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PEOPLE DYNAMICS IN MALAYSIAN

ORGANIZATIONS

UCM60303U3

BACHELOR OF QUANTITY SURVEYING

TOYOTAS CASE STUDY

NAME: VIVIAN TAY HUEY SHUEN

STUDENT ID: 0323869

LECTURER: MS SHANTHI BAVANI

SECTION: 3, WED 4PM

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Discuss how Toyota can train its employees to shape team behavior and emphasise
teamwork throughout the organisation.

All about the drive (2016-2017) and Moving forward (2004-2016) are two of
Toyotas most catchy and smart slogans in Malaysia. I cannot recall how often I hear Toyota,
its all about the drive on radio station broadcasts and television advertisements. Toyota
Motor Corporation is a Japanese automotive manufacturer which is currently one of the
leading car brands in Malaysia. Who do they owe their success to? Besides their ability to
produce fine and effective cars, the companys success is also strongly influenced by their
teamwork and their respect for each other.

Firstly, what is teamwork? It is the process to work with a group of people and
achieve a certain goal. There are a variety of ways Toyota can shape their employees
behaviour. For instance, the company can first acquire the skills to understand their
employees behaviour. Organizational behaviour is the way people think, feel and behave
when they interact with people within groups to achieve a goal. The company can
understand their employees different behaviour and deposit people who can work together
well in a group. Likewise, employees can understand their employers by trusting them and
doing their job well with other employees as a team to reach the companys maximum
potential.

Besides, Toyota can provide communication classes for their employees. Nowadays,
learning how to communicate with people is very essential in the industry whether it is to
communicate with your employer, other employees or customers. This is because different
people tend to have different and unique personalities. How they feel, think and act on a
situation differs. Knowing how to communicate is having the ability to handle different types
of people. As an example, extrovert people like to socialize more, be enthusiastic and down
to earth. When they come across introverts who are more reserve and quiet, they should be
more serious, bringing their enthusiastic level down while talking to them so that they would
not feel uncomfortable. By doing so, introvert people will feel more open and comfortable
while carrying out a certain task together. Normally, we cannot choose who we work with but
this wouldnt be a problem if every employee can learn the basics of communication and be
considerate of one another. This will bring mutual understanding between employees,
improve their relationship and enhance teamwork.
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Furthermore, the company can encourage teamwork among employees by

motivating them and creating more group social events. According to Maslows Hierarchy of
needs, there are five levels of needs that can motivate a person. For this context,
belongingness needs is used. Everyone wants to feel like they are a part of something, to
feel a sense of belonging. The company just need to make employees feel more accepted
and inspired such as giving words of encouragement for the teams to complete a task.
Organizing more employee group social events such as monthly team-building training will
make them realise the need for each other and enhance the teamwork spirit. For example,
during the training, there will be games to test the limits of a groups teamwork, making them
rely on each other to solve the problem given. That will also make every employee in the
group feel needed. In the end, employees should be able to use this team spirit to
encourage each others innovative ideas, listen and understand them, and provide
appropriate feedback.

Moreover, instead of individual goals, the company can focus more on team goals.
They can motivate and shape employees team behaviour using the reinforcement theory.
The most common reinforcement theory is positive reinforcement which is to provide positive
reward for a desired outcome. For example, Toyota can set monthly and annual team goals
for the employees and reward the best team with encouragements, compliments or other
incentives like salary raises or bonuses for the whole team. The company should provide
constant encouragements to the teams to make them believe and work harder to achieve
the goal together.

As the saying goes, teamwork makes the dream works. Every companys success
relies strongly on teamwork as nobody can strive on its own. Therefore, we should trust and
respect each other to achieve memorable things together, just like how Toyotas employees
do. Some risks are meant to be taken. (699 words)
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In your opinion, analyse if Toyota has succeeded because of its team-oriented culture
or it could have succeeded without it.

In my opinion, I think Toyota has succeeded because of its team-oriented culture.

Different company has a different perception on the importance of values to guide them
throughout their organisational success. Some may think efficiency, perseverance or
balance holds such significance. Nonetheless, it is no secret that Toyota Motor Corporations
core value is none other than teamwork. Their companys teamwork capabilities are close to
exemplary and are strongly admired by their many competitors. Until now, they still structure
their work around teams progressively and have followed many outstanding principles on
their path to success. What are the strategies to their success?

The Toyota Way 2001 is a set of 14 management principles that Toyota embrace in
order to reach their goals. I feel that all of these principles are play a part to make the
company a better place. Firstly, one of Toyotas team-oriented cultures is having mutual trust,
respect and understanding for each other. Without the value of respect, the whole company
could go catastrophic. Some employees might be discouraged and scared of projecting their
ideas. At Toyota, employees know the value of respect and would do anything to understand
one another. People tend to have different personalities in which what they think, feel or act
on a situation varies. In this case, communication is extremely important. While carrying on a
task, employees of a company should listen to each others suggestion or idea and give
them appropriate feedback as a sign of respect. With it, employees would be more
emotionally positive and are better at sharing knowledge, learning and responsibilities. This
mutual respect is proven to improve teamwork as well as increase innovative ideas.

Besides, the urge for continuous improvement is also another driver of team-oriented
culture success. In Japan, the term Kaizen which means continuous improvement is
commonly used. Toyota has trained its employees in such a way that there is always room
for improvement. Every team should always reflect on their work to know whether you did
something wrong or whether it can be made better. It is smarter to take time to identify the
problem by focusing on the process, not the results. Also, reflecting in a team is much safer
than you do individually as members in a team can point out the small mistakes you cannot
see when you work individually. In addition, every companys success must start with a
dream and its purpose should be made aware to all the employees. Organisational decisions
should be made according to long-term goals rather than short ones. This is because the
thought of only maximizing profit as a foundation would not get you as far as you want. After
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some time, the team might get side track or lose interest on the task. For example, Toyotas
dream is to create vehicles with quality and comfort. The company should bring in potential
teams, inspire, challenge and motivate them to carry out the task together to achieve the
goal.

Furthermore, Toyota has really good problem solving skills. Also, when they face an
obstacle, its team has made a point to go to the source to find facts before make any drastic
decisions (Genchi Genbutsu). Their teams would try to understand the situation at hand
together instead of waiting for other individuals to do it. This shows their efficiency as they
complete a task in a shorter period. Moreover, a good working environment also allows
teams to express their creativity and innovation. Teamwork generally produces better end
results as a team of people can brainstorm different and unique ideas and improvise it. The
proverb of All of us are smarter than any of us seems right for this scenario. Although some
individuals may have the potential to complete a task on their own, in the end, a collective
product is still better than the sum of individual efforts. For instance, Toyota has made a
commitment to quality and respect for the planet. Therefore, their teams have to be
constantly innovative to come up with green ideas to exceed the companys expectations
and achieve success.

Likewise, when they experience the security being part of a team, individuals are
proven more likely to take risk. According to the third level of Maslow Hierarchy of needs
which is belongingness need, everyone wants to feel a sense of belonging, to be accepted
as part of a group. When they receive support from the other team members, they would feel
more reassured to take risk and present their idea or work. As the saying goes, nothing
ventured, nothing gained. You wouldnt know something great if you dont have the guts to
try something. Its true that trusting people is also another risk as they might not be as
honest and true as you want them to be. However, what if they are the right people to
collaborate? If so, teamwork would make work more productive, enthusiastic and fun. It is a
risk worth taking.

In a nut shell, I sincerely feel that Toyota has succeeded with its team-oriented
culture. (836 words)
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Reference

1. Toyota Production System (TPS). (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2017, from
http://missiontps.blogspot.my/p/starting-point-of-tps.html

2. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2017, from http://www.management-transitions.com/article-

what-is-organizational-culture

3. Heathfield, S. M. (n.d.). 10 Tips to Improve Teamwork in Your Office. Retrieved April

24, 2017, from https://www.thebalance.com/tips-for-better-teamwork-1919225