Toyota Announces Changes to Executive Structure, Senior Management Responsibilities, and Organizational Structure

Mar 03, 2020 16:02 JST

Source: Toyota Motor Corporation

Toyota City, Japan, Mar 03, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) announced today that it intends to implement changes to its executive structure, senior management responsibilities, and organizational structure described below effective April 1, 2020.

Change Highlight:

Consolidation of the post of executive vice president and the post of the operating officer into the post of operating officer

With the posts of executive vice president and operating officer consolidated, operating officers will serve as chief officers, as presidents of in-house companies, as regional CEOs, and as persons in charge of various functions, and their roles will be further clarified. Such roles will not be fixed, so as to allow the right people to take on responsibilities where and as needed.

Regarding the changes announced today, TMC President Akio Toyoda commented:

"While overcoming the numerous difficulties that our company has faced since I was appointed president in 2009, such as the large-scale recall crisis and the Great East Japan Earthquake, I became aware of the importance of contemplating what our company is all about and of going back to the starting point of Toyota's inherent characteristics.

"My experiences have reawakened within me the belief that people who work for Toyota must safeguard the fundamental stance of being honest, nondeceptive and open, as well as the belief that the source of Toyota's competitiveness lies in the Toyota Production System (TPS) and in our ability to refine costs.

"However, as our successes accumulated, the basics of TPS and of our ability to refine costs--how we look at things and think about them--weakened, and I keenly felt that we were letting slip away the inherent characteristics of Toyota.

"We will further strengthen and enrich the positive traits that we have inherited. On the other hand, during my time as president, we will break bad habits altogether and give rebirth to our essential essence. If we do not, I honestly feel that we will not be able to pass the baton on to the next generation.

"Based on our basic policy of appointing the right people to the right positions, we have been implementing board member, executive, organizational, and personnel changes flexibly and unrestrained by convention. With our changes this time, as well, I have judged that it is necessary for me to directly communicate with the leaders of the next generation and to increase the amount of time for sharing our concerns, by further reducing the number of layers of management.

"For the next generation, I believe that what I must do more than anything else is to restore the inherent characteristics of Toyota."

To respond to severe changes in the external environment that are taking place at unprecedented speed, TMC, based on its basic policy of appointing the right people to the right positions, has been swiftly and continuously innovating.

Through the changes announced today, TMC will further press forward the tide of such innovations, aiming for a corporate structure capable of carrying out management from a viewpoint that is optimal for a global company.

For the full press release, please refer to the link: https://bit.ly/39l8RVt

Source: Toyota Motor Corporation
Sectors: Automotive