the company a success in its field. In its history, there was only one instance when it was made to choose between corporate restructuring and risking its collapse in the process. The President then was Kiichiro Toyoda fought for his employees. But the company was in the worst of conditions which showed that the company was unsustainable. He was so discouraged by the lay-offs that had to be done and because of this he resigned from his position as the president of the company. The company then began to nurture the people who remained its only asset. After that, the Honorary Advisor Eiji Toyoda states that “From then on, we started building a framework of mutual trust between labor and management. The process was like building a wall, block by block.” It then realized that it was important that the company must safeguard its people against future layoffs like that one (CSR Policy: Contribution towards Sustainable Development).
Although Toyota Motor Corp. went through a decline in the U.S. stock market during the middle part of the five-year period from 2000 to 2005, it has bounced back in the past couple of years and is expected to continue to improve its performance in the coming years. Currently, it is trading at around 72 per share and its average target estimate is 94.15 per share. However, there may be risks involved, not in the stock itself, but due to the general investor outlook on the U.S. economy. I think it would be safe to bid around $80 per share for the 100 shares in the futures contract that is due to expire after a year from now. This would be higher than the average price during the past 52 weeks, but is safe enough to consider other external risks such as the general turnout of the economy, and it should be the approximate stock price if the expected annual return of around 15% for the next five years is taken into consideration. As most stocks in the U.S. are affected by the bearish outlook from investors, Toyota might not be spared even with the entire positive forecast from a number of analysts.
Toyota is expected to continue performing well in the automobile industry even as General Motors and Ford are having a rough time. The coming years are also expected to be fruitful for the carmaker, especially with new models that are expected to come out. The trend towards hybrid cars for oil efficiency and alternative fuels should also help automobile sales in the coming years as the world continues to experience an oil crisis. It would be better to hold on to this stock for a long period of time because more profit should come not in the near future but after several years. Toyota is a stable company and has, so far, been outperforming its competitors in the U.S., so it should be fair enough to pay higher for it.
Works Cited
CSR Policy: Contribution towards Sustainable Development. Web.
“Toyota”. Cusip No. 89233png7. Web.
“Reports”. Yahoo Finance. 2008. Web.
“Rates”. Bonds. Yahoo Finance. 2008. Web.
Vision and Philosophy. 2008. Web.