Toyota IS/IT Competitiveness Business Report

Abstract

The increasing need of Information technology and information systems in today's competitive world has thrown several opportunities as well as challenges to build the competitive advantage over their competitors and sustain in the industry. This business report will examine how companies like Toyota have used the IS/IT the basis to achieve competitive advantage and win customers more effectively and efficiently in dynamic competitive structure of automobile industry. The analysis uncovers the need and application of IS/IT in automobile industry because the competitors in the industry are already moving ahead in gaining the market share who adopted the IT/IS. The IT/IS has enabled them to provide the products and services with much with faster delivery and maintain low cost. It is recommended that Toyota should adopt several applications of IT/IS to restore their current business performance and to achieve the long-term competitive advantage.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Introduction4

Discussion6

IT/IS as a Competitive Weapon6

IS/IT Applications9

Geographical IT/IS Applications9

Supply Chain IT/IS Applications10

CRM IT/IS Applications11

Conclusions11

Toyota IS/IT Competitiveness Business Report

Introduction

Today Information Technology is imperative for the companies to sustain in this highly global competitive environment around the globe. More and more organizations are inclining towards the new dimension of information technologies (IT) and information systems (IS) which is called the competitive advantage. Gone are the days when IT and IS were considered as the back-office systems and data processing aids, today these things have become only the small part of the IT and IS (Ahlemann, 2009). The rapid growth and advancements of the internet technologies in the worldwide have made companies to perforce utilize and manages the IT and IS for the competitive. There is no dearth of such companies, big and small, local and international that perished with huge losses and exit from the market by not adapting to the changes of information technologies. IT and IS have thrown limitless opportunities to those who companies to fully exploit the opportunities existing in the market. These opportunities stretch all the way from gaining market share, anticipate the changing consumer needs, provide inventory and logistics integrated systems and distinctive competitive advantage from other competitors in the industry. Only those companies are successful today, who fully identify and exploit the extent of such opportunities. IT and IS has provided and enabled the companies to achieve this objective with ease (Desouza, 2001).

Overview of Toyota IT/IS

Toyota is also one such organization that is operating in the highly competitive automobile industry and used IS/IT to completely change the basis of competition including the behaviour of customers in the automobile industry to establish leadership position in the market. Honda is the market leader in manufacturing, distribution, assembly and selling automobile across the globe and is ranked as the ninth most revenue generating firm in the world (Fujimoto, 1999). Toyota through Toyota Manufacturing system and lean manufacturing, a very efficient management technology and style that company is using for the basis of competition over the years has bring company' s good performance to the fore. Toyota has used many distinctive IS/IT competencies ...