Ford and Toyota Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Ford and Toyota - Case Study Example B. Toyota management recognizes that employees must sense that effort will pay off in terms of performance, that it is highly correlated with performance and that higher effort will yield better performance. Toyota management changed job design and introduced new reward system for its production department (Toyota 2007). The stronger the perceived correlation, the stronger the motivation (Armstrong 2001). If the employee has adequate ability and the job is designed well, then performance is solely dependent on the level of motivation. In order to improve performance, Assuming ability and job design were in order, high motivation became a necessary and sufficient condition for high performance. Armstrong (2001) underlines that if employees know their ability is high and the design of their job is "top notch," then high performance is perceived as indeed possible and perceived to depend on their efforts. The aim of this change was to create an environment where employees perceive that they have and can easily acquire knowledge and new skills to perform. C. The strategies implemented by the management helped Toyota to reduce resistance to change and create skillful workforce able to cope with the new changes and deliver quality articles. It helped employees build their self-confidence and showed employees that their skills, abilities, and traits were compatible with job requirements. In order for employees to exert high effort, they saw a good reason for it and knew that there were benefits to it. The new policies allowed employees to sense that performance pays off and yielded a desired positive outcome (Toyota 2007) Ford A. Similar to Toyota, Ford is subjected to new environmental regulations and new standards. Ford also introduced hydrogen-powered car but the main problems faced by the company were skills shortage and lack of knowledge in this sphere. Ford management expected that much ability and skill improvement would come from self-initiated activities. Employees did not have to wait for formal training programs to be offered by the company (Ford 2007). According to Campbell (1997) if formal training is not offered, employees must be given ample time to engage in self-development activities. Employees who get into routines of continually engaging in activities designed to improve ability are more likely to sense that they are keeping pace with the ever-increasing demands made of workers in today's constantly changing technological and economic environments. They are likely to have more confidence that they are keeping current in their knowledge and skills. B. In order to solve this problem, Ford introduced on-job training programs for engineers and production workers. When workers were not engaged in actual production, they practiced their skills with simulations if such opportunities were made available. Good simulations were developed for almost any type of job, factory labor, office, managerial, and so forth. These strategies are important because well-designed practice which provides workers with rapid, accurate feedback on how they are doing and on what they need to do to correct deficiencies can lead to high levels of proficiency as exercises are repeated over and over again (Campbell 1997). Apprenticeships and understudy training programs allowed workers to observe the performance of an expert and "try out" the