Toyota

          In the 1930’s, right after the stock market crash in the U. S.,  Japan began production of the Toyota automobile manufacturing operation. Sakichi Toyoda applied the concept of stopping equipment automatically for better quality control. To improve production, Toyoda’s son, Kiichiro Toyoda, traveled to the United States to study Henry Ford’s operation and returned to Japan to adopt Ford’s assembly line into Toyota. Kiichiro added conservation of materials by limiting quantities of only items needed in the exact time that the items were needed, therefore laying the groundwork for the just in time production (JIT) system of manufacturing (History of Toyota).

        The behavioral control system has direct supervision where managers take corrective action as soon as possible. Managers supervise employees so they can increase skill levels. This can motivate employees and promote behaviors that increase efficiency and effectiveness. But this method can have many disadvantages. It can be very expensive because the manager can only manage a small number of employees effectively. This can demotivate employees if they feel they are being observed too closely and not able to make their own decisions. They may avoid responsibility because the manager is waiting in the wings ready to reprimand them at any moment.

       There are 3 steps to behavioral controlled management by exception which evaluates ability to achieve goals and performance standards to meet budgets.  Step one: goals are established and targets are set. Step two: managers and employees sit together to put together goals and determine appropriate goals within a certain budget.  Step 3: managers and employees sit together to evaluate progress. In cross functional teams this is a very effective method.  Managers ask each team to develop goals and targets and then they negotiate to establish its final goals and budget. In behavioral controlled management the performance is based on the group and if one member of the group fails they all fail. This technique examines what is good for the ‘family’ as a whole and success is achieved within the family. The Eastern country of Japanese holds these values in their society and within they daily lives. 

      The last objective in the behavior control is bureaucratic control. Bureaucratic control is controlling an organization by rules.  There are disadvantages to bureaucratic control. There can become too much red tape, decision making slows down and managers react slowly to changing conditions and there can be a reduction in of learning which can be detrimental for a company.

       Output control has 4 major themes: efficiency, quality, innovation, and responsiveness to customers. These 4 themes are achieved through output control measures on all levels from corporate, to divisional, to functional, down to each individual worker. Toyota uses the output control system by having their system referred to as “The Toyota Way”. The principles of the Toyota Way include a total of 14 points that all parts of the corporation is expected to follow.  These points include: one use a long term philosophy, two create a continuous process to bring problems to the surface right away, three use the "pull" system of production to avoid overproduction, four level out the workload,  and five build a culture to get quality right the first time.

      Six standardized tasks are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment; seven use visual control so no problems are hidden, eight use reliable, thoroughly tested technology, and nine grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy and role model to teach others; ten develop exceptional people and teams; eleven respect extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve; twelve seek out how to thoroughly understand the situation; thirteen make decisions by consensus, thoroughly considering all options and  implement decisions rapidly and fourteen become a learning organization through relentless reflection and continuous improvement (Kaizen). 
      Every corporation has different philosophies that they incorporate from both the behavioral and output theories of management.   Considering Eastern culture I support the idea that Japan within the Toyota car making manufacturing uses predominantly behavioral strategies. It is self-evident that the management style that Toyota uses is successful and profitable.

 Works Cited

   History of Toyota. (2013). Retrieved from http://toyotageorgetown.com/history.asp