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Critiquing Racial Stereotypes from the Perspective of Television Content
Critiquing Racial Stereotypes from the Perspective of Television Content
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Introduction
Racial stereotyping is one of the most controversial aspects of cultural analysis as it applies to regular human interaction. These aspects of human cultural coexistence emerge from individual mental perceptions people hold as part of their respective racial groups about other races. The issue of racial stereotypes seems to have permeated into almost all aspects of human life and culture as demonstrated by racism-related issues coming up from all manner of human activity. As one of the most interactive forms of human creation, the media informs and entertains in almost equal measure. However, racial stereotypes seem to have already permeated into this valuable human resource as this critique will demonstrate. Therefore, racial stereotypes will form the main subject of this critique with a particular interest in their adverse effects, as aspects of the cultural analysis, on television content as part of the media.
Criticism for racial stereotypes as evidenced in television programming and its consequences
The relationship between racial stereotyping and television dates back to the very discovery of television. Racial stereotyping is a form of racial discrimination that entails attaching some usually negative attributes to a particular racial group other that which one belongs (Nelson, 2009). Based on the negativity of most of these attributes, the majority of the racial groups affected by these forms of racial discrimination are usually those that belong to the minority groups. Therefore, from the perspective of media, especially television, the Black and Hispanic racial groups suffer most of the consequences of racial stereotyping.
Recently, an American journalist Don Lemon of the CNN disclosed that the number of African Americans killed in shooting incidents involving police officers was twice that of Whites (‘CNN Tonight’, 2015). Surprisingly, Lemon stated that as at June 2015, 135 Africa American deaths involved unarmed individuals as opposed to armed individuals who would compel the law enforcement officers to use lethal force. As a good example of racial profiling, which is related to racial prejudices and stereotyping, the issue incited uproar among African American media personnel. These individuals used their media positions to instigate the start of a racial stereotyping frenzy between them and their white counterparts. African American reporters and newscasters used every opportunity to fuel the fires that raged by demanding for equality in all law enforcement scenarios.
Concurrently, their white counterparts, feeling compelled to downplay any impending media disasters, downplayed all the attempts. The results were an increased proliferation of special coverage by media houses involving a protracted effort by African American journalists to bring to the attentions of the world the injustices faced by their racial group. On the other hand, Whites and journalists from other racial groups downplayed the issue demonstrating the extent of the racial stereotyping present on the media platforms.
Racial stereotypes do not only touch on crime. Other human endeavors such as education, entertainment, and sports also suffer from this harmful practice. There are many forms of racial stereotypes affecting racial minority groups, which get airtime on television either intentionally or otherwise. A common racial stereotype that targets the African American group suggests that most of them make a living from sports and games (Luther, Lepre & Clark, 2012). Such stereotypes seem to borrow from the negative connotation that this racial group is only suitable for activities that involve and require high physical fitness and athleticism. The American Basketball League is one good example of situations that support this negative mindset due to the vast number of African American players. One interesting point that most of the people that subscribe to such inferior mindsets choose to ignore is the success of the American media sector in marketing and promoting its content. Therefore, due to the broad reach of the NBA screening rights and famous African American basketball players like Michael Jordan, the majority subscribe to the racial stereotype that this racial group makes a living primarily from sports. The same mindsets have infiltrated the athletics and track events scene with harmful consequences for the victim countries in international ratings (Fullwood, 2013).
What only a few realize is that only a few thousand African American individuals make a living from all games in the United States out of the millions. However, these considerations quickly lose their potency once concern extends into the entertainment scene. A vast number of successful entertainers in music belong to the African American race making a stereotypical racial assumption easy. Unfortunately, the distance between violence and the music industry is closest at the African American connection based on gang violence. Such considerations fuel an already negative stereotype that all African Americans or Blacks are members of gangs and, therefore, prone to violence. These conclusions are tantamount to prejudice and could not be further from the truth based on the number of people from these racial groups who succeed in industries considered a preserve for the majority. According to Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, “there are 12 times more Black lawyers in the US than Black athletes” (Fullwood, 2013).
The situation is similar in other facets of entertainment as demonstrated by numerous studies. In one particular study aimed at American television programming, most television programs saw African Americans usually get roles equal to their White and Hispanic counterparts. However, the situation changed when themes such as crime come up where the Black minority get inferior and dark roles in most cases. Such scenarios arose again in similar fashion for other minority groups as demonstrated by the plight of the Hispanic group in North America. Most typical television programs depicted this racial group in a usual manner, but when themes such as immigrant labor and Latin dance came up, racial stereotyping emerged. These mindsets are proven to affect development programs and coexistence in the areas they exist (Bratt & Rohe, 2005). Such types of racial discrimination cannot continue to permeate society, especially mixed race society such as North America and Europe as it fans darker agenda hidden in neo-racism.
The ideology behind racial stereotyping extended into tokenism and cultural hegemony
In the course of the development of cultural diversity within the modern era, the vices of neo-racism and racial discrimination have taken on new faces. As outlined in the previous sections, racial stereotypes seem to have permeated into every aspect of modern human existence that present circumstances denoted by cultural and racial diversity. Part of this aspect of cultural analysis borrows from past eras where social vices such as slavery and racially motivated extermination existed. However, the fact that these inferior forms of discrimination continue to hide in ordinary human activity such as entertainment and other forms of media is unfortunate. Television has continued to suffer from a sustained form of racial stereotyping as evidenced earlier in the sport and entertainment industries. Weir (2007) states that “the fact that one racial group is perceived to inherently possess superior traits that almost guarantee success and good performance in these sectors is unfortunate” (pg. 152). Such mindsets point to a continued failure by the human race to let go of backward and outdated practices.
Unfortunately, the ideology of racial stereotypes and related forms of racial discrimination such as racial profiling seems to lie in scientific history. In the 19th century, scientific racism emerged as a kind of classification for the human race based on their skin color. Almost immediately, pioneers of this backward scientific reasoning such as Johann Blumenbach whose research in 1775 advanced theories based on this ideology of racist classification referred to as ‘polygenism’ (Bolaffi, 2003). After dividing the human species into five distinct groups based on skin color, White, Blacks, Mongols, and the like, these early ideologies paved the way for racial stereotypes. These stereotypes revolved on assumptions such as black skin being inferior and white skin being beautiful. A few years later after Blumenbach’s inferior ideological presentations, Christoph Meiners cemented the foundation of what would be the start of racism. He suggested the existence of two distinct racial groups; black and white.
Many hundreds of years later, the same backward form of thinking still exists albeit with more subtle attributes. While the Black race and other minorities have suffered sustained inhumane mistreatment over the course of the last four centuries, the modern form of racial discrimination takes on a softer approach. Television programming presents an excellent example of one of the modern forms of racial discrimination that is racial stereotyping. The Black race plays roles attributed to their circumstances under poverty, illiteracy, athleticism, slavery, and servitude (Brooks & Althouse, 2007). The Hispanic group also faces distinct racial stereotyping on television in the form of roles that depict the perceived ignorance and romanticism of Latin culture. Besides, this racial group is linked with immigration issues into North America, gang violence, drug trafficking and animal cruelty. As unfortunate as the circumstance are, the modern media houses and entertainment stakeholders seem unwilling to let go of the negative connotations that continue to fuel neo-racism.
Modern attempts to cover up racial stereotyping in the media have evolved into almost ingenious tactics. Tokenism is the first extension of racial stereotyping that tries to heal these racial stereotypes. Tokenism is the provision of certain privileges or conditions that seek to conceal the recipients’ social, cultural, or financial inferiority. Tokenism is rife in all aspects of human interaction within the context of racial stereotypes and in light of television-related media. A look into the media houses that relate to aspects of racial stereotypes reveals that the media personalities assigned the duty of investigating and reporting these vices are mostly from the affected communities. CNN is perhaps the most affected by this form of racial stereotyping as Hispanic media personalities cover issues of Latin origin such as immigrant welfare. Interestingly, the same applies to other aspects of television as demonstrated by ESPN where African American figures are assigned the majority of basketball commentary positions while Whites and Hispanics cover baseball. These extensions continue to impart an adverse effect on these aspects of human life as racial stereotypes ingrain themselves deeper into human thinking. The results exhibit even in young children who believe that certain racial groups are inherently gifted in various forms of sport and related activity based on what they watch on television.
Cultural hegemony is the second kind of extension to racial stereotyping as it relates to television programming. Cultural hegemony means the dominating effect that a ruling class has in culturally diverse societies demonstrated by the overwhelming effect of their morals, beliefs, values, perceptions (Faber, 2002). Based on the racial stereotyping and other circumstances such as colonization and scientific discovery witnessed over the previous centuries, the White racial group has established itself as the ruling class. Other racial groups have had to contend with this fact, which has in turn been imparted on them through force and other more subtle methods. In the modern setting, cultural hegemony still exhibits itself as an extension of racial stereotyping and other forms of racial discrimination. A cultural analysis of the effects of this vice on the media, especially television programming, reveals that the vice is present in many forms.
Because the ruling class owns most of the major and international media houses, all minority groups have to align their productions with the values and morals of the owners for their content to be televised. Perhaps the reason that many minority groups have started their media houses is the fact that cultural hegemony continues to remind them of the existence of racial stereotyping (Richardson & Kelly, 2012). Some good examples of this phenomenon are the American entertainment groups BET and OWN. BET (Black Entertainment Television) counters cultural hegemony and its effect on the Black entertainment be it music, film, or literature. On the other hand, OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) seeks to provide the African American minority with an equal playing field in terms of film and music on television. These are part of efforts aimed at countering cultural hegemony in American television circles.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, the vice of racial discrimination continues to plague human life at various levels of social and cultural interaction. One aspect of cultural analysis that seems to be indomitable is racial stereotyping. The reach of racial stereotypes is perhaps the widest, as it appears to have permeated into almost all aspects of human life. The media, especially television programming, demonstrate best how racial stereotypes continue to be propagated and sustained within the global community. The news-casting sector of television has this year suffered severally from instances of racial stereotypes where news personalities gravitate towards their racial groups after unjust occurrences. Similarly, each respective racial group seems to continue suffering the same vice in the entertainment and sports industries.
Interestingly, the beneficiaries of racial stereotyping in whatever sector of television entertainment it affects appear to be willing to sustain it. Through tokenism and cultural hegemony, both sides of the racial stereotyping issue are struggling to maintain the upper hand meaning this social and cultural evil shall remain in existence. However, the fact that all the stakeholders in this unfortunate circumstances seem to overlook is that racial discrimination needs to be eliminated. Whatever forms this vice take, all humanity should unite as a single species and eliminate petty considerations such as skin color and geographical origin. Otherwise, the difficulties that lie in fostering conditions that improve the globe’s economic, social, and cultural status will remain.
References
Bolaffi, G. (2003). Dictionary of race, ethnicity and culture. London: SAGE Publications.
Bratt, R., & Rohe, W. (2005). Challenges and dilemmas facing community development corporations in the United States. Community Development Journal, 42(1), 63-78. doi:10.1093/cdj/bsi092
Brooks, D., & Althouse, R. (2007). Diversity and social justice in college sports. Morgantown, WV: Fitness Information Technology.
CNN Tonight. (2015). CNN.
Faber, S. (2002). Exile and cultural hegemony. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press.
Fleming, T. (2001). Racial stereotypes used by intercollegiate track and field coaches in hypothetical event assignment.
Fullwood, S. (2013). The Media’s Stereotypical Portrayals of Race. CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS. Retrieved 19 July 2015, from https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/race/news/2013/03/05/55599/the-medias-stereotypical-portrayals-of-race/
Luther, C., Lepre, C., & Clark, N. (2012). Diversity in U.S. mass media. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.
Nelson, T. (2009). Handbook of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination. New York: Psychology Press.
Richardson, B., & Kelly, L. (2012). Power, place and representation. Oxford: Peter Lang.
Weir, R. (2007). Class in America. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Critiquing Capitalism
Critiquing Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic and political system whereby the country’s economy is controlled by the private owners and not the state. The workings of the systems are determined by individual policies, market restrictions, capital movement and labor force within the country. The system was created for synthetic, dynamic and integrated approaches for organizational analysis cross-nationally.
Critically capitalism as argued by Smith (2005) did not give the state national ownership of companies’ matters. Firms activities cannot be monitored and controlled by the state and therefore, the economy left on the private hands. Businesses run through this system can ruin the country’s economic activities as the interests of individuals cannot serve the long term goals of the state. The state should control the political and economical activities for its stability but the capitalist cannot since they are only interested to maximize the profits.
The capitalist ignore the cross-national learning which promotes national cohesion and unity for the state. It does not take into consideration of the national interest and may spark in ethnical struggles which may generate tension if the government does not get in and control the system. Several national cakes with several intentions are produced which does not bring several ethnical groups together. There is great imbalance on the nature and quality of the labor force produced to serve these capitalist firms. They cannot have uniform standard quality to measure the production or output that may determine the rate of economical growth of the country.
The private owners do not consider the national interest. They do not allow societies to display similar institutional configurations which can be identified and spread uniformity across the nation. This increases international mobility and deterioration of the state economy. It does not promote national stability, universal capital movement and market forces. The state may lead to have inappropriate work form or hence have a lot of its population unemployed as the private firm may opt to import the labor force from other countries.
Societal effects may be affected by globalization forces, reinforce the existing forms, instead of changing them. Innovation practices may be concentrated in certain towns, places, zones, or regions instead of spreading across the state. Since it allows individual firms to select their own policies and options to shape up their environment. Environmental management may not be possible and this may lead to adverse environmental degradation. Private firms may not take into consideration to the conservation of the environment by controlling or regulating their activities by generating means to become friendly to environment.
Strengths
The system employs diversity in the work force which improves the business system in the state. The private companies are able to improve the quality and quantity of the products in the market fairly well than when the system is controlled by the state. This is very much possible due to the competition created by the private companies where every business owner wants to be seen the best in the market. The system will improve the innovation and invention processes because the market is free from government intervention.
Capitalism increases the rate of globalization and between organizational policies and forms that support business expansion very fast. International trade becomes more homogenized by facilitating removal of trade differences between the countries involved in the business.
Economy run by small number of pattern can be easily distinguished and distinctive varieties of capitalism are simple to analyze and determine the trend of the economical growth in the state. This system, society and dominance provide the state with an alternative to complexities in the economies.
As a political business system, capitalism is based on the distinctive rights to property which increase due to competition, innovation and invention in the production forces. Through these characteristics the economy possesses a generic system in the firms, labour force and the state in general. The private firms takes advantage to formulate their own policies that enable it grow and expand its activities across the border.
Weaknesses
On the other hand, capitalism it is very difficult for the state to standardize the forces to enable it control the exploitation of its resources across the country. Without regulations the economy cannot have a regular trend and future dependency on the available resources as the private firms do not mind about the future generation.
Products produced by capitalists may be sub-standard. This may leave the consumer with no choice but to accept the product available in the market. To control the quality may also be a problem as the private owners in capitalism are only interested to maximize their profits and not to benefit the common man.
Capitalism dominance may result to condensation of some business systems as the capitalist focuses more in the stock markets and less interest on industrial banks for the benefit of the country. The trend may result in inflation rate going very high as the economy is on the hands of the private people.
Capitalist development does not express uniform fashion across the society. Societal effects tend to create unstable internal relationships in various sectors in the government or state. The coordination between various government departments for economic development gets a great challenge as the system patterns are very much dispersed.
The system absorbs the national practices, ideas, norms and cultural beliefs from institutions from the state and national level for instance education, training, resource distribution, employer’s association and firm interrelationships. This brings up uniformity and standard level of evaluating the outputs in the system.
This system encourages the employment of managers from other countries with different educational background, training and beliefs which may not suit the interests of the state. This system may enable the managerial actors to gain bargaining business power in the states the favor their interests on the expense of the original state. For managers who come from other territories may be influenced by his country of origin. The dominance will follow the policies from country the manager originates.
The system creates an uneven nature of economic power and takes lead on the society’s organization or business practices that are considered to efficient. This makes other states to be dominant in a particular line of production than others.
In conclusion, Smith (2005) focused on the capitalism strengths but assumed the long-term effects of the system to the society and its dominance. It’s a good system but its effects causes more harm than benefits to the state.
Bibliography
Allan, D., 2000, Political Economy in Macroeconomics, Princeton.
Barry, R. W. & Donald, A., 2008, The Oxford Handbook of Political Economy, OUP.
Hahnel, R., 2002, The ABCs of Political Economy, London, Pluto Press.
Hudson, M., 2003, Super Imperialism: The Origin and Fundamentals of U.S. World Dominance,
London: Pluto Press.
McLaren. P., 2005, Capitalists and Conquerors: A Critical Pedagogy against Empire, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Murray, F. & Herbert, S., 2000, An Illustrated Guide to the American Economy: A Hundred Key Issues 3rd Ed., AEI.
Perelman, M., 2006, Railroading Economics: The Creation of the Free Market Mythology, Monthly Review Press.
Perlman, M., 2000, The Invention of Capitalism: Classical Political Economy and the Secret History of Primitive Accumulation, Duke University Press.
Saul, J., 2001, On Equilibrium, Toronto, Penguin.
Torsten, P. & Guido, T., 2000, Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy, MIT Press.
Toyota Company Decision-Making Report
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Toyota Company Decision-Making Report
Overview
Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational corporation being the send largest manufacturer of automobiles, robots, trucks, and provision financial services to its clients. They also produce sewing machines that have been spread to all parts of the globe. Basing on the global structure of Toyota Corporation, it has numerous factories that are located nearly in all the countries to serve the local markets. Examples of countries that have huge factories for assembling Toyotas include; United Kingdom, Mexico, United Nation, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Philippines, South Africa and Turkey among others. Its headquarters is situated in Toyota, Aichi in Japan (Allen, et al 21).
Background of study
The report aims at using descriptive information obtained from Toyota Company to come up with decisions concerning specific underperforming department. The data was collected from Toyota official website. The departments that will be considered are marketing, production, and competition export trends. In addition, the descriptive data to be used in decision-making are mean, variance, and standard deviation. The report will also offer recommendation on how the company will improve these weak sections.
Data Set 1
Toyota company Production data 1 2012
Types of cars Produced 2011 Production 2012
Corolla 300000 250000
Camary 250000 200000
Avalno 150000 120000
Land cruiser 200000 180000
Parado 100000 60000
Toyota 4Runner150000 120000
Allion200050 145000
Alphard189000 120000
Toyota Avalon206700 180000
Toyota Avanza300000 230000
Toyota Crown124000 120000
Toyota iQ70000 30000
Toyota Isis240000 210000
Toyota LiteAce210000 190000
Toyota Mark X234000 210000
Toyota Sequoia140000 150000
Toyota ToyoAce120000 70000
Toyota Vanguard10000 8090
Toyota Tundra206700 200000
Toyota Zelas235000 215000
Totals 3604450 3,008,090
The study was undertaken from a sample of 20 Toyota vehicles with the highest and lowest production and defective rates, among the cars with the highest production mode are Toyota Corollas and Toyota Avanza with a mode sale of 300,000 vehicles in 2011. The production of 201s decreased significantly across all types of brands except for Toyota Sequoia.
Chat 1: Showing the Number of Produced Cars in 2011
The chart indicates that production rate was significant Corolla leading the list while Parado down in the list of production. However, as compared to other years the company should consider producing more Camary as it seems competitive in the market.
Decision Making
It can be deduced from the above chart that the production of cars in 2011 was outstanding as almost every brand shared some significant equality. It can be statistically stated that the difference between the highest produced brand and the lowest is very huge (300,000 and 10,000 respectively). The decision that can be explained with this difference is that it seems Toyota Corolla and Toyota Avanza has the highest demand hence the increase in their production as compared to Toyota Vanguard which has less production.
Chart 2: Showing the Number of Produced Cars in 2012
The 2012 production rate is same as that of 2011, however, the production of 2012 reduced significantly as compared to that of 2011. There was a decrease of more than 40% of the total production rate. From a total of 3604450 in 2011 to 3005090 in 2012.
Decision Making
The two charts above have two different perspectives about the decisions to be considered for the company. However, it is evident that Toyota Company did not make the best production in 2012 as compared to that of 2011, meaning that is faced a depression of production. As a matter of fact this could be as a result of various managerial problems that the company might be facing. From the chart 1 and 2 it is clear that Toyota Company should come up with strategies to improve it production in the coming financial years.
Mean, Variance, and Standard Deviation of Produced Toyota Vehicle 2011 and 2012
Types of cars 2012 2012
Corolla 119777.5 14346649506 99745.5 9949164770
Camary 69777.5 4868899506 49745.5 2474614770
Avalno -30222.5 913399506.3 -30254.5 915334770.3
Land cruiser 19777.5 391149506.3 29745.5 884794770.3
Parado -80222.5 6435649506 -90254.5 8145874770
Toyota 4Runner-30222.5 913399506.3 -30254.5 915334770.3
Allion19827.5 393129756.3 -5254.5 27609770.25
Alphard8777.5 77044506.25 -30254.5 915334770.3
Toyota Avalon26477.5 701058006.3 29745.5 884794770.3
Toyota Avanza119777.5 14346649506 79745.5 6359344770
Toyota Crown-56222.5 3160969506 -30254.5 915334770.3
Toyota iQ-110223 12148999506 -120254.5 14461144770
Toyota Isis59777.5 3573349506 59745.5 3569524770
Toyota LiteAce29777.5 886699506.3 39745.5 64770.25
Toyota Mark X53777.5 2892019506 59745.5 6440784770
Toyota Sequoia-40222.5 1617849506 -254.5 20210745060
Toyota Toyo Ace-60222.5 3626749506 -80254.5 2474614770
Toyota Vanguard-170223 28975699506 -142164.5 4191979770
Toyota Tundra26477.5 701058006.3 49745.5 3569524770
Toyota Zelas54777.5 3000574506 64745.5 3569524756
∑x-x= 31000 ∑(x-x)2=1.03971E+11 ∑x-x= 3000 ∑(x-x)2=88885625695
Mean, variance and Standards Deviation of 2011
Mean
= 3604450/ 20
Mean =180222.5
Standard Deviation
S= 73974.03
Variance
=
S2 = 1.03971E+11/n-1
S2= 1.03971E+11/19
= 5472157757
Mean
Mean, variance and Standards Deviation of 2012
Mean, variance and Standards Deviation of 2012
Standard Deviation
S= 68397.13
Variance
S2 = 88885175695/n-1
S2= 88885175695/19
= 4678167142
Mean
= 3008090/ 20
Mean = 150404.5
In 2011 Toyota had Mean= 180222.5, variance = 5472157757 and standards deviation of 73974.03, while that of 2012 was mean= 150404.5, variance= 4678167142 and SD= 68397.13. According to the data from calculation there was a decrease of value between 2011 and 2012 across all measures of central tendency.
Decision making
The total number of vehicles produced by Toyota decreased from 3604450 in 2011 to 3008090 in 2012. This indicates a 20% decrease in production. The decision means that the company production rate decreased in 2012. Thus, the company should consider identifying the weakness in portrayed over that year mostly what the competitors are doing to increase preference of their vehicles as compared to Toyota.
Toyota company Sales data 2
As indicated in the calculations above the mean of produced cars M= 200,000 and that of defective is 2636, indicating that the defective cars are 1.8th of the produced cars. This is also shown using their variance and standard Deviations.
Data set 2: Toyota Company Sales between 2011 and 2012
Types of cars Sales 2011 (billions) Sales 2012 (billions)
Corolla $17 $15
Camary $15 $12
Avalno $12 $10
Land cruiser $10 $8
Parado $5 $2
Toyota 4Runner$20 $17
Allion$56 $40
Alphard$26 $10
Toyota Avalon$24 $19
Toyota Avanza$59 $37
Toyota Crown$80 $100
Toyota iQ$19 $12
Toyota Isis$17 $9
Toyota LiteAce$17 $13
Toyota Mark X$100 $87
Toyota Sequoia$18 $16
Toyota ToyoAce$10 $10
Toyota Vanguard$15 $11
Toyota Tundra$18 $10
Toyota Zelas$13 $11
Totals $551 $449
According to the above table, there is a clear indication that the data shows there were a decline in sales in 2012 as compared to 2011.
Chart 3: Toyota Company Sales between 2011
The graphs show that 2011 was a year that the company made significant sales of its products to the market, although is varied in-terms of cars. The chart indicates that Toyota mark x had the highest sales in 2011 while Parado had the least sales the same year.
Decision Making
It is clear from the chart that Toyota Company has to come up with approaches on how to market some of its brands in the market. The decision is to ensure that the sales of the poor performing brands are raised so as to maximize profits. This decision is aimed at increasing the total sales as well as improving the profit margin.
Chart 4: Toyota Company Sales between 2012
As compared to the sales of 2011 the sales of 2012 reduced drastically however, other brands sold better in 2012 such as Toyota Crown. Averagely, Toyota Mark X did sale but not as in 2012. Parado continued to show poor sales performance in 2012 like in 2012.
Decision Making
In order to come up with best decision concerning the sale of Toyota in 2011 and 2012 a comparison chart will be consider. The below chart defines the difference in sale between 2011 and 2012
Chart 5: Sales comparison between 2011 and 2012
The decision based on the comparison chart above is that Toyota Company should come up with sales strategies in order to improve their sales to outstanding platform. Such strategies include proper marketing and price consideration in comparison to their competitors.
Mean, variance and SD for sales 2011 and 2012
Types of cars Sales 2011 (billions) Sales 2012 (billions)
Corolla $17 ($261) $15 ($225.00)
Camary $15 ($197) $12 ($144.00)
Avalno $12 ($116) $10 ($100.00)
Land cruiser $10 ($72) $8 ($64.00)
Parado $5 $509 $2 ($4.00)
Toyota 4Runner$20 ($372) $17 ($289.00)
Allion$56 ($3,108) $40 ($1,600.00)
Alphard$26 ($648) $10 ($100.00)
Toyota Avalon$24 ($548) $19 ($361.00)
Toyota Avanza$59 ($31) $37 ($1,369.00)
Toyota Crown$80 ($6,372) $100 ($10,000.00)
Toyota iQ$19 ($333) $12 ($144.00)
Toyota Isis$17 ($261) $9 ($81.00)
Toyota LiteAce$17 ($261) $13 ($169.00)
Toyota Mark X$100 ($9,972) $87 ($7,569.00)
Toyota Sequoia$18 ($296) $16 ($256.00)
Toyota ToyoAce$10 ($72) $10 ($100.00)
Toyota Vanguard$15 ($197) $11 ($121.00)
Toyota Tundra$18 ($296) $10 ($100.00)
Toyota Zelas$13 ($141) $11 ($121.00)
Totals $551 ($23,054) $449 ($22,917.00)
The Mean, variance, and Standard Deviation of sales in 2011
Standard Deviation
S= 33.96616
Variance
S2 = 23054/n-1
S2= 23054/19
= ($1,153.70)
Mean
= $551/ 20
Mean = $27.55
The Mean, variance, and Standard Deviation of sales in 2012
Standard Deviation
S= 33.86517
Variance
S2 = ($22,917)/n-1
S2= ($22,917.00)/19
= ($1,146.85)
Mean
= $449/ 20
Mean = $22.45
In 2011 Toyota had Mean= 27.55, variance = $1,153 and standards deviation of 33.96, while that of 2012 was mean= 22.45, variance= $1,146 and SD= 33.86517. According to the data from calculation there was a decrease of value between 2011 and 2012 across all measures of central tendency.
Decision Making
According to the above data from measure of central tendency, It is clear that the rate of sales reduced in 2012. This could have been due to various factors that the company should come up with ways of gathering information from the clients on why the preferred other brands from other companies rather than theirs. This is done to ensure the companies get better sales in the fourth coming financial year.
Data set 3: Toyota Export
Types of cars Exported
Corolla 350000 -1.225E+11
Camary 230000 -52899825350
Avalno 100000 -9999825350
Land cruiser 50000 -2499825350
Parado 5000 -24825350
Toyota 4Runner340000 -1.156E+11
Allion140000 -19599825350
Alphard200000 -39999825350
Toyota Avalon220000 -48399825350
Toyota Avanza160000 -25599825350
Toyota Crown187000 -34968825350
Toyota iQ66000 -4355825350
Toyota Isis67000 -4488825350
Toyota LiteAce190000 -36099825350
Toyota Mark X241000 -58080825350
Toyota Sequoia280000 -78399825350
Toyota ToyoAce120000 -14399825350
Toyota Vanguard237000 -56168825350
Toyota Tundra100000 -9999825350
Toyota Zelas210000 -44099825350
Totals 3493000 -7.78186E+11
Chart 4: Indicating Export of Toyota Cars in 2012
Toyota corolla remains the leading brand in the export market and the least was Parado. Camary also has a promising market as compared to others like Avalno and Land Cruiser.
Calculation of Mean, variance and Standard Deviation
Standard Deviation
S= 623.7724
Variance
S2 = (7.78186E+11)/n-1
S2= (7.78186E+11)/19
= (38909275351
Mean
= 3493000/ 20
Mean = 174650
Decision making
Based on the radar chart and the measure of central tendency calculation, the above tools are important in decision making which is will help the company to evaluate the performance of the brands in reference to the rates of export. This will help the company to confirm or change the existing exports for greater export sales in the future.
Opinions/Recommendations
The rapid entrance of new markets and their potentials have greatly affected companies across the world in efforts to explore new markets to benefit from it. The UK companies have experienced so many challenges as they push into exploring new markets. In order for Toyota to experience a better marketing growth in the UAE, and extend to other new markets, it is rather important for them to ensure that the give a good focus on how to give fair treatment in order to facilitate tremendous expansion thereby enjoying the benefits that will be offered by the market.
In market expansion, it is preferable that Toyota Company identify the right market. In exploring the target market, Toyota will learn the weaknesses of other competing firms such as the Nissan, BMW and many other firms to maximize its potentials in those parts that are poorly performed by them.
The SWOT analysis is quite useful for Toyota, as it will help the company to realize its areas of strengths, its strengths are those values that are offered by Toyota and are never achieved by other firms. For instance, its marketing stability will be aided by this tool to fully analyze it. Toyota will be in a better position to continue shining over its rivals. Their strength in adopting into the new technology, which has brought in the issues of environment is yet another area that is best done through SWOT strategic tool. This will help to know the market to increase sales.
Opportunities will be well identified through the employment of SWOT analysis. In case there are new markets, it is the role of this tool to focus on it. With changing market trends, there are a times when opportunities arise. The best results will be reached at only if the tool is employed. The introduction of policies such as export policies is an opportunity to Toyota as earlier mentioned. Opportunities are less considered by porter’s diamond.
Production
In the year 2012 (January to September), Toyota set a goal to achieve 15 percent market share, which would make it the biggest auto company in the world. The media reports suggest that focus on growth led the company into a downward spiral in sales, profitability, and quality and, finally, the crisis of 2011, however this production goal was not attainable in the first 9 months of the year. Yet all the data existing, other than specific stories, shows that by 2012 Toyota was an extremely financially stable company with an outstanding quality and safety record.
The Toyota production system does not seem to be the cause of the quality problems experienced over the prior decade. In the past, Toyota has exhibited a significant advantage over its mass-producer competitors in physical and value-added productivity. The competition should be improved, but it is unlikely that any firm has actually passed Toyota in manufacturing prowess. Data related to manufacturing or assembly quality, such as the number of defects reported by customers in newly purchased vehicles, generally has placed Toyota at the top of the auto industry or at least among the leaders. Therefore, it is evident that TPS will work well with Toyota.
Export Trends
In 2010, Toyota made record global profits, earning $19.9 billion. This was particularly impressive since it was the 50th consecutive year of profits for the company. Many companies deciding to ‘go lean’ have struggled to figure out what that means in their type of business.
They will see a highly repetitive and standardized process and cannot imagine how they can replicate what they see. I believe the problem is in the way companies such as Toyota is the mode of approach to implement competitive export strategies that work hand in hand with the company’s goals and objectives as well as the mission.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that descriptive analysis instruments mean, variance, and Standard Deviation can offer outstanding results when it comes to decision-making of a company. Based on the above example, it is clearly indicated that the instruments have been worth giving insights on various loopholes that Toyota should close in order to remain competitively as other companies such as Nissan and Honda.
Works Cited
Aso, Shinji, Mikio Kizaki, and Hideaki Mizuno. “Development Progress of the Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle.” Training 2013: 12-09.
Inoue, Tokuta, et al. “Toyota lean combustion system-The third generation system.” Energy (2013): 04-08.
Sakata, Ichiro, et al. “Development of TOYOTA reflex burn (TRB) system in DI diesel.” Training 2014: 04-28.
Ward, Allen, et al. “The second Toyota paradox: how delaying decisions can make better cars faster.” Sloan Management Rev 36.3 (2012).