World’s Largest Vehicle Manufactures

Toyota Motor Corporation is Japanese globally automaker headquartered in, Japan. Toyota Motor Corporation has about 325,905 employees working worldwide and was third-largest automobile manufacture in 2011 by production behind General Motors and Volkswagen Group. Toyota Motor Corporation is in top eleventh largest company in the world by revenue. The world’s largest vehicle manufactures, Toyota Car Company was having issues with recall. This issue is going around all over the world as well as in USA, Europe and China. This issue makes the consumer loss their confidence and as well as corporate image dropped. Toyota Motor Corporation their recall was nearly one million vehicles around the world, on top to replace damaged parts that could cause drivers to lose control of the steering wheel. There were total of 10 models affected, including the popular Prius. Prius recall more than 200,000. Due to defective gas pedals Toyota lost a lot of customers. But, to be in market and not to lose customer they are still in game.

Toyota Motor Corporation blamed that the floor mats was the problem, then it came to the gas pedal was the actual cause. But, when car owners they don’t know personally what was causing the gas pedal to accelerate and stick, without releasing. Not only Toyota had recall problems, but cars like Honda and Nissan recall over 3 million vehicles globally due to air bag problems. Not only these two cars had recall problems with their airbag, Toyota recall 1.3 million cars due to this airbag problem. Toyota FJ Cruiser recall affects seat belt retractors on 209,000 vehicles. Still, the numbers are getting bigger and bigger.

To chase the maximum profit and cost minimization, suppliers pay more attention on how to reduce cost. By using raw materials quality Toyota Motor Corporation was over confidence with their suppliers, that they changed their design without taking permission. Toyota Motor Corporation their biggest suppliers changed the pedal design that leading to the pedal problem.

Toyota Motor Corporation lack of an effective quality control cause them recall happening. They did not do enough test of their design before they produced. Their biggest mistake was they did not use quality check after the production they did not even do better quality check. This is a big embarrassment for the world’s largest automobile manufacture, that lack of negligence and having over confidence could cause them big problem in future.

Now the big question is that, let’s see that tomorrow morning you sit in your car to drive to work or anywhere and you are driving, down the road and suddenly you notice that your car breaks are not working fine. What would be your reaction? Are you still going to keep buying the same car brand you were buying before? What do you think that Toyota Motor Corporation should do to keep their name back in world’s largest automobile manufacture?

Sources:

  1. http://www.caranddriver.com/news/toyota-recall-scandal-media-circus-and-stupid-drivers-editorial
  2. http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/05/news/toyota-recall/index.html
  3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota
  4. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/money/toyota-recalls-2-17-million-cars-jammed-accelerator-pedals-article-1.135025
  5. http://crownheights.info/general/25720/toyota-recalls-sienna-minivans/
  6. http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/toyota_motor_corporation/index.html

 

My Zynga! How does one fall so fast?

Words With Friends. FarmVille. Scramble With Friends. We’ve all heard or played these games, or we have watched our friends on Facebook or Twitter interact with these games. These games are created by Zynga, a company that is nearly six years old based in San Francisco, California. This past week Zynga’s CEO Mark Pincus announced an 18% job cut for employees throughout the gaming company.

Who or what could possibly be the cause of such an 18% job cut? Pincus, in his blog announcement, acknowledged the fact that Zynga has struggled with adapting and entering the mobile space like many other companies. Larger companies, such as Facebook, have also admittedly publicly to have struggled to get a firm grasp on the market that caters to smaller devices that have smaller screens where users expect a fast, seamless and intuitive experience – with less ads. Is this lack of leadership on Pincus’? Or could it be Zynga’s lack of innovation?

This move to lean the company is certainly one thing – focusing on the future. By decreasing the size of the company today, Zynga was able to fairly compensate the newly departed associates. By making this move now, Pincus believes that Zynga is saving money in the long run. He believes making the deep cuts now will allow Zynga to take the risks it was once able to take before it expanded.

There are many similarities in this recent move by Zynga, and the the past few recent years of Chicago based, Groupon. These small start-up online companies expand exponentially all too quickly which brings up the questions, is it lack of leadership? One difference between Zynga and Groupon is that Pincus acknowledging the issues, and addressing them head on from the get go where as it can be argued that Groupon’s first CEO (yet to be replaced), Andrew Mason, failed to take the initiative to help his company early on. Mason, after months of criticism, left by similar fashion – a blog letter written to employees riddled with his off-based humor.

Companies that scale too quickly can easily lose their focus and their identity. Pincus is taking a risk to help his company in the long run. It is a difficult decision to make, but could potentially be the right one to correct Zynga’s projection path. Do think Pincus is making the right move?

http://blog.zynga.com/2013/06/03/ceo-update-4/

Preventive Vs. Corrective

pillsWhile flipping through Pharmaceutical Manufacturing magazine at work, I found an article about what pharmaceutical companies are doing in order to improve quality. The author, Doug Bartholomew, gives reasons why he believes pharmaceutical manufacturing companies are resistant to making changes in the article, “Proactive Compliance: Putting the “P” in CAPA”. CAPA is short for corrective and preventive action, the different processes and systems that are used in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry in order to ensure quality by providing basic guidelines on identifying, fixing, and preventing the problem in the future..

A lot of the topics that are covered in the article are related to what we have gone over in class. Continuous improvement is difficult for pharma manufacturing companies because of the regulations that are to assure quality. Just like it is time consuming and expensive to be certified, or registered, to meet one of the quality systems we have learned about in class, the same applies to the different quality standards that are set up in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. Pharma manufactures shy away from making changed to their processes because every little change that is made has to be re-certified.

Over the past decades, pharma manufacturing companies have started to realize the importance of continuous improvement. Bartholomew quotes K.R. Karu, who is the industry solutions director at the quality management and CAPA system distributer, Sparta Systems; on what the manufacturing companies need to do to ensure high quality levels. One of Karu’s suggestions was to consider Juran’s quality thinking of having quality already built in to the process. Since quality is already built into the process, companies only need to monitor the process. Through inspection manufacturers should be able to find or come up with possible problems, and make changes to prevent them from ever happening.

The definition on CAPA is not completely understood the some throughout the industry. Every company interprets the guidelines differently. Preventative measures would be easier to accomplish if there were more guidelines were more descriptive. In the article it says that the problem is the “preventative” measures have all come about because of a “corrective” actions.  A pure example of a preventative measure that is given is the installation of  “state of the art” production line equipment so the number of errors can be reduced. A corrective action would be to update, and/or repair, older equipment after a problem arises, in order to reduce the number of manufacturing errors.  They are working on coming up with preventative measures that are truly preventative, making sure something that is unforeseen does not go wrong.

 

What are some ideas that you have that could improve the confusion between “corrective” verses “preventing” for CAPA?

http://www.pharmamanufacturing.com/articles/2013/1305_Proactive_Compliance.html#

Six Sigma, gone Bad.

SixSigma

“What do weight-loss plans and process-improvement programs such as Six Sigma and “lean manufacturing” have in common?” They article starts off with this quote, referring that diet plans and six sigma plans do indeed fail at one point or another. The companies that use Six Sigma normally start of with huge goals and aspirations of putting these plans into operation, but just like a failing diet these companies tend to go back to their old ways. Many companies around the world embrace this business management such as Six Sigma; however, a recent study shows “that nearly 60% of all corporate Six Sigma initiatives fail to yield the desired results.”  This is where we begin to ask ourselves if it’s actually worth investing in a plan if 60% of the companies who do it aren’t coming up with the results that they wanted. The articles diagnosis this problem into three stages, “stretching, yielding, and failing.”

So let’s start off by talking about what they call the “stretching phase.” The process can be defined similarly to a metal spring analogy. “When a metal spring is pulled initially, the material stretches to accommodate the increase in pressure.” They compare these metal spring to people in a business process. Initially people at any process in the business will bend and stretch to make things happen. I also agree with this because when you are new to a job or trying a new process you are initially willing to do whatever it takes to try and make it work. Most teams in any business are generally excited and willing to learn the new process, such as Six Sigma. Normally at this stage in the process managers will implement a “to-do” list will let employees know what is exactly expected out of them. When the employees reached all of their goals on the “to-do” list they were rewarded and the project is normally ruled a success. I believe this is where we can see one downfall. Rewarding employees can be successful, but if you keep doing it over and over and don’t increase the expectations or continue to manage you teams, I believe failure is inevitable.

The second phase the article is called the “yielding phase.” The phase can be defined as, “If a metal spring continues to be pulled, there will come a point when the material yields as it struggles to support the increase in pressure. Though still intact, the spring becomes permanently deformed, stretched out.” They compare this to management at a company switching from one project to another. When management switches to another project more times than none the team that lost the management from the Six Sigma managers slowly begins to lose site of their goals and begin to slip back into their old ways. At this point in the phase teams begin to loose sight of the end goal and being to focus to much on their individuals efforts. The teams that lost the Six Sigma management slowly began to crack under the pressure.

The third and final phase in this article is the failing stage. Using the metal example this stage is defined as, “Over time, pulling will cause the material in one area of the metal spring to narrow, creating a neck that becomes smaller and smaller until it is unable to sustain any pressure at all. At this point breaks into pieces.” When the Six Sigma management team leaves, employees at company’s becomes discouraged and eventually begin performing poorly and than fail returning into their own ways.

After reading this article, I begin to wonder if the Six Sigma program is actually worth it? What do you think?

Should a company invest money into this program, if 60% of the companies end up returning to normal ways?

How could companies prevent this program from failing?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703298004574457471313938130.html

http://www.isixsigma.com/new-to-six-sigma/getting-started/what-six-sigma/

The Pinky and the Brain Couldn’t Do It, But Android Has… Over the World of Technology That Is!

As the title of the referred article suggests, Android really is everywhere… you just don’t realize it. Not only is Google’s Android the number one mobile operating system currently out there, but Android is in just about anything with a computer chip and is becoming the standard for operating systems in smart devices. As more devices with the Android operating system hit the market, Google is continually widening the gap between its competitors, Microsoft and Apple, and is making its home as the dominant software player in the tech device world.

So how does Google’s Android tie into quality?

source: www.giantbomb.com

One of the things that we learned in class is how important quality is to consumers. In the end, your product does not really matter. It all comes down to customer satisfaction and delivering on the fulfillment of their needs. In a sense, this is what Google has done through Android. This open source software can easily be manipulated by virtually anyone to get just about anything to do whatever they want it to. Users are not limited to certain functionalities already pre-decided by the makers of the operating system, but instead allow consumers to keep their freedom of choice and allow them to act upon them. In the end, consumers fulfill their own needs and end up with their own unique, customized product.

This not only allows for Google to keep its current customers from switching to competitors, but Google is also benefiting from expanding its consumer base to include individuals who like to experiment with technology. As more consumers join the Android community and take the operating system into their own hands by modifying its uses and capabilities, Google is getting developers to make their product better and its application vast. And it is all done free.

Android isn’t just popular with consumers, but also with hardware and software companies. As its popularity has increased and its dominance established in the market, Android is becoming a standard for devices. More and more hardware and software companies are becoming “Android experts” to ensure that their products are compatible with the software.

By allowing its software to be easily accessible and modified by anyone, it is no wonder that Google’s Android has risen in popularity so quickly and widespread.  Although many companies, such as Apple and Microsoft, strive to keep their product’s formulas secret in order stay ahead of the competition, Google has proven that doing the exact opposite can be done. Not only that, but that one can benefit from it as well.

Personally, I think that what Google allows to be done with Android should be applicable to other devices. As an Android user who took advantage of making my phone better to suit my preferences, I am a big fan. On the other hand, Apple’s I-phone has left me wondering why I ever made the switch.

What do you think? How will Android affect the future of technology and the way products are being deployed?

 

Source:

Vance, Ashlee. “Behind the ‘Internet of Things’ Is Android—and It’s Everywhere.” Bloomberg Businessweek. 30 May 2013. http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-05-29/behind-the-internet-of-things-is-android-and-its-everywhere#p1

Are Super-size Smartphones the New Tablets?

Over the years, the sizes of smartphones are getting bigger and bigger. Designers are beginning to create phones with the idea of the bigger the better. The best sellers for smartphones are the ones with the larger screens. The resolution for the screen is as high as 1080p. Smartphones are becoming the size of tablets. This means small tablets can soon replace smartphones by implementing it with the same functions.

For example, Android smartphones have grown in size over the years, from “4 inches, quickly followed by 4.3 inches and 4.5 inches, and now up to 5 inches and even beyond” (Tofel 2). Android created their products according to their consumers’ desires. The majority of the people wanted larger screens of “4.5 inch display or larger” (Tofel 2), which made using it more enjoyable. Most people use their phones for web browsing rather than to use it for calls. A larger smartphone means users will need to hold it with two hands. The convenience and mobility of using it with two hands is not a problem, because most people use it while they are sitting down. The majority of the consumers want larger screens, which is about 77% of the people. What about the other 23% of the consumers who do not desire the large screens? Android will lose about 23% of their consumers to their competitors with smaller phones available.

The growth of smartphone functions has made it necessary to increase the screen size. The more functions that are put into the phone, the more pixels are needed for the graphics to look visually good. Research has shown that most consumers’ ideal good quality smartphone are the ones that offer the most functions and has the largest screen. It is also viewed as a better value for their money. The dimensions of quality define this as user-based. It is the products with the desired attributes that satisfies the consumers’ needs the most. In this case, smartphone consumers want more functions and a larger screen. The product attributes only meet the needs of majority of the consumers. Android phones are designed to appeal to the majority and neglecting those who do not want a larger screen. The problem with this is that, not all consumers want the same product attributes. The quality is determined by the consumer’s needs and wants them self.  The product attributes need to meet the customer’s expectations for them to be satisfied.

As a consumer myself, if a phone can do more than other phones can for the same price, it would be considered a better deal. The size of the phone does matter to me, as it has to fit in my pocket for convenience. I would prefer to have a smaller phone than a larger phone that requires two hands to hold. My idea of a good quality phone is different from other consumers because it has to fit my needs. The quality of a product is subjective and every consumer’s needs and wants are different.

 

Questions:

  • What is your idea of a good quality phone?
  • Is it true that most smartphone consumers want bigger screens?
  • Do you think tablets will soon be replaced by smartphones?

 

Articles:

Don’t cut that cord just yet!

 

These days it feels like every tech company is trying to get inside your living room. In years past it has been the cable companies who have had a major hold but as streaming services like Netflix and Hulu Plus are becoming much more accessible and a TV war is looming. One company trying to merge the cable and streaming industry is Fanhattan.

Leading up to now having both services is often a very conflicting proposition. Not only do you have to pay for two separate services, but it is such hassle to switch between them. If you are watching a sports game with cable but you want to switch to Netflix to watch a movie, you have to change the inputs on your TV and (if applicable) your surround sound. And if you would ask my parents to do that, they’d rather do open heart surgery than learn how TV inputs work.

Over the past few years Fan TV has designed and built a product that should remedy these issues. They have made their own set top box that connects straight to the internet and will allow you to run both cable and streaming services off one box. Not only will this make switching between the two much easier but it will also give you the ability to only have one box next to your TV. Another one of the company’s goals is to make finding programing easier. If you think about how cable companies have their channels set up now, it is just organized by a giant list of channels that you have to scroll through to get to the channel you want to watch. With Fan TV you can set it up like that, or more how Netflix and Hulu do it, which is sorting based on programming. Also if you were watching normal TV and wanted to switch to Netflix, the transition would be seamless.

The biggest hurdle that faces Fan TV is if they can get the cable companies to provide an internet stream of their content. They have not announced who their partners might be but I think it is in the best interest of the cable companies to adopt something new and fresh since they have had roughly the same type of box for the past 10 years, while their streaming competitors have been innovating much more.

Obviously one of the biggest indicators of quality is customer specifications and one of the qualities that customers look for these days is innovation. Clearly over the past 10 years the TV landscape has changed dramatically and it has been the new streaming services that have been the biggest innovators. Hopefully Fan TV can work with the cable companies to solve this issue and become more appealing to their demanding customers.

Do you think that cable companies are lacking compared to newer streaming services?

Do you think something like Fan TV could help keep cable companies current? Sources:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/30/4380108/fantv-set-top-box-fanhattan

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/05/30/new-fan-tv-control/2372721/

Beer Can Fan

Have you noticed over the past couple years all the innovation that has been swirling around beer cans? It all started with Coor’s Light and their vented can and their mountains that turned blue when they were just chilled enough to get consumed. At first, Coor’s Light caught some flack for introducing such innovations to their beer can, but it seems that competing companies such as Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing Co. are also trying to get in on the mix.

Coor’s Light started this innovation craze by introducing their “vented” and “cold activated” can. Recently they have introduced their new double vented can which is quite hilarious. It seems that Coor’s Light is even aware of this hilarity as they put out commercials that are seemingly mocking their new innovations. Not to be left behind, Budweiser is introducing the latest innovation with their “Bow tie” can. It is designed with a kink in the middle of the opening to allow for easier drinking. The interesting thing about this can is that it actually holds less beer than their traditional can. Another smaller competitor, the Boston Beer Company ,which brews Samuel Adams, reportedly spent over a million dollars in trying to design their own innovative can.

It is interesting to see all these brewing companies investing so much into providing so many innovations when in reality it does not change the actual product that is being consumed. Beer seems to be a product that is defined simply by consumers choosing it for its user-based and value-based aspects of quality. There is no secret to why people buy beer. Top executives at Anheuser-Busch are claiming that with their innovations they are trying to target consumers who are “trend-setters” and like to be ahead of the curve. Surely the companies realize they they are not changing the product, but instead trying to differentiate it by adding to the experience of drinking. By adding certain innovative features to the can, companies are trying to add quantities to their product attributes. In reality, the actual beer is the primary product and its primary characteristics are not being changed or altered by the changes being made to all these different beer cans. If anything, the changes to the beer cans appeal to the dimension aspect of quality since they are creating additional secondary characteristics for a simple can. Adding features that supposedly allow for easier, faster, and colder drinking does not change what the end result will be from consuming beer out of these innovative cans.

Next time you find yourself ordering a beer, keep in mind that the new can you might have in your hand has been designed to help you with your beer drinking experience.

 

 

http://business.time.com/2013/05/11/my-beer-can-is-better-than-yours-aluminum-can-ovations-for-better-beer-drinking/

Hospitals Competing For Your $atisfaction

Screen Shot 2013-05-30 at 5.38.24 PM

The chief executive officer of a Florida hospital decided to go undercover. He did not shave for two days, he put on a baseball cap, and pretended to be sick. The plan was part of an effort by HCA Holdings, to find out what it’s really like to be one of its customers. He was able to see things and have the experiences the way patients do.

This was done because hospitals across the U.S. are attempting to make patient stays more pleasant. Since the government is willing to give out almost $1 billion this year in bonus Medicare payments. The government will award it to those that meet Washington’s expectations.  The way this will be determined is by asking patients whether their room was comfortable, if it was quiet at night, and how well their pain was controlled. Estimates of how much hospitals may get aren’t yet available, but high evaluations could mean millions of dollars for hospitals.

“Asking patients directly is the best way to measure care,” says Patrick Conway, chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It may not lower death rates but it may at least result in better bedside manner. The Cleveland Clinic use noise meters to make sure the hallways in the hospital are quiet at night and they do role-playing for doctors to improve their communication skills with patients. HCA is encouraging hospital executives to pose as secret patients to spot flaws that could lead to low rankings. All this effort is in hope to may make patients dread hospitals less.

It is important for this to be achieved because they are providing a service in hope that the patients expectations are exceeded. It does not always need to be achieved by having an illness cured but the ease and sensibility of the procedure is very important. Therefore, to me empathy is one of the most important service dimensions out of the five, when my dentist told me I had to have my wisdom teeth surgically removed I was afraid of the procedure since it would be my first surgery. In seeing my reaction the dentist communicated with me that everything would be fine and the way he spoke to me made me feel that he cared about how I would feel in his chair, making me less afraid of my procedure. Overall I believe hospitals should improve their service so it is a pleasant experience from the  moment you enter to the moment you step out.

Questions to think about

What are some things you wish hospitals would improve?

Have you had any bad experiences at hospitals?

Which of the five service dimensions are most important to you?

 

 

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-01-31/hospitals-chase-medicares-performance-based-bonuses

http://serviceperformance.com/the-5-service-dimensions-all-customers-care-about/

 

 

Bringing It All to Bob’s Home

Bob Dylan

“Twenty years of schoolin’, and they put you on the day shift” – Bob Dylan. However, perhaps some of us are contemplating the merits of blazing a different, renegade trail post-graduation, such as starting one’s own business. Nevertheless, before choosing to become your own boss and forming your own firm it would be sagacious to consider the historical examples of other start-up entrepreneurs. Subsequently, as Richard Branson’s story has been told and talked about nearly as much as “The Night Before Christmas;” I would like to direct your attention to the tale of Martin Newman. Newman is both an architect and designer; whose firm has serviced many of California’s most prominent, famous residents. Hence, we can see from studying Martin Newman’s practice that the 5 Dimensions of Service Quality (Tangibles, Reliability, Responsiveness, Assurance, and Empathy) are integral to his approach.

Newman’s first famous client, who would open up the floodgates for Newman’s future famous clientele, was none other than Bob Dylan. Newman got hooked up with Dylan after Dylan’s wife at the time, Sara Lownds (think Dylan’s song “Sara”), spotted one of Newman’s custom coats, designed after historic Indian blankets. Lownds requested that Newman travel to her Malibu home and measure Bob and herself for coats of their own. Newman complied with Lownd’s request, which in turned opened the door for Newman to travel with Dylan throughout his Rolling Thunder Tour designing props, outfits, and instruments. Consider how Newman took the time to personally travel to the Dylan residence for their coat measurements; this demonstrates a caring and personalized approach which comprises the service dimension of “Empathy.”

The Rolling Thunder Tour was not the end of Newman and Dylan’s relationship. After the tour, Dylan commissioned Newman to design and manage the construction of his new home. At this point we observe, Newman utilize the dimensions of “Responsiveness” and “Tangibles.” Prior to breaking ground on the mansion, Newman went through books of classical arcs with Dylan; who suggested that Newman construct examples of all the different types of arc. Of course, Newman was very “responsive” to Dylan’s request and in turn designed, “a real castle…whale-watching room…cathedral room, a story telling room.” Likewise, Newman was not a one man operation, but he was simply the leader of a very “tangible” group of artisans. Despite Dylan’s mansion containing a hodgepodge of designs; overall, the house signifies the Spanish Missionary theme common to Southern California. This plays to the service dimension of “Reliability” in that Newman was able to design the house to fit the Spanish overarching theme, because Newman’s stated niche was, “Pre-World War II Spain.”

After successfully finishing Dylan’s house, Newman went on to complete projects for Sam Elliot, song writer Billy Steinberg, and the dynamic musicians from the Eagles: Don Henley and Bernie Leadon. Newman would not have been able to design and build all these miniature “Hotel California’s” if he did not do such a tremendous job on Dylan’s home. This is because after successfully designing Dylan’s house of many colors; Newman was able to offer “Assurance” to the rest of his clients that he had the willingness and expertise to offer a unique and wonderful design service for them. Thus, Newman has been able to build himself a lifelong career, leading him from one A list celebrity to the next, due to his talent and adherence to the “5 Dimensions of Service Quality.”

Sources:

http://variety.com/2013/more/features/bob-dylan-house-designer-1200406286/#respond

Picture Courtesy of:

http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/23/4252320/folk-singer-and-songwriter-bob.html