Ans 1: Toyota’s problems are symptomatic of a much larger problem we’d like to call “big

companyitis.” Big companyitis is caused by:

 Poor internal communication

 A culture that stifles individualism
 Employees and managers who aren’t held accountable

Obviously, big companyitis can be traced back to poor management. However, while the mass
media focuses on items that happened in last 2 weeks, we’d like to point to some items that
happened in the last 3 years to prove our point:

1. Tundra Bed Bounce

2. 2. Tundra Frame Rust
3. 3. Toyota’s Floor Mat Recall
4. 4. Toyota’s Near Week-long Silence During “Pedal Gate”

Hence, Toyota was definitely suffering from big companyitis. The cure is a major over-hall of
management, a new commitment to the values of Toyota’s kaizen, and a big apology to
Toyota consumers everywhere. Hopefully, Toyota USA will be restructured, many senior and
mid-level managers will be asked to leave, and Toyota will re-invest in making great
products.

Ans 2 :

Akio toyoda adopted a philosophy to speed up business processes, improve quality, and cut
costs in any industry In factories around the world and resume Toyota’s consistency in
making the highest-quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer, while
using fewer man-hours, less on-hand inventory, and half the floor space of its competitors.

Toyota’s principles, managers in every industry how to improve business processes by:
Eliminating wasted time and resources Building quality into workplace systems Finding low-
cost but reliable alternatives to expensive new technology Producing in small quantities
Turning every employee into a qualitycontrol inspector.

Toyota’s kaizen philosophy promotes constant improvement and the goal of total efficiency.
For example, Toyota attempts to avoid holding excess inventory, which takes up space and
can be lost. Instead, Toyota plants order exactly as much inventory as they need, and they
time their orders so that products arrive exactly when the plants need them. Kaizen not only
informs the big picture inventory decisions in car factories - it also charges employees with
always keeping their eyes open for ways to improve quality. In fact, if a Toyota worker
predicts that a certain problem is about to arise, the worker is actually encouraged to cease his
or her work and focus on preventing the problem.

Ans 3 : The challenges faced by Akio Toyoda in achieving his objectives are :

Most of the company's history has been a march of progress. But now, Toyota is slashing
production, cutting jobs and reeling from tumbling sales amid a global financial crisis ;

The company says it will post an operating loss for the fiscal year ending March 31.
North America accounts for a third of Toyota's worldwide revenue , U.S. sales fell 15.4
percent to 2,217,660 vehicles last year;
 The world's largest carmaker announced separately that global sales dropped 4 percent to
8.972 million units in 2008. It marks Toyota's first sales decline in 10 years.

Ans 4:

Toyota needs a credible leader with a strong, cohesive plan. Mr. Toyoda is anything but. His
uninspired words of optimism from Davos only unnerved customers and U.S. regulators. Meanwhile,
Ford and GM are working hard to regain the market share they lost at Toyota's expense.

How can Akio Toyoda get Toyota back on track? I offer recommendations :

1: Face reality, starting with yourself. Toyota should acknowledge that its vaunted quality system
failed. CEO Toyoda should take personal responsibility by saying that he pushed too hard for growth
and neglected quality. By admitting his errors, he gives every Toyota employee permission to
acknowledge mistakes and to get on with correcting them, instead of denying reality.

2: Don't be Atlas; get the world off your shoulders. Toyoda cannot expect to solve problems of this
magnitude himself. Instead, he needs a crisis team reporting directly to him, working 24/7 to get
problems fixed—permanently. He should add the world's top quality experts to his fix-it team and
listen carefully to their advice.

3: Dig deep for the root cause. When Toyota's problems first surfaced, the company blamed a
symptom—loose floor mats—and exonerated the accelerators. Instead, management should have
required its best engineers to get to the root cause of this problem and every other quality problem
being reported. This is basic engineering and quality discipline.

4: Get ready for the long haul. These problems won't just fade away. In fact, they are likely to get
worse before getting better. Toyota must invest heavily in corrective actions while its sales shrink and
profits implode, requiring major cash resources until its reputation can be restored.

5: Never waste a good crisis. For all the pain Toyota is experiencing, this crisis provides a unique
opportunity to make fundamental changes required to restore Toyota quality. Employees are ready for
new direction, and they are willing to make radical changes to renew the company. With Toyoda's
leadership, Toyota automobiles can be restored to the world's highest quality.

6: You're in the spotlight: Akio Toyoda can't send out public relations specialists or his American
executives to explain what happened. Having lost sight of his company's True North—its values and
principles—Toyoda must come out of hiding, take personal responsibility, and subject himself to
intense questioning by regulators and the media. Then he should make a personal commitment to
every Toyota customer to repair the damage, including buying back defective cars.

7: Go on offense; focus on winning now. Coming out of this crisis, the market will never look the
same. GM and Ford are rapidly regaining market share, while the confidence of Toyota's loyal
customers is badly shaken. Toyota cannot wait until all its quality problems are resolved. It must play
defense and offense simultaneously. To win, Toyota has to offer advanced features and superior
quality, better value for consumers, greater safety, and improved fuel efficiency.

This is a challenging menu, and this crisis is the true test of Akio Toyoda's leadership. Is Toyota up to
these challenges? I believe this is a great company that will resurrect its reputation and restore its
leadership.