Scenario Toyota is one of the world’s best-known and most successful businesses, building cars and trucks in 26 countries for sale in more than 160 markets around the globe. Worldwide production was 10.12 million (8.89 million for Toyota and Lexus brand vehicles) in 2013, making Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) the world’s largest vehicle manufacturer in terms of product volume. The level of UK production has made Toyota a key player in the nation’s manufacturing industry. Toyota’s high-profile presence in Europe, as a designer, manufacturer and retailer of vehicles, is reflected in its strategic network of operations. Toyota’s European head office is in Brussels, home to key activities for Toyota and Lexus across the Continent, covering the European Union and beyond. These include overseeing all manufacturing and engineering operations, marketing, sales, network development and brand management, public relations, strategic and product planning, logistics, customer services, after-sales and human resources/business administration issues. Much of Toyota’s worldwide success has been achieved through its forward-looking approach and its determination to explore new concepts, design, technology and improved safety measures. Innovation has been sought not just for the sake of science, but in order to deliver increased safety and performance and environmental benefits in Toyota’s mainstream product range. In a bid to resolve Toyota’s quality issues, the company has announced the launch of a gifted and talent program which has links with a local university to train staff in quality management processes. The company is offering sponsorship and grants to employees that can demonstrate an initiative for innovation and creativity. Candidates wishing to win a spot on this program have been asked to take part in an essay writing competition to determine their eligibility. The essay would test candidates on four key areas which illustrated below. Task 1 (Essay) To convince management you are a suitable candidate for this program you are required to show an understanding of quality management in the context of products and service. a) Discuss definitions of quality in terms of business and services provision (AC 1.1) b) Explain and illustrate earlier processes of inspection and assurance (AC1.2) c) Discuss a range of quality management approaches Organisations like Toyota can adopt, clearly highlighting the similarities and differences between the different methods. (AC1.3) (AC1.4) To achieve M1, Learner has used effective judgment to identify and state the similarities and differences between different approaches to quality management or identify a range of methods to measure quality management a) Task 2 Using Toyota as your organisation of choice comment on the benefits of quality management in a business and service context. Elaborate on your work to show clear understanding and when necessary give examples related to Toyota or similar companies to clarify your point of view. a) Discuss what is meant by customer satisfaction in the context of Toyota (AC2.1) b) Explain the meaning of continuous improvement with reference to Toyota (AC2.2) c) Illustrate the type of added values and benefits Toyota would gain from implementing effective quality management (AC2.3) d) Describe importance Toyota gives to effective marketing and the types of information made available to customers by Toyota.(AC2.4) To achieve M2, learner has used a range of sources to illustrate the benefits of customer service, continuous improvement and customer information to improve customer service quality. Task 3 Imagine you have been allocated to work with the customer service team to improve customer satisfaction. The team recently conducted a survey, whose results clearly showed that customer had declined. Propose how will you improve customer service by addressing the following questions: a) Explain how quality management can be measured by Toyota (AC3.1) b) Evaluate the benefits of user and non-user surveys in determining Toyota’s customer needs (AC3.2) c) List the methods of consultation employed by Toyota in one quality scheme to encourage participation by under- represented groups (AC3.3) d) Identify the value of complaints procedures and analyse how they may be used to improve quality at Toyota. (AC3.4) To achieve M2, demonstrate the use of a range of sources to illustrate the benefits complaints procedures to improve customer service quality To achieve D1, used synthesis to generate ideas to evaluate the benefits of user and no-user surveys in determining customer needs However the reputation of the organisation has been threatened by customer complaints and product recall due to safety issues some of the models affected include the Corolla, RaV4, Yaris, Tacoma and the Urban Cruiser. Since 2012 the company has recalled around 20million vehicles and sold 18.7m. Toyota was fined $1.2bn (£720m) by US regulators over an investigation into misleading statements the company had made about safety problems with cars. In Toyota’s defence the company admitted the faults were caused by over-hasty expansion. Never the less each announcement and press put another dent in the recovery and effort put in place by the company to re-establish the confidence of customers of their standards for design and product quality.