Background context to the case: Hiroshi Okuda

 

 

 

Assignment 2

Assignment 2— Evaluation and analysis case study (1600 words) Due Friday 22^nd December by 6pm to Turnitin. Worth 35% of final mark

Present detailed answers, using 6 academic references minimum to support them, to the questions posed at the end of this case study in approximately 1600 words in total:

Background context to the case: Hiroshi Okuda, is the former chairman of the Toyota Motor Corporation who was in this role from 1999 to 2006. Under Okuda’s leadership Toyota shifted from not just being the number one carmaker in Japan, but rapidly reached to be a main competitor to General Motors in the United States.  Okuda is remembered for his vision in seeing the need for hybrid cars early and pushing Toyota towards quickly bringing them to market. Okuda is often studied in business schools relating to his leadership style. One of Mr. Okuda’s biggest achievements was Toyota’s aggressive expansion of production in the U.S.

 

 

Read the following case study and answer all the questions.

Present detailed answers to the questions posed at the end of this case study in approximately 1600 words in total:

 

 

Toyota’s tough boss (taken from Robbins, Bergman, Stagg and Coulter 2006, p.600) Hiroshi Okuda is not afraid to speak his mind or impose radical change in an organization. And because of these traits he is memorable at Toyota Motor Corporation where he is the chairman of the board. Prior to becoming chairman, Okuda served as Toyota’s president – the first non-family member in over 30 years to head the company. He also is unusual among other Japanese executives because, in Japan, executives are supposed to be unseen. Okuda justifies his outspoken and aggressive style as being necessary to change a company that had become lethargic (i.e. tired) and overly bureaucratic. Okuda moved ahead at Toyota by taking jobs that other employees did not want. For example, in the early 1980s the company was trying to build a manufacturing facility in Taiwan, but the Taiwanese government’s demands for high local content, technology transfer and guaranteed exports convinced many at Toyota that the project should be scrapped. Okuda thought differently. He successfully lobbied for the facility in the company, and it is now very profitable for Toyota. As Okuda noted, ‘Everyone wanted to give up. But I restarted the project and led it to success.’ His drive and ability to overcome obstacles were central to his rise in the company’s hierarchy. When Okuda ascended to the presidency of Toyota in early 1995 the company was losing market share in Japan to both Mitsubishi and Honda. Okuda attributed this problem to several factors. Toyota had been losing touch with Japanese customers for years. For example, when engineers redesigned the Corolla in 1991 they made it too big and too expensive for Japanese tastes. Then four years later, in an attempt to lower costs significantly, they stripped out so many features in the car that the Corolla looked too cheap. Competitors, on the other hand, had also done a much better job of identifying the boom in recreational vehicles – especially the sport-utility market. Toyota’s burdensome bureaucracy also bothered Okuda. A decision that took only five minutes to filter through at Suzuki Motor Corporation would take upwards of three weeks at Toyota. In his first 18 months on the job Okuda implemented some drastic changes. In a country where lifetime employment is consistent with the culture, he replaced nearly one-third of Toyota’s highest-ranking executives. He revamped Toyota’s long-standing promotion system based on seniority, adding performance as a factor. Some outstanding performers moved up several managerial levels in one go – something unheard of in the history of the company. Okuda also worked with the company’s vehicle designers to increase the speed at which the vehicle went from concept to market. What once took 27 months was shortened to 18 months. And now the company is making a custom car within five days of receiving an order. Finally, Okuda is using the visibility of his job to address larger social issues facing all Japanese businesses. For instance, he accused Japan’s Finance Ministry of trying to destroy the car industry by driving up the yen’s value. And he has been an audible voice in the country, condemning the lax lending practices that forced Japanese banks to write off billions of dollars in bad loans and led, in part, to that country’s economic crisis in the late 1990s and early 2000.

Unfortunately, some of Okuda’s actions may have backfired. It has been suggested that the reason he was removed as president of the company in June 1999 was that he had overstepped the boundary at times with his blunt demands for change; and his refusal to bail out other members of the Toyota keiretsu may have offended the founding Toyota family. However, even though he was no longer president, his strategic leadership helped him to be appointed to the chairman’s job.

Discussion questions Answer all three (3) of the following questions in short answer format.

1. Explain trait theory then apply it to Okuda in this case. Discuss with examples from the case of leadership traits Okuda demonstrated during his time at Toyota. Provide an example of another leader who has also demonstrated leadership traits.
2. Drawing on leadership theory from this Course, how would you describe Hiroshi Okuda’s leadership style/s? Cite specific examples in the case study that support your choice.
3. Explain the terms ‘transactional’ and ‘transformational’ leadership. What form did Hiroshi Okuda exhibit? Cite specific examples in the case study that support your choice.

 

 

 

Please conform to the following:

 use Font 12

 Times New Roman font only

 1.5 line spacing

 reference list on a separate page after conclusion

 use Harvard Style of referencing ONLY

 do not use foot-notes

 

Assessment of your assignments will take into account:

 relevance of your answer to the questions

 clarity of expression

 supporting documentation for arguments

 proper acknowledgment of documentation and use of Harvard Style referencing

 logical planning and sequence

 use of inclusive language

 overall presentation, including correct grammar, spelling and punctuation

 comprehensive coverage reflecting engagement with text(s) and other relevant materials

 

The answers should be written in paragraph form using appropriate headings and sub-headings based on your reading of the case study and additional research. Please ensure that it is thoroughly and correctly referenced using the Harvard referencing system.

 

Use a minimum of 6 different reference sources in the body of this assignment. Where less than 6 references are used within the body of the assignment it would be difficult to achieve a grade higher than P2. Assignments that are not correctly referenced will incur heavy penalties.

Your answers to the Case Study should be presented as three (3) distinct answers. You should divide your assignment into a discussion (of each of the three questions) and conclusion section to the case study.

It is recommended approximately 450-550 words per answer with a conclusion of around 100 words

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