Toyota Motor Corporation
Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) is an automobile company that produces cars, trucks, SUVs and also provides rental cars. The company was founded in 1937 with its headquarters in Toyota City in Japan with branches globally. TMC is one of the companies of Toyota Company.
This report gives the business and market sustainability of TMC, its organizational and industrial structure that has enabled it to effectively be a leading automobile company in the world. The various information systems utilized by TMC have been identified to be the Transaction Processing Systems (TPS), the Management Information systems (MIS) the Decision Support Systems (DSS), the Executive Support Systems (ESS) and finally the Supply Chain Management Systems (SCMS). These systems have provided easy management, production, financial management, knowledge dispensation, strong human resource management and interconnectivity of services in their day to day operations with the main focus of satisfying the market demand and provision of quality products. The report identifies the market strategies it has employed over the years that have been all successful. For instance, the SCMS have fruitfully utilized the Just-In-Time (JIT) and the Kanban principles.
The report identifies if and how the TMC is using E-business management facilities and their limitations. The report strongly advocates the use of some of the principles, use of the information systems and E-business facilities adopted by TMC to be used by other companies currently in existence and those planning to venture into business and entrepreneurial activities.
Industrial and organizational overview
The hierarchy of TMC is categorized into senior, middle and operational management levels.
Senior management
They serve the purpose of monitoring, controlling, decision-making, and administrative activities of middle managers. At a functional perspective, they monitor trends affecting products and sales, planning for new products and services and monitor the performance of competitors in the market. Consequently, under production and manufacturing, senior managers help plan long-term manufacturing goals, such as technology investments and locating new plants.
They also identify manpower requirements (skill, education level, types and numbers of positions, etc.) for meeting long-term business plans
Middle management
This comprises of scientists and specialists in their respective fields. They help senior management tackle and address strategic issues. They offer support market research, analyze marketing campaigns, pricing decisions, sales performance. In the production level, they analyze and monitor manufacturing and production costs and resources. They also monitor and analyze recruitment, allocation, and compensation of employees.
Operational management
This includes the production and service workers and data workers. It utilizes the operational system of management where they are support operational managers, keeping track of the elementary activities and transactions. They also locate and contact prospective customers, process orders, provide customer service support and manage status of production tasks. The operational managers also track the recruitment and placement and replacement of employees (Toyota, 2013).

Figure 1 sketch of the organizational hierarchy of TMC
Information systems
Definition
An information system can be defined technically as a set of interrelated components that collect, process, store and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization. From a business perspective, information systems are part of a series of value-adding activities for acquiring, transforming, and distributing information that managers can use to improve decision making, enhance organizational performance, and, ultimately, increase firm profitability.
Using information systems effectively requires an understanding of the organization, management, and information technology shaping the systems. An information system creates value for the firm as an organizational and management solution to challenges posted by the environment.
Under Toyota Motor Corporation, all the information systems are engulfed into one system; Total Toyota Production System (Total TPS). The individual systems include; TPS, MIS, DSS, ESS and SCMS.

Transaction Processing Systems (TPS)
They are basic business systems that serve the operational level of the organization and are mandated with providing answers to the routine questions and also tracking the flow of transactions. Moreover, TPS also monitors the status of internal operations and external environment providing the central unit to all business operations and producing a channel of flow of information to other channels.
At Toyota Motor Corporation, under operational and functional level, TPS is comprised of five fields. First, is the sales/Marketing Systems whose major purpose is carry out sales management and provide customer service. This works hand in hand with the human resource system that provides personnel records and training to the new recruits and staff. The manufacturing or production system has the roles of providing purchase order and scheduling of products. Finally, the finance or accounting system holds the general ledger and the staff’s payrolls.
Management Information Systems (MIS)
This serves as the management level of the organization which provides reports to the managers and also online access to the organization’s current performance and historical records. It also primarily serves the functions of planning, controlling, and decision-making and help in predicting future performance of the company.
The management system of Toyota Motor Corporation has been subdivided into Toyota Management system (TMS), Toyota development system (TDS), Toyota marketing and sales system (TMSS) and all these succumb to the Total Toyota Production System (Total TPS).
The schematic of the operations cycle and how their performances are interrelated is shown in the figure below.

Figure 2 shows a schematic of how TMS operates
The Toyota Management system is further categorized into the corporate management; whose major activities include Capital of senior management, Policy deployment, Organizational power, Improvement effort and Audit. Cost planning (management accounting) section is given the responsibility of Capital investment, Budget control and Purchasing. Finally, the Globalization section is responsible for analysis of the available competitive power in the market, global purchasing, Support organization, analysis and checking of the Local Company.
The Toyota development system (TDS) is categorized into; pull development whose activities are identified as Organization, product development, Pull planning, Oobeya (Big Project Room), Gyaku RE (Resident Engineer) and Quality assurance standard. Secondly, the Design to cost category is concerned with Parts commoditization, Module, Parts commoditization, Module, etc. Furthermore, the Quality into process category does the following activities in the management of TMC; Feedback sheet, Design process & process, Design check sheet. Finally, the Technical know-how provides technical support to the management in the Design standard, Technical standard and the Technical report.
Toyota marketing and sales system (TMSS) is classified into the following subsections depending on their roles and respective activities in the running of the day-to- day transactions of TMC. Firstly, Product and brand whose activities involve ensuring that TMC is a Global top, check on Competitors, investigate and advise on the Brand power, predict and advise on Customer expectation and finally receive and act on Customer claims and complains. Secondly, Product planning section Organization & meeting structure, Market needs, Evaluation of own products, Forecast demand and SE activity with development. TMSS also involves itself with the roles of Sales planning where they deal with Organization & meeting structure, Sales planning, Promotion, Sales exhibition and Price setting. Internal organization of the TMSS also deals with Sales, Service & maintenance, Dealer support and Education plan. Finally, External organization deals with Global sales ratio, Subsidiary, Organization, and Logistics (Toyota Management System (TMS), Toyota Eng. Co., 2011).
Decision Support Systems (DSS)
The decision support system serves at the management level or the organization. DSS help managers make decisions that are unique, rapidly changing, and not easily specified in advance. It uses raw information from TPS, MIS and other external sources like the competitor’s product prices and stock lists.
DSS has a business intelligence system that does the investigative work but it’s limited by lack of flexibility in analytic capability.

Supply chain management system (SCMS)
The supply chain management system is among the enterprise applications forming an automate process for multiple business functions and organizational areas whose sole role is maintenance. Others include; Customer relationship management systems, Knowledge management systems and Enterprise systems. The functions of the supply chain management system include; managing relationships with suppliers, purchasing firms, distributors, and logistics companies, manage shared information about orders, production, inventory levels, etc., move correct amount of product from source to point of consumption quickly and at lowest cost and also forms an inter-organizational system that allows automating flow of information across organizational boundaries. The mutual exchange of roles between the supply chain management system and other systems that target maintenance of the enterprise is shown the figure below.

The main benefits of the supply chain management system to the business include; Decide when and what to produce, store, and move; Rapidly communicate orders; Track the status of orders; Check inventory availability and monitor inventory levels; Reduce inventory, transportation, and warehousing costs; Track shipments; Plan production based on actual customer demand; Rapidly communicate changes in product design
At Toyota Motor Corporation, SCMS is an element of company’s operations strategy that is thoroughly based on Total Toyota production system (Total TPS). It was developed in the 1940’s by Shigeo Shingo and Taiichi Ohno. Toyota adopted JIT system which is a system that organizes the resource information flows and decision rules that enable a firm to realize its benefits. The basic elements of JIT being productive in exposing problems, pull production based in Kanban, Total Quality Management, elimination of waste, reducing inventory through involving suppliers in planning process, continuous improvement, improving machinery and focusing on co-operation. Kanban is integrated into Toyota’s production system, because they’re limited number of parts with stable demand for them. Kanban uses a card-system which uses signals transmitted in the card that relays demand and commissions the supply of stock.

Figure 3 illustration of how the supply chain management operates (Iyer Ananth et al, 2009)
An example of how the supply chain management system operates is shown if figure 2.
Toyota also has a capacity building in its supply chain management system which strives to eliminate dependence on inventory by relying on pull system to promote continuous improvement. The pull system which dictates that items only called for are required. In his report, Liker (2004) identifies Toyota’s types of non-value-adding waste in business and manufacturing; overproduction, waiting, unnecessary transport or conveyance, over-processing, excess inventory, unnecessary movement, defects and unused employee creativity. Toyota’s main aim in these is to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
E- Business Management in TMC
This is the use of digital technology and Internet to drive major business processes. TMC uses E-business to build and enhance mutual rapport with their customers to improve business efficiency. E-business has been used in inventory, supplies, sales and purchases, market analysis e.tc. TMC uses various business models which include PEST or PESTLE analysis and SWOT analysis. For SWOT analysis, the company employs marketing techniques in order to meet customer expectations in the market. However, its use has made TMC to commit a lot of resources in realizing e-marketing successful. The movement in exchange rates narrows the margin in the marketing of auto components and parts with the products targeted in the US market shifting attention to the Chinese market products.
Under PESTLE analysis, the company faces the problem of accelerated investment need for the purpose of deploying new technology for political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental reasons. The company employs unique methods to achieve the economic advantage. However, due to poor incorporation of e-business techniques, it lost its meaning in the capital markets. On the social issues, the e-business has impacted them because of third parties who use social networks as blockers, hence benefitting more than the company. The company also affects the society in the development process. This is because it recruits many employees directly and indirectly. Moreover, the company products have transformed the society at large, and this has led to the transformation in the way society lives and the formation o social classes.
The e-business has affected the internal operations of the companies in different ways. First, it has made a shift from the power of selling to the power of buying through switching the cost of suppliers (Zadry and Yusof, 2006). The buyers can detriment the power of selling; thus the need of accurate information about the costs of products. The company uses the internet to advertise the variety of products and services they offer in affordable prices. However, customers need accurate advice on the trusted products but the sellers are not in a position to provide impartial advice. This opens an opportunity for the third party; thus impacting the business. The second impact is that the internet reduces the cost of the transaction and this stimulates economic activities. Linking the sellers and the buyers through internet can pose some challenges to both buyers and sellers. Lastly, the low cost of product distribution, information accessibility and range of product distribution within a short period of time can create new business possibilities. However, the third parties can impact the business because their main aim is to act like business blockers (Crandall, Crandall and Chen, 2010). They can create virtuous information with the intention of attracting many customers. They can also gather information about the company’s marketing techniques and business tactics; thus use it for gaining a dominant market share. They can use the information of suppliers for attracting many customers. This makes the intermediaries to enjoy high profits rather than the company.
TMC faces stiff competition from companies such as Ford Motor which manufactures high innovative vehicles. Competition increases daily due to new entrants in the market from various parts across the globe including China, South Korea and Eastern Europe. The negative effect of E-business has been the creation of unemployment due to the replacement of human staff like the salespersons. It also faces incidences of insecurity through cyber insecurity from hackers which interfere with customer’s privacy (Howley, 2006).
Technologically, the company manufactures innovative products that are of high quality. This is because the company employs manufacturing technologies that cut across the age of science. It does so but the lack of coordination, development skills and intellectual capabilities across the company by electronic technologies remain unexploited.
On the environmental perspective, the company is very much aware of the environmental laws; thus they manufacture environmental friendly products. They produce vehicles which emit less gas into the environment in order to meet the safety regulations of the country and the host nations of this company.
The Toyota Motor Sales, USA closed its e-business in June 2012 and folding it into its overall business (Linda Rosencrance, 2012). It integrated the e-business unit into the corporate structure as an end of a natural progression that began in November 2009. It further moved its 24 personnel into various business units that they were supporting. At the same time, it wasn’t retreating from the e-business but simply following a plan that entailed a melding of the division into the rest of the company. These are some of the negative effects that e-business brought to the Toyota Motor Corporation.

Conclusions
Toyota Motor Corporation is currently one of the model companies in many aspects of conducting successful business practice, which includes supply chain management. The principles of Just in Time (JIT), Kanban, Lean manufacturing provides competitive edge for Toyota. Other companies willing to increase their productive efficiency need to look at these principles and implement them if not improve on them. With their successful utilization of the above principles and market strategies, TMC provides a strong competition to other automobile companies. E-business has been positively utilized by TCM in easing its daily transactions but it has had negative impacts of creating unemployment and shifts of roles for specialists.

References
Crandall, R.E., Crandall, W., & Chen, C.C., 2010, “Principles of supply chain management”, Boca Raton: CRC Press/ Taylor &Francis Group.
Howley, M, Louvieris, P and Wright, P 2006, ‘Marketing in the e-society’, Cengage learning.
Iyer, Ananth, Seshadri, Sridhar, Vasher Roy, 2009, Toyota Supply Chain Management: A strategic approach to the principles of Toyota’s Renowned System, McGraw- Hill co.
Liker, JK, 2005, The Toyota Way: 14 Management principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer, McGraw-Hill co.
Toyota Management System (TMS), Toyota Eng. Co., 2011.
Zadry, H.R. and Yusof, S.M., 2006, “Total quality management and theory of constraints implementation in Malasyian automotive suppliers: a survey result”, Total Quality Management, Vol 17, pp. 999-1020.