Honda Innovation and Change Essay Example

Honda is a Japanese multinational public corporation that focuses on manufacturing and assembling automobiles, aircraft, motorcycle, and other power equipment ("About Us: Honda Services & Quality Cars | Honda", 2018). It was founded in 1946 by Soichiro Honda and Takeo Fujisawa, and it is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Since 1959, Honda has been the leading manufacturer in the industry. Nevertheless, following the increased internationalization of companies, Honda faced stiff competition from other players in the industry such as Toyota, Nissan, Chevrolet, Mitsubishi, and Hyundai among others ("How Honda lost its mojo - and the mission to get it back", 2018). The core factor making Honda vulnerable to the increased competitive forces is the lack of innovative strategies.

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The primary organizational factors that hinder innovation at Honda include the ineffective management style and the organizational culture. The management element is a significant factor in driving innovation in any particular organization (Amis, 2017). Over the years, Honda has been losing the lead as the most innovative organization in the industry due to the ineffective management style. The corporation invests less in research and development hence ending up developing less innovative products (Stottler, 2018). Today, consumers tend to consume new products in the market that are modified to suit the changing preferences in the market. In this case, Honda needs to change the management and encompass leaders that case invests more in research and development to enhance the quality of the products (Soble, 2018). Due to globalization, Honda needs to adapt to the various management styles that exist in the different countries it operates.

Also, Honda's organization culture does not strive to promote innovation and change. It is exhibited by the fact that there is an increase in employee turnover that often disrupts the organizational activities (Coggio, 2013). Honda needs to enhance employee motivation by providing rewards and benefits and further empower them to participate in developing innovative ideas. Also, Honda needs to modify the rules that were set by the core founders and incorporate new rules that help to adapt to the changing demands and trends in the market. This may entail focusing more on developing innovative strategies.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Honda needs to focus more on adopting strategies that aim at enhancing innovation in the Corporation. Furthermore, as competition is increasing; lack of innovation increases the vulnerability of Honda which can lead to an exit in the industry (Euchner, 2013).

References

About Us: Honda Services & Quality Cars | Honda. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.honda.com/about

Amis, J. (2017). Understanding Organization Change and Innovation: A Conversation with Mike Tushman. Journal Of Change Management, 18(1), 23-34. doi: 10.1080/14697017.2017.1378697

Coggio, G. (2013). Navigating Change during Innovation Diffusion: The Role of Management, Culture, and Communication in Technology Adoption. Change Management: An International Journal, 12(4), 19-29. doi: 10.18848/2327-798x/cgp/v12i04/59248

Euchner, J. (2013). Innovation is Change Management. Research-Technology Management, 56(4), 10-11. doi: 10.5437/08956308x5604002

Evans, C., & Glover, J. (2012). Diversity Management Change Projects: In Need of Alternative Conceptual Approaches?. Journal Of Technology Management & Innovation, 7(3), 12-21. doi: 10.4067/s0718-27242012000300002

Honda Innovation. (2018). Retrieved from http://ke.honda/en/about/Innovation.html

Honda Sustainability Report. (2018). Retrieved from https://world.honda.com/sustainability/report/pdf/2015/Honda-SR-2015-en-all.pdf

How Honda lost its mojo - and the mission to get it back. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/honda-innovation/

Innovation in the automobile industry: A new era. (2018). Retrieved from https://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/archive/ci/30/i11/html/11howell.html

Nemeth, C. (2018). Managing Innovation: When Less Is More. Retrieved from http://www.innovationresource.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/16-Nemeth-When-Less-is-More.pdf

Soble, J. (2018). Honda, Grappling With Quality Problems, Will Replace Its President. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/24/business/international/honda-replace-president-chief-executive-takanobu-ito.html

Stottler, W. (2018). Improving Service Quality at Honda. Retrieved from http://www.kepner-tregoe.com/PDFs/Articles/QPBlendedLearning.cfm?id=3