Developing Chinks in the Vaulted "toyota Way"

Developing Chinks in the Vaulted "Toyota Way"

Toyota has become one the most trusted car company's in the world. "Since 2000 the output of the global industry has risen by about 3 million vehicles to some 60 million; of that increase, half came from Toyota alone." (Nelson & Quick, p.574) I have been raised with all Toyota vehicles in the family; my parents have always trusted the quality and assurance that Toyota has given in creating it vehicles.

1."Espoused Values are what members of an organization say they value." (Nelson & Quick, p.548) In term with members at Toyota Industries the espoused values come from making the best customer experience possible. There cultural component Kaizen which refers to making continuous improvements only helps the customers loyalty grow for an organization. The way that all employees of Toyota continuously talk about "The Toyota Way" and how it is imbedded into their personal and professional lives shows the importance of this value. Not only is their corporate culture like glue, it is also seen as a very effective way of doing business within the industry. It shows by customer value toward the company, their vehicle count has risen by about 30 million in 2000 shows how effective their values really are. "Enacted Values are values reflected in the way individuals actually behave." (Nelson & Quick, p.548) These values are shown in the rest of Toyota's cultural components, genchi genbutsu, challenge, teamwork, and respect. Genchi genbutsu culture has shown how important fixing problems is for the company and focuses on the source of building to fix them. Challenge is value that helps employees view problems are a good things and this helps them to solve them instead of being looked down within the organization. Teamwork is a value that should be incorporated into all organizations. In Toyota, teamwork is a way to bounce ideas from one another and come up with solutions together; nothing is done by one single individual. Having respect for one another and all customers is something that has helped Toyota become the successful company that is today.

2. There are four basic functions that are used in an organization: "first, culture provides a sense of identity to members and increases their commitment to the organization, second, culture is a sense-making device for organization members, third, culture reinforces the values in the organization, and finally, culture serves as a control mechanism for shaping behavior." (Nelson & Quick, p.550-551) Functions in organizational culture help create the organization through the employees; it givens them a balance of work and life and how to perceive it. "The Toyota Way" is a culture that is grown strong and has a sense of togetherness. "One General Motors representative stated that the only way to infiltrate Toyota would be to use 'germ warfare', from the inside out. The organization has trained its employees to live and breathe 'The Toyota