Operrations Improvement Plan John Megas U6A1 final
Operations Improvement Plan
John Megas
Sunday, April 03, 2015
MBA- 6022 – Strategic Operations Management
Capella University
Executive Summary Toyota is one of the largest makers of automobiles with 7.4 million vehicles sold each year on five different continents. It has the unique advantage of being the best Japanese brand sold in the United States and to be number one in Europe (Taylor, 2010). On September 29, 2009, Toyota recalled 3.8 million U.S. vehicles, and on January 16, 2010, another 2.3 million more were recalled for what was determined years after the initial complaint of a “stuck accelerator pedals.” (Greto, 2010) After Toyota’s executives were called to congress and forced to stop selling their cars, the U.S. fined Toyota with a 16.4 million dollar civil penalty. In addition, Toyota Motor Corp., in December 2012, agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from complaints of unintended acceleration in its vehicles that soured its reputation for quality and undermined its sales globally. (Ramsey, 2012) Three processes were identified within Toyota that will benefit from improvement: 1) Leadership, 2) Quality Management, and 3) Communication.
Communication was selected as the process for improvement. Project Management Institute (2013) reports that Business research from Forbes, Price Waterhouse Coopers LLC and Towers Watson proves that companies are aware of the positive impact that effective communications have on projects, programs, and portfolios. The report states that without an effective communication plan, the potential effects are negative.
The purpose of this paper is to create an improved communication plan for Toyota by reviewing the current communication strategy and identifying the areas of opportunity. Developing an effective strategy will allow Toyota the ability to execute an Operations Improvement Plan (OIP) project. The Operations Improvement Plan will highlight a description of
John Megas
Sunday, April 03, 2015
MBA- 6022 – Strategic Operations Management
Capella University
Executive Summary Toyota is one of the largest makers of automobiles with 7.4 million vehicles sold each year on five different continents. It has the unique advantage of being the best Japanese brand sold in the United States and to be number one in Europe (Taylor, 2010). On September 29, 2009, Toyota recalled 3.8 million U.S. vehicles, and on January 16, 2010, another 2.3 million more were recalled for what was determined years after the initial complaint of a “stuck accelerator pedals.” (Greto, 2010) After Toyota’s executives were called to congress and forced to stop selling their cars, the U.S. fined Toyota with a 16.4 million dollar civil penalty. In addition, Toyota Motor Corp., in December 2012, agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit stemming from complaints of unintended acceleration in its vehicles that soured its reputation for quality and undermined its sales globally. (Ramsey, 2012) Three processes were identified within Toyota that will benefit from improvement: 1) Leadership, 2) Quality Management, and 3) Communication.
Communication was selected as the process for improvement. Project Management Institute (2013) reports that Business research from Forbes, Price Waterhouse Coopers LLC and Towers Watson proves that companies are aware of the positive impact that effective communications have on projects, programs, and portfolios. The report states that without an effective communication plan, the potential effects are negative.
The purpose of this paper is to create an improved communication plan for Toyota by reviewing the current communication strategy and identifying the areas of opportunity. Developing an effective strategy will allow Toyota the ability to execute an Operations Improvement Plan (OIP) project. The Operations Improvement Plan will highlight a description of
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