Mazda's Global Presence and Impact

Section 1: Analysis of a company’s strategic position

A brief overview of the organization

Mazda Motor Corporation is one of the highly known organizations in the automotive industry. The organization has its base in Japan but is operating in the majority of the countries across the world. In the year 2015, Mazda was found to be the fifteenth largest company in the world (Mazda.com, 2018). The organization was founded in the year 1920 and accounts for employing more than 46000 employees worldwide. As per the year 2016, Mazda manufactured more than 1.2 million automobile units in the world. As far as a vision of the organization is considered, Mazda has following visions as described on their official website. “We love cars and want people to enjoy fulfilling lives through cars. We envision cars existing sustainably with the earth and society, and we will continue to tackle challenges with creative ideas” (Mazda.com, 2018).

Brighten people’s lives through car ownership.

Offer cars that are sustainable with the earth and society to more people.

Embrace challenges and seek to master the Doh (“Way” or “Path”) of creativity.

Tools and techniques to analyze drivers of change

There are some tools and techniques to determine the drivers of change in Mazda, these analytical tools for internal as well as the external environment of the organization are explained in the following manner.

The internal environment of the organization

Porter’s five force analysis for Mazda

Bargaining power of buyers: The Internal business environment of Mazda is highly affected by the bargaining power of the buyers of the organization. It is found that change leaders in the organizations have to set the prices by the prefer abilities of the customers (Barbara and Swailes, 2010). As described by Peter Birtwhistle, former chief designer of Mazda in Germany, buyers demand to specific designs highly can change the functionality of the organizations and its objectivity.

Bargaining power of suppliers: As far as bargaining power of suppliers is considered for a change in Mazda, it can be said that the organization has to depend upon its suppliers to attain the material and raw supplies. Negotiations made by Mazda with its suppliers and their conditions for trade can be a source of change. For this reason, it becomes essential for the organization to comply with the policies and approaches of their suppliers resulting in a change in strategies and plans.

Competitive rivalry: One of the prominent drivers of change in the internal environment of the organization is the competition. The study reveals that change managers in Mazda are required to focus continuously on the approaches considered by their rivals (Cameron and Green, 2015). This is one of the significant factors that are accountable for bringing frequent changes in the organization.

The threat of substitution: It is also an important factor in Mazda’s internal business market. Customers acquired by the organization can switch to the automobile products of other companies upon finding a suitable design as described by Peter Birtwhistle. For this reason, change managers in the organization have to bring innovation and new approaches in the manufacturing of automobiles.

The threat of new entry: Along with other change drivers in the internal environment of Mazda, a new entrant in the automobile industry can also raise the need for change to the organization.

This way, various change drivers exist in an internal environment of Mazda that can trigger a change in the organization.

The external environment of the organization

PESTLE analysis

Political factors: various political factors present in Germany can raise the need of change in Mazda. Various policies set by the government in the country can allow the change managers in the organization to consider new approaches and practices to raise the profitability and productivity (Cawsey et al., 2011). Along with this, government interventions in organizational policies can result in the development of strategies to comply with emerging changes.

Economic factors: Various economic factors in Germany can bring change in the organizational policies of Mazda. These factors include currency value in the country, the excellence of the organization in stock markets and many others. Financial parameters can allow the managers in Mazda to make changes in the financial policies of the organization.

Social factors: it is also one of the prominent external factors associated with Mazda that can raise the need for change. Choices and preferabilities made by the people living in Germany can allow the change managers in the organization to produce more appealing designs (Daft and Marcic, 2010). This way, it can be analyzed that social factors can be considered as a driver of change in Mazda.

Technological factors: These factors can also raise the need for change in the organization. With the emergence of new technology in the automobile industry, change managers in Mazda are required to make more efficient automobiles such as speeding cars, luxury provided and many others.

Environmental factors: These factors in Mazda include focusing on emission levels of the automobiles to ensure compatibility of the organization with environmental policies in Germany and many others.

Legal factors: These factors in Mazda include various trade laws set by the government in Germany (Deichmann and Stam, 2015). Fluctuations in cross-border taxes, customs duties and many others can make the strategic and change managers in Mazda to develop new plans and approaches.

Strengths and limitations of tools and techniques used

It can be said that there are certain strengths as well as limitations of the analytical tools considered above, which are explained in the following manner.

Strengths: PESTLE analysis and Porter’s five force analysis are highly effective in evaluating various factors in external as well as the internal environment of Mazda. The tools are helpful in the development of new plans and strategies to mitigate the negative effects of the emerging changes.

Limitations: Some of the limitations associated with PESTLE analytical and Porter’s five force analyses include lack of strategies and leadership plans that are required to be considered by the change managers in the organisation (Koontz and Weihrich, 2010). Change factors can be analyzed in these tools but, information about the line of action and type of leadership cannot be interpreted.

The strategic position of the organization

There is some leadership styles that can be considered by the change managers in Mazda, which are explained in the following manner.

Leadership styles

Autocratic: This type of leadership styles is highly commanding in nature. The top management establishes plans and strategies in organization and employees are required to work on them without raising concern (Yang and Chen, 2010). Employees in autocratic leadership are not included in decision making.

Democratic: This type of leadership style includes employees in decision making. Concerns of the employees are highly considered by the management, and bottom-up approaches are used. Strategies and plans are developed considering the production efficiency of the employees and expectation of the customers.

Situational leadership: This leadership is usually short-term in which decision is taken as per the emerging situations (Oladipo et al., 2013). This type of leadership is highly profit giving in nature to the organizations as there is compliance with the emerging situations.

Laissez-faire Leadership: This leadership is considered the leadership of trust. It is highly suitable for the organizations in which teamwork is essential. Team members trust in the decisions taken by their leaders and consider that all the approaches will eventually benefit them in the future.

Cross-Cultural Leadership: This type of leadership is suitable for the organizations in which employees belonging to more than one cultures work together. Decisions in cross-cultural leadership are taken as per the differences in behaviors of the employees.

Ways to adapt to leadership styles

There can be various ways to adopt leadership styles, which can be considered by change managers and leaders in Mazda. These ways are explained in the following manner.

Motivation is one of the prominent factors that can be helpful in the adaptation of a certain leadership style in Mazda (Lu et al., 2011). The leaders are required to be motivated and convinced that leadership style likely to be adopted will be helpful in achieving the business objectives of the organization.

Consideration of change management plans can also be effective in the adaption of leadership styles. It can be said that change in leadership style can affect how employees are addressed and made to work (Voon et al., (2011). For this reason, change management plans can be helpful in meeting the purpose.

The position of the organization in the sector

As far as the position of Mazda is considered in the automobile sector, it can be said that organization is a fifteenth biggest company in the world, which make it one of the prominent choices made by consumers. Along with this, it is also found that the organization is among the top-rated companies in non-premium brands of automobiles. Despite various top-rated companies in Germany such as Audi, Mercedes, and many others; Mazda has attained a supreme position in the country and has seen the sale of more than 500000 automobile units in Germany. This way, it can be analyzed that Mazda has a supreme position in the automobile industry.

Summary

It can be summarised from the above descriptions that there are several drivers of change in internal as well as the external business environment of Mazda such as economic, social factors and many others. It is also found that change management plans can be effective in adopting the desired leadership style in the organization. Further, Mazda is found to have a supreme position in the automobile industry of Germany despite top rated brands such as Audi and others.

Section 2: Recommendations to the organization

Based on the findings in section 1 of the current report some recommendations can be given to Mazda regarding change management and innovation, some of which are explained in the following manner. It should be focused on the change leaders in Mazda that design procedures in the organization must comply with the innovations that are being made in the company. It can be said that there should be different ideas for innovation in the organization (Pasmore et al., 2013). These ideas should have a great relationship with the designs of the automobiles that will be manufactured by Mazda in its business markets. Another recommendation that is required to be considered by the leaders in Mazda is to negotiate with plans and other only by risk-taking ability, objectives and the power factors. It can be interpreted that not all the actions considered by the change leaders in the organization can provide the required outcomes and results. There can be situations that can affect the implementation of change. For this reason, leaders in the organization must consider the areas that can be negotiated without changing the profitability and excellence of Mazda in its business markets. Another recommendation considerable for the change leaders can be to remain open throughout the process of change and innovation. The leaders are required to consider “Think Out of the Box” strategy to bring fruitful changes in Mazda (Rhoden, 2016). The design is one of the prominent aspects of the automobiles produced in the organization. For this reason, the leaders are required to adopt open-minded approaches for bringing innovation in designs of the automobiles. As far as the integration of organizational culture is considered, it can be said that there should be an essence of cultures of the organization within the innovative and creative approaches of Mazda. Various traditional approaches that have been considered by the organization over a long period should also be a part of innovation. For this reason, the leaders are required to motivate the employees in the direction of integrated innovation. Such approaches can be helpful in maintaining a culture of Mazda as well as targeting the innovation and creative in the designs of automobiles. Along with this, the leaders in Mazda are also supposed to make use of structuring approaches to implement innovation and change within the organization (Sørensen et al., 2011). Structuring here refers to reallocating the goals and teams for attaining the best outcomes in a coordinated manner. Such approaches will be greatly helpful in determining the line of actions that can be considered in implementing changes and motivating practices of innovation.

This way, it can be said that the leaders in Mazda are required to make use of different approaches for the implementation of innovation and change. These approaches may include “Think Out of the Box” strategy, consideration of risk-taking ability and many others. Along with this, there should be the keen focus of the leaders in the organization in maintaining the culture despite using innovative approaches for addressing change.

Section 3: Implementation

Model to support the change process and its implementation

Burke Litwin model

Along with this, it can also be recommended to the leaders in the organization to consider the use of Burke-Litwin model for integrating all the approaches in Mazda and upgrading the organizational processes (Barbara and Swailes, 2010). This model can be effective in analyzing the factors associated with the performance of the organization in internal as well as the external working environment. Not only this, but the model can also allow the leaders to develop a required style of leadership and establish a productive work climate.

Figure 1 depicts a typical diagram of a Burke Litwin Model that can be considered by change and strategic leaders of Mazda. It can be seen in the diagram that the majority of the approaches are interconnected with each other (Cameron and Green, 2015). This way, any change in on the aspect or process of the organization is likely to affect all other processes. Such approaches can result in meaningful innovations in Mazda. Use of Burke Litwin model will allow the leaders in the organization to regulate and manage all the approaches that are recommended along with analysing ther impacts over other processes of Mazda. This way, any vulnerability occurring during the implementation of the change and innovative approaches can be managed effectively without affecting the productivity and excellence of the organisation.

Kurt Lewin model of change implementation

Along with this it uses of change management model can also be recommended to Mazda in which there can be three processes accountable for the leaders. These include unfreezing, change and refreezing, which are explained in the following manner.

Unfreezing: During the process of unfreezing, the change leaders are required to lead the employees to avoid the conventional practices (Cawsey et al., 2011). This is a crucial step in the implementation of change in the organization as the conventional practices in the organization can be neglected to be used in future.

Change: In the process of change, new approaches and plans formulated in Mazda are required to be implemented. Along with the implementation of changed approaches, leaders in Mazda are required to convince the employees and team members that the changes being made will certainly benefit the organization. This way, lesser resistive approaches can be obtained, and the implementation of change can be facilitated.

Refreezing: At last, during the process of refreezing, the change leaders in the organization are supposed to lead the employees familiar with the new approaches (Daft and Marcic, 2010). Over the time new approaches implemented by leaders will be usual for the employees and change will be implemented successfully.

This way, with the use of Burke Litwin and Kurt Lewin models, change inside Mazda can be implemented effectively by the leaders in the organization.

Methods to monitor and evaluate the effects of changes

Along with proper approaches for implementing the change in Mazda, it is also essential to establish a certain monitoring system to track effects of the made changes. Some of the prominent methods that can be considered by leaders for analyzing the effects of the change are explained in the following manner.

Comparison of productivity: it is one of the prominent methods that can be considered by managers and leaders in Mazda to evaluate the effects of changes that are implemented. Since in the implementation of the changes many approaches and practices are likely to alter; therefore, the productivity of the organization will also change to some extent (Deichmann and Stam, 2015). Leaders in Mazda can consider mapping the change by making a comparison between the productivities gained after change implementation and before it. Differences obtained between the two productivities will indicate the success or failure of the changed approaches to meet the organizational objectives.

An internal audit of organization: Another significant method through which the effects of change on Mazda can be evaluated includes carrying out internal audits. Such audits can be helpful in tracking the differences in all the business activities shown by the organization in its business markets of Germany (Koontz and Weihrich, 2010). For this reason, change managers in Mazda can also consider external firms and companies that have specialization in carrying out internal audits.

This way, it can be said that methods of analyzing changes in productivity of Mazda and carrying out internal audits can be helpful in monitoring the effects of made changes in the organization.

Summary of report

The above report is very helpful in concluding that their approaches of creativity and innovation are likely to benefit Mazda by enhancing its strategic positioning in its business markets. It can be said that adherence of design procedures in the organization with the innovative approaches is one of the remarkable approaches through which the organization can fulfill its strategic objectives along with implementing innovations. Such approaches considered by the change managers in Mazda are likely to make the organization superior in its class and slay the effects of competitive rivalry. Innovation and creative approaches recommended to the organization will allow it to gain a competitive advantage for very long-term resulting in higher profitability and excellence. Along with this, it can also be said that there is also a potential risk that might be faced by Mazda while implementing the approaches of innovation and change. These risks include tremendous enhancement in operating income of the organization and many others. It is found that innovating approaches considered by Mazda will affect the production and assembly lines. For this reason, great investments of capital are required. Along with this, if the innovative and changed approaches fail to enhance the profitability of the organization, increase in operating income can create sustainability issues for Mazda. There are also certain approaches that can be considered as ethical and based on values. Integrating culture in the innovative approaches will enhance the value of Mazda in its business market. Such approaches are also likely to draw the attention of the customers towards the automobiles produced by the organization. Change strategies mentioned in the report include consideration of certain models. These may include Burke Litwin model and Kurt Lewin model. Use of such models can be effective in the successive implementation of the changes and innovative approaches. Along with this, integration features in Burket Litwin model will allow the change leaders in Mazda to regulate all the approaches with efficiency.

Section 4: Critical reflection

The above module was highly effective for me in providing the crucial information about change management and leadership in automobile company Mazda. During the module, I analyzed gradual enhancement in my knowledge and learning. One of the major reasons that I can say was effective in enhancing learning was the use of the Gibbs Reflective cycle.

There are six major elements in the Gibbs reflective cycle, which included a description, feeling, evaluation, analysis, and conclusion and action plan. At the stage of description, I considered getting exposed to what happened during the module. This included focusing on the approaches such as viewing of interview of Peter Birtwhistle and many other activities including recommendations made to Mazda, innovative and creative approaches and many more. Along with this, I felt the innovation and change management are some of the essential activities that are required to be considered by the leaders of an organization. Further, I evaluated that taking part in the module was an activity that provided good experience and exposure to me. I learned several new things about leadership, change management, and many others. Along with this, evaluation of various change models such as Burket Litwin and Kurt Litwin immensely enhanced my knowledge and understanding. Further, I can also say that I analyzed that some different decisions were required to be taken by me in order to complete the module with the required effectiveness and quality. For this reason, I concluded considering the research works of others on the same topic. This activity was highly helpful in providing me knowledge regarding change management, innovation and leadership in the organisation in real time. My action plans for completing the coursework included evaluating the video of Peter Birtwhistle, which was former design leader in Mazda in Germany. This video was highly effective for me in attaining real-time knowledge about how the leaders tend to behave in the organization and what considerations are made by them for enhancing the productivity and profitability. This way, it can say that use of Gibb’s reflective cycle during the module was remarkably helpful for me in developing new concepts about leadership, innovation and change management. As far as future applications of the learning attained by me through this module are considered, I can say that there are many ways and purposes in which I will use this knowledge. I can consider establishing my career as a change leader in some automotive organization and deliver the best approaches as possible. Along with this, concepts attained from various change implementation model can be helpful to me in implementing the required changes in the organization in future and escalate the profitability and productivity of the company. Application of the learned concepts in real time situations will improve my functionality and will be helpful in shaping up my career as a successful change leader in an organisation in future. This way, I can say that the above module has been greatly effective in enhancing my knowledge and can be helpful in bringing career opportunities to me in the future.

References

Oladipo K. S., Jamilah O., Abdul daud S., Jeffery L. D. and Salami D. K., (2013) Review of leadership theories and Organizational performances, International Business Management Journal, 7(1), 50-54

Voon M. C. et al, (2011) The influence of leadership styles on employees‟ job satisfaction in public sector organizations in Malaysia, International Journal of Business, Management and Social Sciences, 2(1), 24-32

Cawsey, T.F., Deszca, G. and Ingols, C.A. (2011) Organizational change: An action-oriented Toolkit. United States: Sage Publications.

Pasmore, W.A., Woodman, R.W. and Shani, A.R.B. (2013) Research in organizational change and development. United Kingdom: Emerald Group Publishing.

Sørensen, O.H., Pejtersen, J.H. and Hasle, P. (2011) ‘Trust relations in management of change’, Scandinavian Journal of Management, 27(4), pp. 405–417.