Overview
Toyota Motor Corporation is the largest manufacturer of automobile. It manufactures different model of automobiles which are differently branded. The Corporation is headquartered in Japan. This paper examines the current micro and macro-environment and the human resource needs on its strategy.
Current Micro-Economic Environment
Some of the Toyota Motor Corporation’s competitors are the General Motors, Honda Motor Limited and Ford MTR CO DEL. However, looking at the Corporation’s market strategies, it is clear that it enjoys competitive advantage over its major competitors; this is coupled with its enjoyment of economies of scale (Liebowitz, 2002). The company has several brands which make its products to thoroughly penetrate the market; the other competitors do not have strong branding system making them weak in terms of market penetration (Rugman, n.d). Besides, the Corporation has high rate of innovation hence able to introduce new and improved products in the market. This makes its competitive strengths to be favorably high. However, the Corporation is facing stiff competition in which the competitors seek to outdo it; with this respect, the competitors are likely to alter their pricing strategies which may directly impact on the Corporation’s products. It is important to note that some of the major competitors have large capital base and therefore able to enlarge their operations; this is also relative to the fact that Toyota Motor Corporation experiences some loss when it recalled back over 1million cars.
Current Macro-Economic Environment
There are many companies operating in the automobile industry (Shimokawa, 1994). The recent economic slowdown has had substantial effects on numerous local and multinational corporations (Carpenter, 2005). Toyota Motor Corporation was also affected and is still in the process of total recovery after slow sales of its products. The Corporation is global and hence experience changes related to currency fluctuations in the world market. This is likely to affect its profit margins. Besides, the varied geographical regions of its operations are diversified in terms of economic policies with regards to international trade. This affects the prices of it products in such regions since it has to comply with such economic policies which include trade tariffs. It is also important to note that the economy of Japan, where the Corporation is headquartered, has been experiencing growth since the 1990s economic slowdown (International Monetary Fund, 1999). This offers the company some opportunities in the domestic market; it will be able to expand its domestic market and take advantage of growing economy. Moreover, the company enjoys a good customer base and is bale to sell significant numbers of automobiles several international regions.
The Impact of Human Resource Needs on the Strategy
Toyota Company has several product brands that it supplies to the global market. With this respect, the company therefore needs to have highly knowledgeable international human resource team with sufficient knowledge of the international market. In this case, the company’s complex strategy of introducing range of brands into the market implies it must spend more on human resources. It is important to note that the company is increasingly in need of human resources able to quickly comprehend the new strategies of the company. To achieve this, the company needs to train the human resources on the nature of its new and existing strategies. This may require that it makes use of new technology in order to facilitate communications amongst the employees so as to facilitate the implementation of new strategies.
Conclusion
The Toyota Motor Corporation enjoys economies of scale and is able to take advantage of both micro and macroeconomic environmental factors that are favorable to both of its global and domestic operations (Liebowitz, 2002).
Reference List
Carpenter, S. (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being, Volume 2. New York: Island Press.
International Monetary Fund. (1999). World economic outlook: October 1999, Issue 2. New York: International Monetary Fund.
Liebowitz, S. (2002). Re-thinking the network economy: the true forces that drive the digital marketplace. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Rugman, A. (n.d). The regional multinationals: MNEs and “global” strategic management. London: Cambridge University Press.
Shimokawa, K. (1994). The Japanese automobile industry: a business history. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.