Custom «Ford and Toyota» Essay Paper Sample

Abstract

Ford is one of the dominant automotive manufacturing companies in the United States. Ford was established by Henry Ford in 1903 in Michigan and has recorded revenues as high as US$165 billion as of 2010.Toyota is an automotive manufacturing company started in 1937 by Kiichiro Toyoda. Toyota's headquarters are situated at Toyota, Aichi, Japan. These two firms have managed to pull through various huddles distinct to their respective countries in order to stay afloat and relevant to their customer base.

Body

Japan has experienced a one party rule since around the end of World War II and this political setup instills the bureaucratic aspect in the country. On the other hand, the United States of America is a democratic country with a favorable and free market field. Toyota has managed to survive through this through endowing employees with incites which has led to the growth of this firm (Daft, 2007). The ford's managerial tactics are market driven, characteristic of a free market economy.

The social concept in the US is complex mainly due to its multicultural population and even the population demographics posing a challenge in the ability of Ford to come up with acceptable automotive models in the country. Ford has tried to counter this through statistical research and embracing technology especially the use of the web as a form of interaction with its customers. The Japanese society is built on the basis of family and religion. Leadership is greatly influenced or under the control of elderly statesmen in the country. Toyota tries uphold the natives morals and their passion for art and this is interpreted in their designs. Management decisions made by Toyota are such a way that both the customer and the employees benefit with minimal conflicts of opinions (Liker, 2004).

Japanese ethics are distinct in that they prefer to negotiate and settle rather than establishing complex lawsuits. This is especially risky for Toyota who will seek legal assistance when establishing ties with other countries (Liker, 2004). In the US the ethics are largely unique, characterized by individualism and communication is seen as relatively explicit and may be viewed by some people as rude. Ford reacts to this by encouraging formality and the minimum acceptable levels of simplicity while establishing a communication.

The legal systems, especially in business in the US are complex and a country like Japan may even view them as brutal. Policies are embedded in the main law and enforced throughout the states. A company like Ford seeks the assistance of highly qualified law practitioners in interpreting the law, establishing contracts and patent registration and protection. In Japan, there is the national laws and those laws established by the municipalities. Contracts are simple, in form of short drafts and susceptible to changes in case a need arises in future. Toyota sees this as a huge challenge as this legal system does not work in many other countries and seeks interpretation of contracts and laws when making deals with other countries in order to avoid possible lawsuits which usually would incur the company huge cost leading to losses.

Conclusion

A company like Ford may enjoy the flexibility brought about by the free market economy environment. However, there is still great danger to this form of situation as poor management decisions may lead to its possible collapse as experienced in the world economic recession experienced in 2008.A bureaucratic environment in Japan may to some extent shield a company like Toyota from collapsing through checks and balances in the market by the government but also, this may work negatively by hindering the company's growth.