Paper Example on Toyota's Efficiency: Minimizing Slack Resources & Wastage

Introduction

Toyota's structure encourages the Toyota Production System (TPS), which creates little room for slack resources (Carpenter, Berrin & Bauer, 2015). It also emphasizes on the importance of efficiency from the employees' part. An organization is only as strong as its weakest link, and when every employee dedicates themselves to providing maximum effort, the production line becomes solid with very little room for imperfections. The company has also mastered the art of minimized wastage of resources. Wasted resources can contribute extra costs to a company's overall business. Reduced wastage leads to cost savings as well as keeping the working environment tidy hence increasing productivity.

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As for the cons, the company uses a rigid organizational structure that creates the risk of slow reaction to threats. The corporate culture and hierarchy of seniority don't leave much room for delegation of authority (Carpenter, Berrin & Bauer, 2015). The structure of the organization may discourage an employee from relaying lousy news up the command chain. The organizational structure creates one-way flow information, back to Japan, where decisions are made.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of decentralization?

Decentralization allows for flexibility and lower levels of formalization hence producing higher levels of employee satisfaction, as compared to the centralized business structure (Carpenter, Berrin & Bauer, 2015). The employee satisfaction originates from the individual autonomy and self-determination among the workforce. Also, the decentralized structure gives the employees room to be creative, which spurs innovation within the organization. The arrangements are simply suitable for entrepreneurial behavior. Decentralized organizations have reduced level bureaucracy, which in turn speeds up the process of getting things done, or reacting to specific events. Their innovativeness and ability to take quick action makes decentralized organizations friendly to change that may be introduced into the company's operations.

On the downside, decentralization fails to maximize the productivity of the organization or workforce in a stable environment. It also not suitable for a company that is looking at cutting down production costs and increase efficiency. Companies such as Toyota can have high efficiency because of their centralized structure. Also, the employees' job descriptions are broad and ambiguous, which creates room for wastage of resources.

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of being employed by a boundaryless organization?

Being employed in a boundaryless organization can be advantageous for increasing the efficiency and quality of the work performed. Boundaryless organizations only retain strategic and value-generating functions in house and outsource the rest of the tasks to suppliers who have more experience in the area (Carpenter, Berrin & Bauer, 2015). The result is that employees will be asked to perform activities that are within their field of specialty hence increasing individual efficiency and job satisfaction. The partnership may be beneficial for learning new things from the other company. As an employee working in a self-managing team, one has the liberty of changing their role to suit the situation and demand rather than being confined to a single function that may not suit the employee at that instant.

On the downside, boundaryless organizations create room for ambiguity by removing management and physical barriers. It can make it challenging to accomplish team works because there are no clearly defined roles for the team members. It can reduce accountability. For a person, in a managerial possession, it can be hard to fulfill one's administrative obligations when there are no established managerial boundaries.

Can you think of an organizational or personal change that you had to go through? Have you encountered any resistance to this change? What were the reasons?

I had encountered personal change when I had to transfer from one school to another. It was one of the hardest decisions at the time. I met a lot of resistance at the time because I felt like I was the most affected by the change, yet I wasn't consulted in the decision. There was also the element of fear associated with the unknown. I was going to a new school in a new environment. It was a place I had never been to before, and I didn't know if I would fit in. I was also reluctant to abandon the safety of familiarity, such as friends.

What are the benefits of employee participation in change management?

Employee participation in change management is essential because it helps those in charge to identify the probable areas of resistance. The team in-charge of initiating the change will know-how where the most resistance is going to come from and plan accordingly. It also helps them quantify the amount of resistance that they are likely to encounter and plan for it. However, the most crucial part is that it psychologically prepares the employees for the upcoming changes, rather than catch them off-guard. Psychological preparation can be beneficial in reducing the amount of resistance.

What do you think are some key reasons why people resist change?

I think the leading cause of resistance at an organizational or personal level is fear. In the case of an organization, people generally want to be assured of job security more than any other thing. Some fear that they might lose their job because of the changes. Others have the fear that they might not thrive or succeed within the new system (Carpenter, Berrin & Bauer, 2015). Fear comes from a lack of knowledge of something. People would generally resist what they don't know, or they think they don't know, and that creates resistance.

References

Carpenter, M., Berrin, E., & Bauer, T. (2015). Title of chapter. In E. Peterson (Ed.), Principles of management (pp. 329-369). Creative Commons.