Operation Management Essay Example for Free

Operation Management Essay Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to provide students with an understanding of the role and importance of operations management in the efficient and effective production of goods and services. It will enable students to realise that the ‘proper’ organisation of productive systems, and their interfaces with internal as well as external customers and suppliers, is essential if goods/services are to be produced on time, to cost and within the laws and regulations. Scenario. Impressive Burgers was established 10 years ago with the goal of providing fast take away food to their customers quickly and of a higher quality to that of their rivals. Each restaurant offered a simple menu structure with a choice of four set meal options. 1. Burger, Chips Soft Drink 2. Cheeseburger, Chips Soft Drink 3. Chicken Burger, Chips Soft Drink 4. Vegetarian Burger, Chips Soft Drink Customers were offered a choice of size of each meal: Regular, Medium or Large. The size of the chips and drinks portions varied but the burger size remained the same. Using this format they were able to serve each customer their order within 4 minutes from a ordering at the till to receiving their complete order to take away. Each restaurant places their orders with the suppliers directly based on the manager’s prediction for demand based on the reports generated by the restaurants own till system. These orders arrive in one shipment once every other week. The company has grown to a chain of restaurant operations and the management introduced a number of changes to the format 12 months ago in an effort to increase each business at each restaurants. The number of set meal options available on the menu was increased to offer more options to the customer and to attract customers seeking healthier options. The menu options were increased by a further three options: 5. Chicken Nuggets, Chips Soft Drink 6. Chicken Salad, Garlic Bread, Soft Drink 7. Hot Dog, Chips Soft Drink In addition to these set menu additions the company also offered the option of changing the chips option on the set meals for either a Side Salad or for Potato Wedges. The restaurants themselves have not changed and the number of staff and machinery has remained at the same levels before the menu changes. Since these changes were implemented there has been a dramatic increase in turnover and the number of customers that are visiting each of their restaurants. However, overall profit has declined dramatically over the last 12 months and the company predicts that if it continues the company will report its first loss in its history within the next 6 months. The company is considering expanding its operations by opening a number of new outlets but want to identify the problems to the issues they are currently facing. The company has begun to investigate why the mixed fortunes have arisen and has identified a number of issues. Serving times have increased dramatically and it now takes an average of 9 minutes for a customer to be served and the number of customer complaints has increased. The main complaints include rude and agitated staff and incorrect or incomplete orders. The total value of stock held at each restaurant has increased by an average of 20% and waste has dramatically increased. The CEO of Impressive Burgers is worried about the current development and has recruited you as Operations Manager with the responsibility of rectifying the situation that the company is currently facing. Your first assignment as Operations Manager is to produce a formal report to the management which includes the following tasks: |Outcome |Assessment Criteria | |No(s) | | |1. Understand the nature and |explain the importance of operational management |1. 1 | |importance of operational | | | |management |explain the need to produce safely; on time; to cost; to | | | |quality and within the law | | | | |1. 2 | | | | | | | | | | |explain the link between operations management and | | | |strategic planning | | | | |1. 3 | | | | | | |produce a systems diagram to illustrate a typical | | | |business | | | | | | | | | | | | |1. 4 | |2 Understand the link between |explain the ‘Three Es’ (economy, efficiency and effectiveness) | | |operations management and | |2. 1 | |strategic planning |explain the tension between cost minimisation and quality | | | |maximisation |2. 2 | | | | | | |evaluate the significance of the five performance objectives | | | |that underpin operations management | | | | | | | | |2. 3 | | | | | | |explain linear programming | | | | |3. 1 | |3 Understand how to organise a typical production process | | | | |evaluate critical path analysis and network planning | | | | |3. 2 | | | | | | |explain the need for operational planning and control | | | | |3. 3 | | | | | | | | | | |produce a set of clearly defined operational outcomes | 4. 1 | |4 Be able to apply relevant | | | |techniques to the production |produce a network plan and indicate the resultant critical path| | |of an operational plan for a | |4. 2 | |typical business | | | | |explain how quality could be defined and maintained |4. 3 | |Assignment Tasks: | | | | | | |Assessment | | |Criteria | |You are required to produce a formal and written report to cover the underlisted tasks. | | | | | |Task 1 | | |Explain the importance of operational management in an organization such as Impressive Burgers and explain ‘Three Es’ (economy, | | |efficiency and effectiveness and its relevance in the industry in which Impressive Burgers operates. |1. 1,2. 1 | | | | |Task 2 | | |Critically evaluate Impressive Burgers’ approach to expanding their operation. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |1. 2,1. 3,1. 4 | | | | |Task 3 | | |Discuss the reasons behind the problems the company is facing and make suggestions for rectifying the situation. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |3. 1,3. 2,3. 3 | | | | |Task 4 | | |Considering the effects on the operations, identify ways in which the overall operation could be improved and expanded further. | | | | | | | | | |4. 1,4. 2 | | | | Grading Criteria The assignment will be graded into Pass, Merit and Distinction against the following criteria: Pass: A pass grade is achieved by meeting all the requirements defined in the unit outcomes. Grading Criteria The assignment will be graded into Pass, Merit and Distinction against the following criteria: Pass: A pass grade is achieved by meeting all the requirements defined in the unit outcomes. |Merit Distinction | |M1 |Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions | | |Identify areas relevant for each task in the assignment and respond accordingly and professionally | |M2 |Select and apply appropriate techniques | | |Evidence of processing and synthesised complex information/data. | | |Appropriate learning methods/techniques have been applied | | |Report should have proper citations and reference list to all sources including your field-visit observations, books, magazines and other | | |material used for research | | | | |M3 |Present and communicate appropriate findings | | |Present your views coherently and logically | | |Demonstrate real situations in your assignment | | | | |D1 |Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions | | |Justify your ideas in a professional manner. | | |Propose realistic ideas for the future based on the current status | | |Learner presented CONCLUSIONS for all tasks/areas | |D2 |Take responsibility for managing and organizing activities | | |Show that you did the assignment alone and in accordance with the time. | | |Assignments referred will automatically achieve the minimum grade too for improper handling of task | |D3 |Demonstrate creative thinking | | |Demonstrate that you followed all the guidelines while doing the assignment and have utilised adequate and relevant words for the specific. | | |business environment | | |Apply innovation and creative thought in your work. | |Required Evidence | |†¢ Report (Your report should be approximately 1800 words and you are likely to be penalized if it exceeds 2000 words. If you feel it is essential to | |include detailed information, put it in an appendix and refer to this appendix in the text. Your sources of information should be clearly identified) | | | |Reading Research Resources | |Lecture slides | |F Rowbotham et el (2007) Operations Management in Context | |S Brown et al (2000), Strategic Operations Management, Butterworth Heinemann. | |L Galloway L et al (2000), Operations Management in Context, Butterworth-Heinemann. | |J Heizer and B Render (2003), Operations Management, Prentice Hall. | |N Slack et al (2000), Operations Management, Pitman. | |D L Waller D L (1999), Operations Management — A Supply Chain Approach, Thompson | |Newspapers, trade journals, magazines | | | |Guidelines for Presentation | |All assignments must be word-processed using Times New Roman (12 point) and stapled in the top left hand corner. | |Page numbers must be included at the bottom of each page. | |Secondary sources should be acknowledged using the Harvard Referencing | |Students are requested to attach the ‘assessment activity front sheet’ on the top of each report with all personal information (name, and student number | |etc. ) accurately presented. | |Every report must have a front page showing the title, class and name | |The length of writing will be limited to about 1800-2000 words. | |Note: Assignment that did not follow this ‘Guidelines for presentation’ will not be accepted. | | | |Plagiarism Policy The college has strict penalty for plagiarism and the assignment will be cancelled if the assignment is observed for this. The definition| |and scope of plagiarism are presented below: Plagiarism occurs when a student misrepresents, as his/her own work, the work, written or otherwise, of any | |other person (including another student) or of any institution. Examples of forms of plagiarism include: | |†¢ The verbatim (word for word) copying of another’s work without appropriate and correctly presented acknowledgement; | |†¢ The close paraphrasing of another’s work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation, without appropriate and correctly | |presented acknowledgement; | |†¢ Unacknowledged quotation of phrases from another’s work; | |†¢ The deliberate and detailed presentation of another’s concept as one’s own. | | | |All types of work submitted by students are covered by this definition, including, written work, diagrams, designs, engineering drawings and pictures. |

Game console industry Essay Example for Free

Game console industry Essay Provide an overview of the company. Include any information you think is pertinent to this company (5 points) Nintendo is a company that creates video games and game consoles. Nintendo is the creator of the Game Boy, Super Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 64, Nintendo GameCube and of course the Wii. Nintendo is only one of the few companies that create gaming systems, and is in constant competition with Sony (PlayStation) and Microsoft (Xbox). Nintendo’s revenues in 2009 were $19,308. 1 million, with a net income of ,930. 8 million. 1. What are the defining business and economic characteristics of the video game console industry? What is the industry like? (10 points) Sales of video game consoles, software, and accessories reached a record high of $23. 1 billion in 2008. Despite the increasing intensity of competition, the video gaming industry as a whole had continued to grow through the end of 2008 in the face of the downturn in the general world economy. 2. What is competition like in the video game console industry? Do a five-forces analysis to support your answer. Complete the following as part of your answer. Make sure to explain the reasons for your answers. (10 points) a. The bargaining power and leverage of buyers is a low competitive force b. The bargaining power and leverage of suppliers is a low competitive force. c. Competition from substitutes is a high competitive force. d. Threat of entry is a low competitive force. e. Rivalry among competing video game console producers is a high competitive force. Overall assessment: 3. What forces are driving changes in the video game console industry? Are these driving forces acting to make the industry more or less competitively intense? Are the driving forces acting to make the industry more or less profitable in future years? (10 points) 4. What is Nintendo’s strategy? Which of the five generic strategies discussed is Nintendo using? What are some of the recent offensive and/or defensive strategies that Nintendo has employed? Have these tactics been successful? (10 points) 5. How well is Nintendo’s strategy working in terms of the financial performance it is delivering? Should shareholders be pleased? Why or why not? What 2-3 weaknesses do you see in Nintendo’s financial performance? (15 points) |Performance Ratio |2009 |2008 |2007 |2006 |2005 | |Revenue Growth |16. 61% |73% |89. 79% |-1. 11% |n/a | |Gross Profit Margin |. 43 |. 42 |. 41 |. 42 |. 42 | |Operating Profit Margin |. 30 |. 29 |. 23 |. 18 |. 22 | |Return on Assets |25% |24% |18% |14% |13% | |Return on Equity |. 13 |. 14 |. 18 |. 24 |. 25 | 6. What does a SWOT analysis reveal about the attractiveness of Nintendo’s overall situation? Is the company’s competitive position as solid as top management seems to believe? Does the company have a competitive advantage? If so, what is the basis for this competitive advantage and is the advantage sustainable? (10 points) Nintendo’s Resource Strengths and Competitive Capabilities Nintendo’s Internal Resource Weaknesses and Competitive Liabilities Nintendo’s External Opportunities Nintendo’s External Threats 7. What does a competitive strength assessment reveal about whether Nintendo has a competitive edge? Complete the chart as part of your answer. You are to determine the success factors you deem most important. (20 points) |Key Success Factors |Importance Weight | Nintendo | Sony | Microsoft | | | |Rating Score |Rating Score |Rating Score8. What recommendations would you make to Nintendo to improve its competitiveness in the video game console industry and to maintain its favorable positioning vis-a-vis Microsoft and Sony? (10 points).

Communication Skills and Ethical Practice in IT Service

Communication Skills and Ethical Practice in IT Service Harpreet Singh TASK 1 Definition of Intra and Interpersonal Communication. INTRAPERSONAL COMMUNICATION It has taken place within a single person who observes the situation and creates ideas. For example, there is the ongoing case in a court two lawyer protect their clients by arguing with each other and the judge is the person who is observing the situation and take the decision. Interpersonal communication totally depends on some various aspects like self-concept, perception, and expectation. Self-concept This concept is totally an initial stage of intrapersonal communication, its depend on how a person behave while talking with other and his body language how he is using gestures also his attitude toward the person is he intend to listen to that person although the most import thing is value for the person to whom he is talking all these things define the persons Internal understanding with himself there are lots of things that can affect self-concept. Perception Perception in the simple language what is you thinking about others it can be a person or anything. Expectation Expectation means you expecting something from another person in returns, for example, if you are giving a gift to your friend then you might expect something from him on your birthday. INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION Interpersonal communication is happening between or more two persons, it supposed to be Face to face communication it can be via video calling or interviewer interview candidate so he will ask questions direct away to the interviewee to make the conversation more clear and check that persons IQ level or reaction how he reacts. This type of communication will create a long-term relation between two people because they are sharing their feelings or idea. Interpersonal communication can be done to motivate a person so he can elaborate his in front of public or anyplace it will boost the confidence of a person. This type of communication can be done verbally and non-verbally through messages or emails etc. There are various aspects of Interpersonal communication skills. Interpersonal communication will increase organizational skills like face to face meeting, it can also enhance group communication skill so that a person can speak in the front of the group of people with the confidence. But this skill should be used in the organization. For instance handling an angry customer. It will also add up written communication skills like writing emails to clients in a formal way or writing messaging in daily life is the best example of informal written communication skills. Listening skills plays a vital role in interpersonal communication skills a good communicator always a good listener if a person is not listening other people then he does not have good communication skills. (Faculty buffalostate) Verbal and Non-verbal communication. There are many situations when you tried to explain something but you are not able to explain because of the different language or lack of listening skill or might be some other reason in the day to day life. For example when I came to Auckland I face many problems to adopting kiwi accent or the way they speak so my flight land to Auckland airport, no one is there to pick me up and I asked one of the kiwis in the airport how to reach city he replied me sorry because their accent is different from us then I tried to explain him via my gestures then he understand a bit but not exact what I am trying to tell him then he told me to ask someone who knows your local language by gesture as I am new here to its take too much time to understand their accent for me then as I wrote it down on the piece of paper and he wrote on that paper hire a cab ,then I understand what he is trying to say this the first incident happened with me. After that one day, I tried to identify the barriers like wher e I am lacking and why other people dont understand my accent. Language Barriers: In this as we interact with each other in the same language but speaker use some high vocabulary words that are not used in day to day tasks and the listener not able to understand the meaning of that certain words here the language barriers falls. Like when I came here in Auckland I dont know much about kiwis accent and they use some high vocabulary words that I dont even hear before. Psychological Barriers:- In my situation that kiwi guy might be angry on me but he didnt react that way because he knows how to manage stress or anger in that situation so basically managing stress or anger and giving a feedback is all about overcoming psychological barriers. Cross-cultural barriers:- In this two person having different cultures and values like that kiwi having totally different culture as compare to me so this barrier might fall while I am trying to interact with him. Role of personality and self-management in the learning environment. The role of personality It plays a vital role in the learning environment because it shows the characteristics of a person like his style to speak with his collages and other people around him, behavior, attitude, and how he convey people with his sweetness, calmness and how he seeing the world is all about personality. If that person is not has attitude of learning new things then no one would take him seriously, so the personality in the learning environment is like how a person indulge in curriculum activities, research, active listening, attitude toward his teacher, study and putting question to gain some knowledge like if a person is not interested in a particular subject then he is lacking somewhere he had to show interest if he wants to build a good personality. The role of self-management Self-management refers to how a person manages himself and managing his time, setting aims, self-motivation, building patience, avoid stress, assessing yourself and solving your problem. If you have this kind of skills so your learning will never bother you and it will become a fun activity which helps you to grab more opportunities in your life. Some strategies that will definitely help you in learning environments are:- Time Management Strategies Time management is managing your time whole performing day to day activities. In this, you set your priority like which work is more important for you, how you make a plan to do that tasks and you should utilize that given time period as you can. For example if you are working on a project in the corporate sector then there are certain deadline set by them so its depend upon you how complete that project by making some plan and splitting the work among employees, make a commitment like if there is deadline given by company then you set your deadline before company deadline so the project has to be done between that time period and you achieve your goal. Attitude Strategies Set an attitude because once you set it then other people around you will never judge you like dont make excuses other people around you can take your excuse as their advantage. Concentration Focus on your works dont let other people distract your concentration be an active listener, make a list of task in your mind that you have to perform, try to make busy yourself so you can avoid stress and achieve your goals. (student-learning.tcd.ie, n.d.) Task (2) Example of Intercultural miss-communication. First of all what is culture A culture everything you learn about how to speak, how to behave, how to think about of the things like how you think about another person, these things you will be learned by talking with you neighborhoods, parents, teachers and most important is how you observe them by listening actively. Like Your neighborhood can be a Sikh they go to the Gurudwaras on Sunday and you are following them very steadily here culture falls it is totally your observation towards the world. Now Intercultural communication is two people following different culture their language is diff their dresses sense is diff they hardly talk with each other this is intercultural comm. For example a person working in a company he might be a Christian and there is lots of Hindu working the way that Christian talks are totally different his Facial expression, eye contact, gesture, behavior will create miss-communication between that Hindu worker because they are comfortable to talk to their mother language and another person might have diff mother language so here intercultural miss-communication lies. Case Study: Selena should not have burst out without knowing whats that gesture means for them. It was rude of her to have shouted such words on George. George disrespectfully calling someone for help. As if they have hired you. A communication breakdown happens when two parties cannot understand each other language or gesture. In this case, Selena belonging to the South Asian culture misunderstood what raising a hand and snapping figure could mean in Auckland. Mr. George had snapped his fingers in the air to aware Selena that he needs help. However, in South Asian culture snapping fingers to get someones attention is considered very disrespectful and that you are being dominated by other person. The same gesture having different meanings in different cultures led to a communication breakdown in this case. No, nothing was unreasonable or inconsiderate their behaviors. Both of them were unaware of the different meaning of the gesture and so their reactions were justified. However, since Selena is new to the country she should have learnt some of the kiwi gestures and phrases commonly used. Before bursting out on George she could have asked him what that means or told him its a disrespectful gesture in her culture. Task (3) Advantages and Disadvantages of working in a team Advantages 1 Work has been divided equally A leader having a certain work pressure on him to control this pressure he divides the work to among employee in his team and he makes sure there will be no partiality of workload everyone will put equal effort to complete that work before the deadline. 2 More people more ideas If there is more member in the team then there will be more ideas and creativity in the work it will take your team to another level of the working environment. 3 Enhance leadership skills- Working in a team will always open up your fear of public speaking, it will improve your communication skill and how you present yourself also your initiative in the team you have to put your legs in the hot water. It motivates you lot by sharing your ideas, views etc. 4 Responsibilities have been shared- As I told earlier if the work is divided equally then the responsibilities has also been shared because someone is perfect is some task so the leader should decide which task is given to the which person who can utilize it properly. 5 Relationship Working in the team environment will always build up the good relationship with among team members see the ups and down will happen but at the end, if the work is done effectively and the result is above expectation then it will always create better understanding and a good relation. Disadvantages 1 If something went wrong everyone in the team should be blamed.- When you are performing a team work then you always ensure that is everything thing should be going smoothly if one of the team members did mistake then remember everyone in the team will be blamed. 2 Misunderstanding- Misunderstanding happens when there is miscommunication between all team member like there is a team of 5 members and the leader is giving different tasks to each member and when the team member talk with each other they come to know something else like he has been given the same task to all team member it will create confusions and misunderstanding between him and among team members. 3 Partiality of work- A leader is doing work to overcome from his work pressure when he is giving work to the member of his team who capable more than that limited work other will think this is partiality, they will think he might be his very good friend thats why he is giving him a simple task so the partiality of the work is always there if your leader is doesnt having that observing skill he should know the capability of a person and utilize him as per his capacity. 4 less flexibility Less flexibility leads to late submissions of projects because if the team members are not flexible with each other and they might have to do their own tasks not talking with other might have some ego it will destroy many things. 5 Ideas Collisions Most important thing while performing in the team more people more ideas different people different thinking so there might be confusion for selecting ideas for a leader he has to think of all team members. Factors that affect team performance. TASK1: LIFTING A CAR THAT IS AGROUND IN THE BEACH In this task 4 team member required equal power, coordination, motivation and timing. I will explain each factor required to lifting a car. 1 Equal power: The first most important factor in this all the member in the team should be physically fit and able to put equal power to lift the car. if one of the team members is not fit then it will trouble a lot, the car might be fallen down on his hand. 2 Co-ordination: If you dont coordinate with all team member and you have a plan to pull the car then how can you lift it so make a plan and explain to each teaches member how its work. 3 Motivation: Motivation is the requirement to force him-self, yes you can do it so can do attitude will boast your motivation and you will be indulging in all activities automatically that are performing by your all team members. 4 Timing: If you have all those 3 factors in your team then this will lead you to lift the car by setting a time on that all the team member pull the car together and it will lift easily. TASK2: CLIMBING TO EVEREST To climbing the Everest a team leader must be an experienced one, he should also listen to all the team member because this task requires lots of force one step wrong it will lead to death. In this, each member has to perform an individual task but they have shared their knowledge with each other , also the leader should guide them properly basically the coordination in this task must require. A further thing is motivation willing power are the factor if a person has this quality then he must climbing to Everest. Task4 THREE-FACTOR OF EFFECTIVE CUSTOMER SERVICE: 1 Presenting Yourself When we talk about effective customer service the factor is how you present yourself in the front of the customer talk politely listen to them and keep smiling while communicating with them. 2 Show Care For Them Try to involve with customer as much you can while tell them if you are in that situation what you can do give some solution, and guide them in the right way they will be impressed automatically, giving good services is always a benefit to satisfy customer and try to create good relationship with them so that they can trust you easily. 3 Convincing Power: If you build trust then convince them is more easily but some customer wont convince because their expectation became more from a service representative so you always try to update them by promoting you new products and give them some extra benefits if they will buy they will refer more customer. The main barriers to customer service in IT business. Failure to solve complaints quickly With todays smart generation, people only reach out to customer care Centres of companies only when the problem is real complex. Customer service fails if one isnt able to serve the complex complaint in the first instinct or immediately direct them to the right person to help them out. (Real Business, n.d.) Inability to provide easy access to customers It should be easy for people to contact the companies to get their issues resolved. Their websites or customer care centers should be easily accessible to all. Failure to provide this a big barrier to customer service. (Real Business, n.d.) Not using customer feedbacks Customer feedbacks satisfy the customers as well as help organizations to improve their customer services in the future. They also help the businesses to know areas where they are lacking and can improve. (Real Business, n.d.) Overworked Staff Having less staff or giving a few people lots of tasks can exhaust them which in turn will lead to loss of interest in working properly. No client will be given importance. The employee will just want finish off the tasks and go home. This will result in dissatisfied customers and hence poor customer service. (Entre Propel, n.d.) Underworked Staff Having all the more staff is a barrier too. Underworked staff might feel they have no importance and that they are not challenged or are not appreciated for their work. This in turn can again have a similar effect as the overworked staff has. Employees might take too long to solve issues since they have plenty of time hence delaying the service and dissatisfying customers. (Entre Propel, n.d.) Non-Caring Culture If the environment of the place where you work is not positive and the staff is careless about their work, a good customer service is not given. Customers are not given importance and the result is unhappy customers. (Entre Propel, n.d.) Insufficient Systems Lack of proper technology when dealing with the customer can lead to the slow and poor performance of the staff. Systems with insufficient data about the customers history or any data related to the client act as a barrier to good customer service. (Entre Propel, n.d.) Lack of Incentive Lack of incentives to the staff gives them no reason to perform better customer service. They ll be bored and work just fine without appreciation. Any incentive, monetary or non-monetary, can improve an employees customer service. (Entre Propel, n.d.) Scripted communication Clients prefer communication customized for them, not a scripted service. Even though a scripted communication might be easier for the employees but a little personal touch for every customer makes them feel important and hence a great customer service. (Provide Support, n.d.) Delayed response The most common reason for complaints and dissatisfied customers is that they were put on hold for a very long time. A swift response to their queries is the most important part of an excellent customer service. Waiting customers result in poor customer service. (Provide Support, n.d.) Not valuing the customers Staff should know how to value customers otherwise they will not treat the customers as they are supposed to. Mistreating them leads to poor customer service. (Entre Propel, n.d.) Poor accountability The staff should be held accountable for customer service they provide. Otherwise, they will not try to perform better, they will never be blamed for an unhappy customer and so they wont be willing to improve. Recording and tracking their conversations will result in better customer service. (Entre Propel, n.d.) References (n.d.). Retrieved from student-learning.tcd.ie: https://student-learning.tcd.ie/undergraduate/topics/self-management/ Entre Propel. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.entre-propel.com/: http://www.entre-propel.com/customer-service/8-barriers-to-outstanding-customer-service/ Faculty buffalostate. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://faculty.buffalostate.edu: http://faculty.buffalostate.edu/smithrd/uae%20communication/unit4.pdf Provide Support. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.providesupport.com: http://www.providesupport.com/blog/10-barriers-outstanding-customer-service/ Real Business. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://realbusiness.co.uk: http://realbusiness.co.uk/sales-and-marketing/2013/10/09/10-barriers-to-effective-customer-service/

Diary Of Anne Frank :: essays research papers

The story Diary of Anne Frank was a very interesting book which showed the ways a group of Jewish people during the 1940's went about trying to conceal their identity and themselves. This story was a true story taken from a diary of a young girl during the incident. This was made into a play during 1955. This was praised as Frances Goodrich's and her husband Albert Hackett's most famous work as it was performed.The play was started in November of 1945. As Mr. Frank began to read the diary, it flashed back to July 1942 in an attic in Amsterdam because this was where the people were hiding and represented the type of place that Jews all over were living. The most important part of the play were the people who were acted out. They gave the play a sense of flavor and realism. Anne, a young German girl was particularly amusing because of the scuffles she and everyone around her seemed to have. Anne's Mother was a woman who was more traditional than anything else and wanted Anne to be more like a lady. One such person was Margot. As Anne's sister, she was very nice and didn't speak out and was very proper. The Frank's weren't the only ones in this attic, there were other people such as the Van Daans. Mr. Frank let them stay because they needed a place to hide and since they had helped him out so much in the past by actually teaching Mr. Frank German, he felt it was the least he could do. The Van Daans had a son which Anne later became interested in. Peter was the only person who Anne could understand and knew that Anne could understand him. They could both talk to each other freely when they were together. Dussel soon joined the group. He was only supposed to be up in the attic for a short time, but he ended up staying till the end. He had to leave his Dentistry to hide out from the Germans. These people would not of lasted too long without the help of Miep Gies and Mr. Kraler who gave them the necessities they needed to survive up in the attic for so long. All these people gave their own personality and views to add new dimensions to the play and make it more enjoyable.

IQ and Success :: Sociology Racism Prejudice Essays

IQ and Success   Ã‚  Ã‚   Using data from a long-term survey, The Bell Curve purports to show that IQ is a far better predictor of adult success than childhood socioeconomic status. But the authors used an extremely limited number of social factors as the basis for their calculations. By taking into consideration a greater number of social factors (to make the study resemble a more complete picture of real life), sociologists have been able to show that social factors, not IQ, are a much better predictor of future success. In The Bell Curve, authors Herrnstein and Murray claim that a child's IQ is a far better predictor of future success than a child's initial socioeconomic status (or SES). For example, a white child raised in the bottom 5 percent of SES is eight times more likely to become poor than a child from the top 5 percent. But a white child whose IQ is in the bottom 5 percent is fifteen times more likely to become poor than a child whose IQ is in the top 5 percent. (1) Is this true? (Well, no -- but more on this below.) It does seems obvious that intelligence is important to succeed in life, but it also seems obvious that social factors play a large, if not larger, role. For example, the crushing economic disparity between North and South Korea has nothing to do with IQ differences, and everything to do with different social and economic policies. Even on a personal level, intelligence is only one of countless factors that contribute to success. Others include: Access to education Training opportunities Personality type Physical attractiveness Athletic ability Inheritance Nepotism Prejudice Social and business connections Knowing someone who is successful Lobbying Congress Business cycle trends Fads Inventions Discoveries Wars Speculation Gambling Miserliness Insider trading Unfair market practices And, last but not least, dumb luck -- being at the right place at the right time And these are just the adult factors -- there's a whole host of childhood factors as well, which follow below. How the rules of the game are constructed determines which of these factors becomes most important for winning and losing, and therefore which individuals have the most "merit." For example, we might think that those who play professional baseball have the most merit -- that is, they are the best players in the game.

William Shakespeare :: essays research papers

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare was able to, through his writings , lead the readers to examine their own social corlas, judgment, and wisdom. The most remarkable quality of his works is that even when we read them today, we still examine ourselves. He was able to accomplish their task as well as any writer of any era. Shakespeare's writings allow his readers to question the social climate of their day. (Bender 13). William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-on-Avon in Warwickshire located in the heart of England on April 23 or 24, 1564. His mother, Mary Arden grew up in a much more prosperous environment than the Shakespeares. His father John, and Mary Arden were married in 1557. John Shakespeare was a wool dealer and glove maker, who became a prominent citizen and well-respected in the community. Eventually, John held a position in the public office. (Bender 13). Subsequently, John Shakespeare experienced financial problems and lost his wealth and governing positions. This, of course, had a big effect on the whole family. William was the third of eight children. The older siblings were sistets Joan, born in 1558 and Margaret in 1562. Both of William's older sisters died very young. (Bender 14). The other dive children were Gilbert born in 1566, a second Joan 1569, Richard 1573, Edmund 1580, and Anne 1580 who died at age eight. (Bender 14). William Shakespeare was educated at the local school in Stratford. Ironically, William never attended a university although virtually every English speaking universities studies his works. Bioghrapher a man educated in " the university of life." (Bender 14). His plays and other works display Shakespeare's vast knowledge of the entertainment, social mores, and culture of his native Warwickshire. William married Anne Hathaway in 1582. He was 18 and she was 26. They had twin daughters Hamnet and Judith and later their third daughter Susanna. (Bender 15). Shakespeare lived in an England that was overwhelmingly rural and had virtually no mechanized industry. It was a society very different from the one we enjoy in the U.S. today. Death and disease were the common experiences of all families during this era in England. (Andrews 67). This society was one in which a vigorous and youthful population was growing with unusual rapidity. The resulting economic development. (And rews 72). The manner in which the English made their living at that time seemed to be greatly influenced by region. The regional differences can be divided by an imaginary line from Bristol in the southwest to Hull in the northeast.

Toyota Way

Asian Institute of Technology School of Management SM71. 42 Cross-cultural Management How does Toyota operate its philosophies between Japan and Thailand? [pic] Tutor: Prof. Dr. Marie-Therese Claes Group 1: †¢ Ms. Phung Viet Ha †¢ Ms. Nguyen Le Hang †¢ Mr. Vu Quang Linh †¢ Mr. Nguyen Van Ha †¢ Mr. Nguyen Trung Thuc Date: September 7, 2012 Executive summary In the 21 century, the world we inhabit is coming â€Å"flat† where many political, social economic and cultural barriers have been being discharged. The development of global organizations means that clients, suppliers and business may be located across a range of countries and regions.The number of interactions between people of different cultural backgrounds in the workplace is growing exponentially in companies of all sizes. Understanding cultural differences and developing cross-cultural communication and coordination have become important than ever before for organizations. These skills help or ganizations to work more effectively across cultural barriers. This paper examines the cross border coordination between Toyota and its subsidiaries in Thailand. In this paper we will have a brief research about the intercultural problems of Toyota.How Toyota deals with cross-border business coordination problem to become the global No. 1 automaker in general and Thailand’s bestseller automobile in particular is analyzed on basic information and cross-culture management. The empirical case of Toyota in Thailand is selected to for study and lessons learnt as Thailand is the first country in the oversea expansion of Toyota’s manufacturing and where Toyota experienced good practices in coordination mechanism between mother Corporation and its regional and local subsidiaries. 1. INTRODUCTION 1. Background on cross-cultural business coordinationCross-cultural business coordination aims at dealing with the  interaction  of people from different  backgrounds in the busi ness world. Cross culture is a vital issue in international business, as the success of international trade  depends upon the smooth interaction of employees from different cultures and regions. A growing number of companies are consequently devoting substantial resources toward training their employees to interact effectively with those of companies in other cultures in an effort to foment a positive cross-cultural experience.Nowadays, firms, especially those from developed countries, increasingly expand their business overseas in the attempt of seeking for the competitive advantages of the new resources. This results in the more complex structure of multi-national corporations. Transnational corporations see cross-cultural business coordination very important in order to have smooth operation and balance control between headquarters and its subsidiaries toward production efficiency improvement. In this connection, the differences in languages, values and other dimensions should be studied and based on that find the ways to harmonize those for better coordination.Cross culture can be experienced by an employee who is transferred to a location in another country. The employee must learn the language and culture of those around him. This can be more difficult if this person is acting in a managerial capacity;  someone in this position who  cannot effectively communicate with or understand  their employees' actions can lose their credibility. In an  ever-expanding  global economy, cross culture and  adaptability will continue to be important factors in the business world. 2. Toyota and its philosophies 1. About ToyotaToyota Motor Corporation was founded on August 28, 1937 by Sakichi Toyoda. After 70 years of manufacturing and developing, at the end of March 2012, Toyota conducts its business worldwide with 50 overseas manufacturing companies in 27 countries and regions. Toyota's vehicles are sold in more than 160 countries and regions. The Toyotaâ €™s capital reached 397. 05 billion yen with 325,905 employees all around the world. Toyota is known as the World’s N01 automaker with its regional headquarters in the North America (03 headquarters), Europe (01 headquarter) and Asia (03 headquarters).Thailand was the first country where Toyota Motor Corporation started to expand its business overseas. Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) was established in 1962 with the capital of 11 million Baht. Toyota Motor Thailand grows continuously and reached the capital of 7,520 million Baht with 13,500 employees and production capacity of 550,000 units per year in 2009 (Toyota, 2009). TMT becomes one of the key contributors to Toyota worldwide, and Thailand’s number one automobile manufacturer. 2. Toyota’s Vision and PhilosophiesTo manage subsidiaries around the world to achieve the same Toyota quality, Toyota created a corporate philosophy that’s has been passed down from generation to generation within company, whi ch is called â€Å"Guiding Principle at Toyota†. Toyota Code of conduct and Toyota Way are tools implementing to assist Toyota realize their goals. Toyota Code of Conduct was issued in 1998 providing a basic, detail explanation and examples of actions and issues that one must be aware of when carrying out business activities in and living in global society.The code of conduct is dispersed among management of subsidiaries in Japan and overseas for developing common awareness. Besides Toyota Code of conduct, Toyota Way was established in 2001 to simplify the values and methods that employees have to carry out to undertake the guiding principle throughout company activities. Toyota Way is functioning as the key standard of global Toyota organization and it presents Toyota’s philosophy to focus on long-term benefit while developing vehicles that exceed customer expectations and contribute to community and to the future of mobility.The Toyota Way consists of continuous impr ovements and respect for people. The key concept of Toyota Way is actively working and creating new ideas for the best with ongoing process to improve their business, never satisfied where they are, respect all the stakeholders and working with be believe in success by personal effort and good teamwork (Toyota, 2007). One of the main elements in Toyota Way is mutual respect by promoting safety among employees and employees have to be trained both for daily operation and behavioral role.Toyota’s Global Visions look toward to following goals: ? To lead the way to the future of mobility, enriching lives around the world with the safest and most responsible ways of moving people. ? To exceed the expectation and be rewarded with a smile through their commitment to quality, constant innovation and respect for the planet. ? To meet their challenging goals by engaging the talent and passion of people who believe there is always better way. Toyota Production System (TPS) aims at pursi ng the most efficient methods for all aspects of production the method of production.Toyota considers the objective of â€Å"making the vehicles ordered by customers in the quickest and most efficient way, in order to deliver the vehicles as quickly as possible† as an issue of great importance. TPS was built based on following concepts to achieve the best quality of product while minimizing waste through defective detection: ? The first concept is â€Å"Jidoka†, which stands for automation. Toyota set up the mechanization and links it with computerization so the production system immediately stops working when a problem arises in the process to avoid defective products. The first concept is â€Å"Just-in-Time†, which enables the company to minimize level of inventory. 3. Intercultural problem in the business coordination between Toyota and its subsidiaries in Thailand Toyota has set up its global strategies and goals for all Toyota’s subsidiaries. ? To ma intain Toyota’s position as market leader in automotive industry; ? Continuous growth; ? Boost profitability and return for the shareholders. In the process spreading its philosophies, strategies and goals to the subsidiaries, Toyota encountered certain difficulties on cross-border coordination, which are arisen from cultural differences.The Japanese management style was called â€Å"group capitalism† by Alfred Chandler – a business historian. The style was described as emphasized group behavior and values interpersonal harmony. The manager and corporation are put together in a very culturally dependent system, which is considered as a constraint for many companies when they expanded globally. The management system did not function well because subsidiaries operate separately by substantial time and distance barriers (Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal, 1999).Different ways of thinking also were difficulties for the integration of non-Japanese into the management process. Japanese corporations often retained decision-making and control at the center, i. e. the management was conducted by those who understood the subtleties of the existing system (Christopher A. Bartlett and Sumantra Ghoshal, 1999). In case of Toyota and its subsidiaries in Thailand, Japanese managing officers of Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) served as the president of both Toyota Motor Asia Pacific Engineering and Manufacturing Co. Ltd (TMAP-EM) and Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT).Language and communication created barriers to the business coordination as people were speaking with different voices and sending out inconsistent messages. 2. DISCUSSION 1. Analysis of the intercultural problem The intercultural challenge faced by Toyota Motor Corporation in the cross-border coordination in Thailand originated in cultural differences. In general, from viewpoints of national level, putting Japan and Thailand in the value dimensions as in Hofstede’s Study, the ranki ngs received is shown in the table below (David C. Thomas p. 51-52) (David C. Thomas p. 51-52). Table 1. Cultural dimension rankings follow Hofstede’s Study Dimension |Japan |Thailand | |Power Distance |54 |64 | |Individualism |46 |20 | |Masculinity |95 |34 | |Uncertainty Avoidance |92 |64 | |Long-term orientation |80 |56 | Power distance Japan has lower power distance culture that Thailand does. Therefore, it is implied that in order to have smooth coordination from TMC to its subsidiaries in Thailand, Toyota should consider the followings: ? Give clear and explicit directions to Thai employees; ?Do not expect Thai subordinates to take initiative; ? Show deference to those with higher level through language, behavior, etc. ; ? Expect to encounter more bureaucracy behaviors. Individualism It is can be seen from Hofstede’s rankings that both Japan and Thailand has collectivist cultures. However, Thai is more collectivistic than Japanese. Therefore, some possible conside ration for Toyota in developing business with Thais is listed below: ? Promotions do not depend upon Thai employee’s performance and achievement, but seniority and experiences; ? Decision making may be a slow process as many individual across the system will need to be asked for advices; Praise should be addressed to a team rather than individuals. Masculinity In the research of Hofstede, Japan was the world’s most masculine country and Thailand was among the least one or most feminine culture. In the case that Toyota seeks for the sustainable manufacturing subsidiary development in Thailand, some notes should be taken into account such as: ? Personal questions are normal rather than assertive; ? Dealing with trust weights more than projected profit margins and other similar things; ? Thais openly show favoritism to close relations; ? Small talk at business functions will focus on Thai employees’ life and interest rather than just business. Uncertainty avoidance Japan has highly risk-averse culture, which can be seen through strict laws and regulations. Thailand has the uncertainty avoidance score just above medium, therefore much lower than that of Japan. Some attentions that Toyota should pay for developing its manufacturing in Thailand could be as follows: ? Try to be more flexible or open to new ideas; ? Allow Thai employees the autonomy and space to execute their task on their own; ? Recognized that Thai employees may take different approach to life and see their destiny; ? Agreed plans should be realized as soon as possible. Long-term orientation At the score of 80 Japan is considered as one of the long term oriented societies.This is reflected that Japanese see their life as a very short moment in a long history of mankind. In Japanese corporations, the possible observations are long term orientation in the constantly high rate of investment in R&D even in economically difficult times, higher own capital rate, priority to steady grow th of market share rather than to a quarterly profit, and so on. With a score of 56 Thailand is a mild term oriented culture. Amongst the values that are admired, working hard and having a sense of moderation are dominant for Thais. Timescales and deadline in Thailand are fluid. Therefore, Toyota should consider the followings in working with Thais: Reliability, responsiveness and empathy as very important element. ? Building up close relationships with Thai subsidiaries is of importance. ? Building relationship takes time. 2. Solutions for Toyota in Thailand There are some solutions were found out by Toyota to achieve the same objective and target among the subsidiaries all around the world, especially in Thailand – the first country where Toyota Motor Corporation started to expand its business overseas. 1. Global Production Center Toyota has established Global Production center (GPC) in 2003 as Toyota’s global human resource training center. Toyota operation comprise of 53 production sites in 27 countries around the world.In managing its operation, Toyota encounter a diversity of people therefore Toyota consider human resource development as an important mechanism in maintaining its global business. GPC is the place where employees are trained about the Toyota’s culture and values and make them understand the Toyota way and to provide the skills which are needed for employees to carry out the task. In the past, human development was carried out in Japan only. However, with rapid growth of Toyota’s overseas operations leads to the transition of GPC to the regional. Technical skills from Japanese trainers are spread to local trainers and from the local trainers to local employees and also to employees from the other countries in the region.The objective of the GPC is to inculcate employees that Toyota’s products should have the same quality regardless of which origin it as produced (Toyota Annual Report, 2008). GPC, human res ources development is implementing by developing supervisors and trainers in subsidiaries with assistance from headquarter. Another function of GPC is helping the subsidiary plants to prepare for redesign of production when newly developed model is launched so that the plant can efficiently switch over to produce them. Visual manual videos were studied and make used in GPC for representing the best demonstration. This practice takes advantages over the traditional manuals, by which only written words or still illustration are shown.Toyota can reduce time for staff training and avoid misunderstanding through the adaptation of visual manual videos. Within 5 years, 13000 employees both from Japan and abroad were trained by GPC and distribute knowledge they learn to their team members. The Asia Pacific Global Production Centre (AP-GPC) was established in Samutprakarn, Thailand in 2005 to serve as the regional training centre. AP-GPC provides trainings for TMT’s employees and also supporting to other Toyota’s Asian manufacturing affiliates. 2. Restructuring of organizational structure Toyota Motor Corporation spread out its organization around the world and set up regional headquarters in North America, Europe and Asia.In Asia, there are two headquarters in Singapore and Thailand that are responsible for different business entities. In the past, subsidiaries in each country had to report directly to headquarters in Japan. The restructuring to regional headquarters believes that it could allow subsidiaries to work more efficiently and regional headquarter assist to each country in the region in time. The close coordination between the regional headquarters can support each other through corporation in engineering, manufacturing and marketing. The regional headquarters also facilitate and response in time to customer’s demands throughout the region and provide flexible react to market changes.With the establishment of Asian regional headquarter i n Thailand; Toyota Motor Thailand became a main center to provide support for manufacturing and also research and development in Asia – Pacific region. 3. Thainization Toyota Motor Thailand launched the localization policy, which is called Thainization. Thainization was the philosophy that drives Toyota Motor Thailand before Toyota way was introduced. Thainization is to promote the local employees to take part in management level in 20 years (Amano, 2008). In the 1960, at the beginning of Toyota in Thailand, the management was carried on by Japanese and strictly followed the policies and guidelines set by its mother company Toyota Motor Corporation. Around 1980’s, very few Thai’s were positioned as managers but the final decisions were still made by Japanese expatriates.Since 1987, Toyota Motor Thailand decided to transform the organization from management only by Japanese to only by Thai, which is called Thainization. The Japanese expatriates were converted fro m managers to coordinators. In every department have some Japanese staffs work together with Thai staffs mainly in the coordinator role as an adviser for technical information and making connection network among Toyota group to help communication flow smoothly. At present, only the president, executive Vice president and Treasurer are Japanese and the other high-level management officers are Thais (http://www. toyota. co. th/en/about. php? Page= management).Thainization in Toyota Motor Thailand was implemented as the necessity to adopt of globalization in the world while considering localization (Imai, 2006). 4. Lateral communication Lateral communication is of importance because it is the way that all organizational units are connected throughout the system of resource exchange and organizational set of transnational corporation in different locations. Toyota Technical Center Asia Pacific –Thailand (TTCAP-TH), which was established serving as Research and Development unit fo r Asia Pacific region, can be seen as a network platform for exchange knowledge and skills between different functions and with counterpart in Japan to support local needs.This kind of lateral communications between business units through the collaboration between each geographically specialized division contributes to widespread of Toyota Way that focuses on sharing the same Toyota values and cultures. Another step toward the relocation of support division from Japan to Asian region is the setting up of TMAP Thailand, which represents the network platform providing production assistance to TMC’s affiliates in the region. 5. Informal communication Nohria and Ghoshal (1994, p. 494) asserted that extensive socialization and communication builds trust among the managers and creates foundation for reciprocity and easier negotiation and resolution of potential conflicts.Informal communication exits in Toyota organization so that it brings bout informal exchange idea between Toyota Japan and Toyota Thailand. In Thailand, TMT made use of job rotation of employee as a tool for developing people because of the consideration that working in the same job for long time could make people stick with the old habit and, therefore, reluctant to change. This practice has enhanced the informal communication and made information widely shared throughout in the organization. Employees and departments in rotation process accumulate working experiences and knowledge as well as share their own values for adapting to the same organization culture. 3. CONCLUSIONIn summary, Toyota has successfully applied many strategies in order to improve communication across border while keeping many existing core values. Also, due to the scale of the Toyota Company, there has been no particular method or formula that is best fit for achieving the existing success in Toyota. Toyota had to apply a few methods to efficiently achieve localization while remaining competitive in globalization. Firs tly, The Thai’s characteristics are different than the Japanese so the GPC was introduced to help Toyota’s employees to think in the same way – The Toyota way in term of values and cultures. Also it trained employees many certain skills to be capable of finishing given tasks.Secondly, In Thailand, the structural mechanism obviously takes part as the fundamental formation of the organizational structure. Toyota remarkably use of departmentalization as the structure to manage the business entity according to function and responsibility. The critical scrutinize regarding centralization or decentralization of decision making is become blurred since Toyota to some extent delegate the decision authority to its subsidiaries while the final exclusive decision remain at the headquarters. In addition, the formal written policies together with standard production system considerably utilize in Toyota subsidiaries so that its affiliates follow the same principle and maintai n the same Toyota standard.To achieve the same goal, planning in the form of the strategic planning, regional target goal as well as reward is used as guideline to accomplish the goal. To control the performance of the company, output control is one of the tools that Toyota use to motivate the performance of their employee as well as subsidiaries. However, the hierarchical or behavioral control is coexisting to ensure the employee act in order to fulfill the best performance. The optimum control is to mix between output and behavioral control so that the finest advantage is achieved. Thirdly, Toyota has introduced â€Å"Thainization† which allowed Thai people to get into managerial positions as the top position before was only for the Japanese sent from headquarter.Last but not least, the informal or subtle mechanisms are broadly promoted within the Toyota organization. The lateral or cross department communication visibly seen by the messy organization that employee have to communicate or coordinate with other departments or the same department in the region among functional and geographical line simultaneously to undertake the work. The establishment of regional headquarters in Thailand (TMAP-EM) is one of the cases that put forward lateral communication, as the network of exchange in the region required the lateral communication among the concern departments. Besides, the informal communication plays as vital mechanism in the organization.The present of Japanese as employees and also coordinators make possible the informal exchange of idea between Toyota Thailand and Japan that finally facilitate the subsidiaries action and decision in line with those of headquarters. In short, the achievement of Toyota when applied with all the methods, mechanism was very fruitful as Toyota Motor Thailand (TMT) operated more efficiently resulting in time and cost savings, better communication, better understanding in the organization and better employees involvement . So the most obvious example was that the second factory was opened in 1989. And this result showed that Toyota has successfully managed all the operation across border, retaining local flexibility and while achieving global integration.Moreover, with the rapid development of many other Multi-National Companies (MNCs) and trying to recruit more and more talents, Toyota has also exploited the local population in order to get a broader pool of talents (combining not only from Japanese and Thai in this case, but also from other nationalities). Furthermore, with the matrix of subsidiaries and one headquarter, Toyota tries to make the organization stable with core visions and beliefs from the Headquarter but also loot the host of new ideas from all around the globe as they need to keep up with the quickly-changing characteristic of technology with new ideas. With all the cross-cultural issues above, Toyota would have more experience and solution for future encounters. REFERENCES †¢ Bartlett, Christopher A. and Ghoshal, Sumantra (1999). Managing Across Borders: The Transnational Solution – Companies, Cultures and the Transformation to the Transnational. Book excerpt. Nohria, Nitin and Sumantra Ghoshal (1994). Differentiated Fit and Shared Values: Alternatives for Managing Headquarters-Subsidiary Relations. Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 15, No. 6 †¢ Thomas, David C. (2008) Cross-Cultural Management: Essential Concepts. Sage Publications. Chapter 3 †¢ Petison, Phallapa, (2010). Cross Cultural Relationship Marketing in the Thai Context: The Japanese Buyer’s Perspective. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 1, June, 2010 †¢ Friedman, Thomas L. (2005). The World is flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century †¢ Cutler, John. The cross -cultural communication trainer’s manual – Vol. : designing Cross-Cultural Training †¢ Toyota Motor Corporation profile from http://www. toy ota-global. com/company/profile †¢ Toyota Guiding Principles, Toyota Way, Toyota Code of Conduct, Toyota Global Vision and Toyota Production Centre from http://www. toyota-global. com/company/vision_philosophy/ †¢ Toyota Motor Thailand Management Team from http://www. toyota. co. th/en/about. php? Page=management †¢ Business coordination across borders within Toyota: a case study focusing the coordination between Japan and Toyota from http://mdh. diva-portal. org/smash/record. jsf? pid=diva2:224180 †¢ Toyota: A Transnational case study from http://www. ecclesbourne. derbyshire. sch. uk[pic]