Corporate Communication

Toyota Case Study

Question number 1:
Read the Toyota case study and answer the following question:
Consider the vision articulated by Toyota and its alignment with the company’s image among external stakeholders and the company’s internal culture. Is there sufficient alignment between vision, culture and image? What gaps emerged and how can Toyota address these gaps?

When examining the values of a company, one must take into account the different metrics which make up the way that a company is perceived. Vision, Image, and Culture of a company must be aligned in order for a company to achieve an optimal result. When there is a gap in the cohesiveness of these aspects, a company will experience setbacks or …show more content…

The notions mentioned above may have affected each other in a climate of change based on rapid expansion. That is what happened to Toyota. The company expanded rapidly in the late 90's and the 2000's, and the result was a gap between Vision and Image. From what we have seen in the advertisements posted in YouTube there isn't a gap between vision and culture because the employees seem working in a safe environment where the culture of lean production, andon cord and kaisen are respected by everybody. But it's necessary to consider that those videos were made by Toyota, so we can't be sure that inside the factory everything is really working in this way. Based on the fact that Toyota had to face so many problems, must have been a gap at that time of the crisis. They claimed to build the best cars in the market but there was a low quality level and they were not able to ensure the safety of their cars.
Regarding the gap between Image and Culture it is necessary to specify some considerations. Before the crisis stakeholders were satisfied about the quality-price relation, safety and environmental commitment of Toyota. After all the before mentioned problems appeared, stakeholders lost their trustworthy and the reputation was damaged. When Toyota started its F1 experience, it was able to invite stakeholders such as dealers, suppliers and sales personnel to the events, to watch the