Leadership provides a means for organizations to pursue their goals. The vision determines where the team wants to be in the long-term. The Toyota lean principles are important in the day to day running of organizational activities. The fourteen principles guided the success of Toyota’s change of strategy.
The Toyota Way
The Toyota Company came up with a system that would help manage its style of business. The system was supposed to monitor any defects and provide a means by which a solution could be possible. The Toyota Production System comprised of the engineering team, the leader, and the tools and techniques they applied to propel the company to success (Liker & Convis, 2011).
The Toyota way tends to put more emphasis on people and their management of resources than it requires machines to do. Even though there are more production equipment and techniques, the system requires the people to be responsible for all the activities of the company.
The fourteen principles fall under the four broad categories. The first type is the Long-Term Philosophy (Liker & Convis, 2011). The right process is the second category that encompasses seven principles. The third step requires propagation of value to make people grow in their careers. Partners also benefit from this policy. It has three principles. The last three principles are in the fourth category that continuously solves root problems and hence drives organizational learning.
The Long-Term Philosophy
Principle 1 requires the organization to base its management decisions on a long-term philosophy even at the expense of the short-term financial goals (Liker & Convis, 2011). The Toyota philosophical mission remains the most important opinion. It is not all about money and profits. The policy requires that the organization sticks to its philosophy and mission. It is the reason Toyota was able to launch the luxurious Lexus model despite the odds. It also launched the G21 Prius model despite the challenging economic times.
Being Right
The organization should initiate and continue the process that helps to point out any challenges. The management needs to come up with concrete plans on how to achieve the desired outlook. For instance, the company’s Prius model development, under Takeshi Uchiyamada, reorganized the engineering processes. It led to immense successes in the desired steps.
The third principle requires the organization to employ the best practice to avoid misuse of materials and tools. The company was keen to produce what was necessary to the market. Customer preferences determined the kind of production and the number of cars to provide.
Principle Number 4 is the heijunka. It allows the administering of workload on an even basis. It is proper to eliminate waste and not to overburden the workers. Principle Number 5 is crucial because it builds an important culture in people. All employees should never overlook any problem. It also requires getting the quality right the first time. The company decided to use the visual systems. They are a great assistance to the managers.
Principle six supports the construction of standardized systems. It helps to propagate the needed improvement that must be constant. It is critical for the company to empower its employees. The stable and repeated methods contribute to concepts and ideas for the desired end. There is no need of having too many reports that do not add up to the success of the company. Reports can be in the summary but and on point. Suzuki summarized the research and development into less than six main categories.
There is the use of visual controls in principle number seven. The reliable and thoroughly tested technology in principle eight efficiently helped to move production to the next level of success (Liker & Convis, 2011). It is also important to know when to allow or reject certain technologies that conflict with culture.
Developing People and Partners
Any success depends on the people. Internal growth of future leaders helps to promote achievement. They grow with the company. Principle ten puts emphasis on people. The organization should invest in nurturing people to maintain the company’s philosophy. And that is why the company arrived at the choice of Suzuki and Uchiyamada. The right way to grow is to respect all partners. The management should also have a good working relationship with the suppliers.
Organizational Learning
It involves the genchi gebutsu. Leadership has a firsthand contact with the systems and the people (Chiarini, 2013). They solve problems and create successful processes. They also create decisions slowly by consensus. The nemawashi principle creates means of ensuring that the management works on the decisions passed. Everyone should play their part in making the organization successful. Lastly, Principle fourteen makes an organization a learning entity. It establishes a situation where there are relentless reflections and continuous improvement.
Strategies for Business Development in Ottawa Area
Research and Market Viability
Ottawa is a business flourishing city with many national and international companies. The government has allowed business development through structured policies (Chiarini, 2013). The legal industry is one that has not had many actors because of the challenges of the legal system. The market research proved that legal services would be helpful in serving the people of Ottawa.
The Lean Principles
I am a legal practitioner and by getting qualified legal experts in the company, I will have what is necessary to start the business. I can offer the customers the much awaited long-term services. I have discovered that most of the law firms did not match to this standard. Most of them have closed down for lack of enough expertise. Others had to leave because of technical problems. My company would adhere to the long-term philosophy. I also believe that success involves steps that are constant.
The right results also come from the right processes. Any question that arises would attract the needed attention and detailed solutions. It would also be our mandate to foresee these challenges and tackle some of them before they even arise.
The Distinguishing Characteristics
The company will have six branches in the city with eloquent legal expertise at the helm. There would be employee training every four months. All staff will have competitive income packages and employed for the long-term (Chiarini, 2013). Whenever a position arises, the current employees would have an upper hand for promotion. Every company in the town would have our desk for the first time free advisory inquiries.
The Selling Pitch to the Market
Honesty shall be the company’s core value. Our customer service would provide the best link between the business and the customers. The company would ensure that all complaints and pending services are quickly sorted out on time (Liker & Convis, 2011).
The Company’s Slogan
The slogan for the company would be ‘Tomorrow’s Solutions….. Today!’ It means that people want good services today (Chiarini, 2013). They also need better legal expertise today. There is a need to make sure that the best that is ever required by the customers is supposed to be on time. Everything that should happen that is good needs to happen on time.
Conclusion
Lean leadership is what the market needs. The management principles represent successful attempts for delinking failure from the future. Business establishment requires careful planning and different execution of service delivery.
References
Chiarini, A. (2013). Lean organization. Milan, Italy: Springer.
Liker, J. & Convis, G. (2011). The Toyota way to lean leadership. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.