Does anyone have any tips for the 6-8 mark questions, I find they are always vague and the mark schemes are too, so any help would be much appreciated :smile:

thanks

Reply 6

strai8

guys,
So far I have not gone thru the case, I will post something as soon as I do that.

Reply 7

PPF

Any help on this unit?? Any analysis of case study etc??

Reply 8

Pallas Athena

We have received a revision toolkit would have put it up but it's not in soft copy! It helps a little. The rest i think we'll just have to research!
Any notes will be appreciated guys.

Reply 9

jaya44

Original post by sneha.vag

We have received a revision toolkit would have put it up but it's not in soft copy! It helps a little. The rest i think we'll just have to research!
Any notes will be appreciated guys.

Can you please upload the toolkit. Thank you :colondollar:

Reply 10

Nitharka

Original post by sneha.vag

We have received a revision toolkit would have put it up but it's not in soft copy! It helps a little. The rest i think we'll just have to research!
Any notes will be appreciated guys.

Will u b able to atleast scan and upload that revision toolkit?

Reply 11

Nitharka

I hope one of either 20/30 mrks would be based on ratio since Contingency planning is already tested in the jan 2012 paper..... :smile:

Definetely Cuture,ethics,mission statement,tat whole chapter would be tested in the 7th Question..... :cool:

Reply 12

PPF

I reckon the q6/7 will be this: toyota has a gearing of 44.4% evaluate whether or not toyota should develop its markets?

Reply 13

Pallas Athena

That's the thing i do not have a scanner! I would have if i did!
Look at the toyota global website and look at the global vision bit, is in the toolkit.

Reply 14

Nitharka

r u people ready to go for it? :afraid:

Reply 15

Nitharka

Original post by sneha.vag

That's the thing i do not have a scanner! I would have if i did!
Look at the toyota global website and look at the global vision bit, is in the toolkit.

thnx for ur help....hope u wuld do very well & best of luck.. :smile:

Reply 16

Nitharka

Im sooooo nervous..... :eek:

,bt
excited,tooo......
Anywys,wish u all a gud luck in duin this exam :smile:

Reply 17

deex

im so scared for this exam but i found a great website for analysing the case study

Reply 18

PPF

How many people taking this exam? Let's share answers here specifically section B ones as this is the bulk of the marks.

Reply 19

PPF

7 *(a) Evaluate the usefulness of business contingency planning to Toyota.

Contingency planning is when firms make back up plans in case of a crisis which could affect physical, financial or even human resources.

Contingency planning would be rather useful to Toyota and this is because it will help them react quicker to potentially damaging events for example the safety problems associated with the faulty pedals. However if Toyota had a contingency plan such as the product recall in place prior to the actual problem then they could react much faster and therefore reduce any ill effects such as lawsuits, fines and compensation claims. More so it would reduce the negative media coverage through pressure groups which may of have portrayed a negative image on Toyota and so reduced sales. With a contingency plan however quicker reaction would prevent these events and so reduce costs of dealing with legal and public claims.

Secondly as Toyota would react more effectively rather than a long silence as was the case with Toyota. Toyota customers would feel more assured and cared for which would further enhance brand loyalty and image increasing future sales and prospects however without a contingency plan customers may feel as if they are receiving rather poor after sales service and may switch brands in the long run which is rather simple considering the high level of competition in the market and so Toyota’s must keep back up plans to safeguard their future sales.

Thirdly Toyota is a rather large corporation and so have a great deal of expertise within and so a contingency plan can be easily produced without having a major impact on their resources and so Toyota should have a contingency plan to improve the core of the business for example contingency planning will force managers to look ahead and so they can more easily spot any downturns or shortcomings for example with finances etc and so could arrange for something such as loans beforehand to give the firm’s business portfolio greater stability and so increase shareholder investment

However in evaluation there are many unforeseen eventualities in business such as the Tsunami which was not predicted and so this had a massive negative impact on Toyotas such as damage to stocks, supply chains etc and so led to great production disruption hence contingency plans aren’t always useful as firms are always vulnerable to economic or natural shocks hence they must try to improve their focus on quality from the beginning to prevent the need for any contingency which also involves opportunity cost for example rather than paying to create a contingency plan they could improve quality checks in the production process which has certainty in improving Toyotas products and future whereas the crisis planned for may never actually occur.

Secondly contingency planning could actually increase costs for Toyota such as storing more components in case of the need for a recall etc and this goes against their corporate culture of lean production trying to minimize the holding of stock etc and so this will further raise costs and reduce profits for Toyota as they will need more storage space, more admin costs and if the parts are not needed and become obsolete this will lead to wastage and so further cut profit through increased costs for Toyota’s.

In conclusion contingency planning has many pros and cons but in the scenario of a firm like Toyota a contingency plan is very useful and should be used and this is because Toyota is a very large MNC with a huge customer base and therefore cannot afford negative coverage to reduce these sales as Toyota is a mass market producer and so needs very large customer bases and a contingency plan will ensure that these customers are retained which is a difficult task considering the level of competition in the market and for a firm as big as Toyota a contingency plan would be rather easy to prepare and will give greater future stability.

Considering Toyota’s MOPS a contingency plan seems to be even more important as there market objectives were growth and when trying to push for growth a backup plan is even more important as there are many negative possibilities such as diseconomies of scale etc and so they should have created a plan. Secondly the cars with the faulty pedals were the hybrids which are new technologies and so Toyota has less experience with these and so there are increased risk possibilities and so making a backup plan even more valuable. In addition considering that Toyotas core competencies are quality and reliability a backup plan is crucial as this separates Toyota from the rest and so it should ensure that it keeps this advantage as it gains them many sales over other firms hence it’s important to protect this distinctive capability or else sales could fall.

I know its a batty answer but i have very little practice with section B. Its too hard.
You guys post your answers to so when can improve our answers and grades hopefully!