Answer all 4 questions Total 8 Marks Toyota: an elegant search for innovative ideas Many hold Toyota in high regard for its culture that stresses the importance of innovation. Sakichi Toyoda founded the company sa handloom company in the last decade of the nineteenth century. In 1898, Toyoda creatod Japan's first steampowered loom and in 1924 the company invented an automatic loom. Four years later it developed a small petrol engine and in 1935 the company produced a prototype car. In 1937 Toyoda family founded the Toyota Motor Company and having set up a factory adopted the concept of Justin Time logistics in 1938 The Toyota family have been continuously driven to cut costs by scrutinising the production, operational and logistical costs of the processes that supported the company. From its earliest days Toyota Motor Company has invested heavily in R&D to support innovation and now claims to implement a million new ideas every year. According to Matthew May, a senior University of Toyota advisor, and the author of Elegant Solution: Toyota's Formula for Mastering Innovation (2007), this success results from an embedded culture of guiding principles and practice There are three guiding principles a Toyota, and they create both the policy and the framework for Innovation: 1. Ingenuity-a creative innovative mindset. 2. Pursuit of perfection - determination to innovate to achieve optimal solutions, for example Lexus cars epitomise perfection 3. Rhythm of fit - application of solutions to anticipated contextual and use problems, for example, the development of hybrid technology Question Completion State Toyota operates a model known as the idea Factory that is energised by the three guiding principles and a blend of doned and open innovation practice Production activity is rigidly controlled by the company's Total Production System to meet its goal of producing the highest quality level, at the lowest cost and with the shortest lead-time. Since 1951 Toyota has operated its Creative Idea and Suggestion System (TCS) empower every employee to participate in improving product quality by inviting them to make informed suggestions on ways to improve the production process. Previously it had only boon the privilege of upper management to make suggestions in that respect but was now opened up to include employees at the sharp end of production arguably the ones most kely to highlight polaris. Additional motivation was Incorporated into the system with the presentation of an Individual Annual Award to honour excellent suggestions Training programmes were developed to sharpen employees' skills at generating product ideas and key performance drivers such as quality productivity and safety. These programmes came to be known as activators, as they were developed to give employees a deeper understanding of their work. Key Toyota activators include: Poka-yoke or error proofing: this is a simple technique that is designed to help employees to avoid making repetitive mistakes it is an empowering and easy to learn mettiod that helps people generate many ideas 5S or rigorous housekeeping: these programmes help employees to become more productive. The five S's are seri (putting things in order): selton (arranging things efficiently); seiso (preventing problems by exercising due diligence), selketsu (doing after-work maintenance and cleanup); shitsuke (showing discipline, following the rules). . . Chou and Submit on and click Save As. MacBook Air Question completion Status The culture that supports continuous innovation at Toyota results from an impressive application of the Jupanese principle of Kaizen. The company has empowered employees to encourage the free flow of creativity by systematically removing hierarchical barriers that often the innovation. For years Toyota has taken soundings of consumer experiences and this activity is growing rapidly since the advent of the dicha revolution and the explosion of interest in social media, Innovation leads to evolution and this belief is behind Toyota's desire for customers and interested third parties to contribute ideas by means of crowdsourcing to improve and develop their products, service, and environmental research Questions: 1. What is an innovation culture 7 (1 Marks) 2. If you were the CEO of Toyota, explain how will you create a culture of innovation in the company? (2 Marks) Why has Toyota been so sucessful in generating ideas over the years? (2 Marks) 4. How might other companies learn from Toyota success? (3 Marks) For the toolbar, press ALT F10 (PC) or ALT-FNF10 Mac. HE 2T X Aria BIUS Paragraph 10pt Click Save and Submit to save and submit. Click Save All Antowane MacBook Air