Introduction
The current crisis of Toyota motors which was until 2009 the leading brand in the world of automotive business has been an imperative lesson for other brands in the market within the automotive industry and outside the industry. The failures of one of the brand leaders in the market have created many questions and possibly fewer answers to the questions. To achieve the status that Toyota had achieved takes years of scarifies and innovativeness. Toyota was clearly on top of the game just before the deficiencies of its best-selling brands Prius hybrid halted its successful journey. It is conspired that the defects of Toyota were known to the management of the company who let the defects transpire and substantially affect its image and its position as the brand leader in the industry (Buchanan 56)
The main role that human resource management (HRM) plays is hiring or staffing the organisation (Orwell 107). Specification and description of jobs are the paramount tools in the staffing process. In any organization, some event (e.g. firing of employee) or someone (e.g. manager) in an organization will determine the need for an employee to be hired. In a large organization, there are steps that are followed to provide means in which an employee can be employed. Such organizations use employee requisition, which is usually submitted to HRM in that it specifies the department in which the new employee is required, job title and the date that the employee is needed. From this information, job description is developed and then it is advertised. The candidates’ resumes who respond to the advertisement are screened by the HRM and then call for those with appropriate paper qualifications for interview. Moreover, when the HRM selects the appropriate candidate, the candidate is aligned to the requirements of the position ensuring that the job description and current job analyses reflect the current position.
Achieving strategic and sustainable competitive advantage
In the business world, the strategic position and competitive advantage of a business is the key to achieving success. Sacrificing this position for ignorance and foreseeable mistake is an expensive aspect for the business to embrace. The obvious sacrifice of brand leadership by Toyota which led to a recall of the defective vehicles after the fatal accident in LA freeway last year could prove to be an expensive mistake to the sensitive market. Toyota had clearly achieved a strategic position as the world leading brand leader which was not worth being sacrificed by the failures to address a minor defective issue. The sustainability of the competitive advantage in this case was a great jeopardy despite the efforts that have been made by the company to win back the trust of the consumers. The entire industry should therefore take hard lessons from Toyota on the importance of addressing issues before they transpire. It is speculated that Toyota knew the defect as early as 2004, their failure to address the acceleration issues has now proved to be the turning point of the company’s strategies. There is a paramount need to address the issues that may cost the trust of the consumer. It can be very hard to build confidence and trust of consumers but it can take an hour to lose the same consumer who has been trusted for years.
Characteristics of Generation X and Generation Y
In his book (Buchannan,1974) describes a generation as a certain group that shares the years of birth and major life events during early stages while growing up. Such events could include the onset of technology. It is this significant experience that distinguishes one generation from the other. People are also influenced by the generation they belong to and the associated trends followed by others belonging to it.
Generation X is normally referred to the generation of the baby bust. This period was around 1967 to 1979 and was characterized by events such as energy crisis and the rise of feminism in the society. It is also during this period that the firs computer was invented. During this period not many babies were born due to the empowerment of women s they now felt more educated and liberal. Ladies or female responsibility was redefined as they started engaging themselves in roles that at the time was accustomed to men (Howe 45). Due to liberalization of women, the number of births was fewer than other generations simply because the ladies practiced active family planning. Babies born into this generation were considered to have had a better quality of life than other preceding generations. During this time human rights were upheld and thus meant that it was easier for one to acquire basic services such as education, and social services. The number of workers within this generation is many as at the time of finishing school, people belonging to this generation are believed to have better job opportunities than any other generation. Individuals belonging to this generation are thought out as people who posses skills and knowledge that are required in the work environment. They are the most dynamic and can accommodate views from nearly everyone. The belief that runs amongst them is that we should dwell in what brings us together rather than what tears us apart.
Generation Y: This generation consists of off springs belonging to generation X. Person categorized as generation Y is characterized by birth years, between 1980 and 1995. This generation is seen as enjoying the fruits of technology that was present in the form of the internet revolution, Cable television, mobile telephony and compact disks. The distinctive moments for this group are defined by an upsurge of school violence, i.e. the shooting in high schools, scandals that touched on the lives of celebrities. This period is also characterized by a rise in freedom as the internet grew at the fastest rate at this time. People in this group have witnessed the impacts of terrorist actions and subsequent wars that followed. They have also seen the negative impacts brought forth by restructuring efforts and the dot com bubble. This generation is eager to face challenges more than any other generations and this has been manifested through the rise in entrepreneurship and technological solutions to common societal problems example, social networking sites etc.
Toyota Analysis of Targeted Market
Markets are large and organisation usually cannot fulfil requirements, wants and needs of all their customers. For example, if an organisation decides to market their products to the entire market, it may result in massive drain in the company resources and may translate in affecting the entire company. Thus, the creation of market segments is important in that it ensures that specific portions or sectors are determined and will result in concentration of resource. A market segment as an organisation, group or individuals who share one or more features/characteristics that results in them requiring similar products and services while the targeted market is the specific market segment that a service or product is marketed to.
Two segmentation strategies will be used. The first strategy is through demographic segmentation while the other is geographic segmentation. These two segments are discussed as follows:
Demographic Segmentation
Fletcher & Brown (2008) state that demographic segment contains features such as gender, education, age and occupation. In this case, Toyota is marketed specifically to women between the ages of 15 and 29 years, and should be in the middle class. Cars is an important integral for women and within this age bracket, most youth can afford the cars or may be assisted by their parents. Thus, it is an appropriate market that ensures that the organisation will succeed in accomplishment of its requirements
Toyota Scion
Branding is a major factor in the car industry. Well known and appreciated brands have advantages in that it contributes towards the success of the organization. Thus, Toyota appreciated the importance of brand and should develop the brand to be appreciated by the customers. The management should ensure that the product lies within a specific brand name but introduce other products into the ‘family’ brand (Adams 98).
Conclusion
Marketing strategy is an important factor that defines and helps in ensuring that the business is successful. These segments come with unique requirements that have been illustrated by the augmented product provisions. The market coverage strategy that will be used is differentiated since few products will be offered to different segments. This approach will ensure that major segments of the market are addressed while providing means to develop the appropriate competitive advantage strategy. The competitive advantage features that will be incorporated are differentiated focus and cost focus. Such focus will ensure that lower cost and quality products will be offered to the customers, which will likely improve on loyalty. The actual product that will be offered will be that of foods with numerous varieties resulting in a specific brand name. The brand name provides means of recognition of the car product and its image may be retained by the consumers.
Advertising is an important aspect that ensures that any organization can present their products to appropriate target markets. Thus, industry background helps to understand the requirements of the marketing program and illustrates the capabilities and strengths that can be used by Toyota are accomplishing this crucial task (Huntley 78). Due to competition, appropriate strategies and well-defined objectives should be in place to ensure that all complications are addressed at hand. Thus, Toyota portfolio indicates that internal resources can easily accommodate the requirements of marketing degree but negated by salience nature that the institution utilizes. However, the entire market is segmented into three groups that will be addressed different through objective formulation and strategies that will be used. The strategies that will be used will ensure that the awareness rate increases by 100% while application will increase by 15%. Moreover, there is an indicative time frame that the campaign will be carried out accompanied by appropriate estimates of the campaign. Nevertheless, there is also an illustration of a TV storyboard that will be used in developing the media component.
References
Adams, Sam. Gen X: how understanding this population leads to better safety programs. London: Oxford Publishers, (2004).
Buchanan, Brian. Building organizational commitment: The socialization of managers in work organizations. New York: Administrative Science Quarterly, (1974).
Howe, Nelson. Millennial Rising: The Next Great Generation. New York: Vintage Books, (2000).
Huntley, Roy. The World according to Y: Inside the New Adult Generation. Sydney: Allen & Unwin, (2006).
Orwell, John. Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior., New York: Addison-Wesley, (1999).