· Complete the Assignment, "Personal Application Paper" · After reviewing what you have written for the Personal Application Conferences each week and your interaction with your fellow students about this, write a final paper incorporating all of the topics covered weekly in the PA and how what you have learned in this course applies to the organization you work for. It should be more than just a simple cut and paste from your earlier PA postings. Papers should be approximately 5-7 pages in length. This page limit is forces you to think hard of what are the key points you want to make and avoid generalities. The following is the past 8 weeks discussion questions in yellow and the answers to help you with the paper. What kinds of industries tend to be better performers in the medium to long term? Why? What kinds of industries tend to do poorly in the medium to long term? Why? Can you make the claim that some industries are inherently more profitable than others? Provide arguments and examples to justify your response. Generally speaking, for companies in the same industry, what factors would explain differences in company performance over the long term? Your thoughts about the fundamental strategic issues facing the industry in which your organization exists. Compare the performance of your company against the industry within which it operates, for 1 year and 5 years, using the Morningstar database or any other source of information that is appropriate 1. The kind of industries which tend to perform better in the medium to long term include railroad, insurance service providers, and resorts & casinos. This is because of the management practices used in the industries and the pattern of cash flow that the industries have. The revenue flow in the resorts and casinos may be volatile during the short term but when viewed in the medium to long term it is stable. The management practices used in the industries such as the sale of time shares smoothen the volatilities that commonly experienced in the industries. Industries such as savings & cooperative banks and independent power production tend to perform poorly in the medium to long term period. This is because the savings and cooperative banks are affected by both the economy and customer demands hence the varying year returns. Savings and cooperative banks avail various substitutes to customers in the long term. These substitutes determine the competition in the industry. Independent power production industry performs poorly because it is privately owned . 2. Some industries are inherently profitable than others because some of the industries perform better in the medium to long term compared to others. For example the returns in resorts and casinos may be volatile in the short run but stable in the long term while industries such as the coal and gold industries have low returns in the short run because of their nature of getting depleted with time and hence depreciating value. This, there.

1. · Complete the Assignment, "Personal Application Paper"
· After reviewing what you have written for the Personal
Application Conferences each week and your interaction with
your fellow students about this, write a final paper
incorporating all of the topics covered weekly in the PA and
how what you have learned in this course applies to the
organization you work for. It should be more than just a simple
cut and paste from your earlier PA postings.
Papers should be approximately 5-7 pages in length. This page
limit is forces you to think hard of what are the key points you
want to make and avoid generalities.
The following is the past 8 weeks discussion questions in
yellow and the answers to help you with the paper.
What kinds of industries tend to be better performers in the
medium to long term? Why? What kinds of industries tend to do
poorly in the medium to long term? Why?
Can you make the claim that some industries are inherently
more profitable than others? Provide arguments and examples to
justify your response.
Generally speaking, for companies in the same industry, what
factors would explain differences in company performance over
the long term?
Your thoughts about the fundamental strategic issues facing the
industry in which your organization exists. Compare the
performance of your company against the industry within which
it operates, for 1 year and 5 years, using the Morningstar
database or any other source of information that is appropriate
1. The kind of industries which tend to perform better in the
medium to long term include railroad, insurance service

2. providers, and resorts & casinos. This is because of the
management practices used in the industries and the pattern of
cash flow that the industries have. The revenue flow in the
resorts and casinos may be volatile during the short term but
when viewed in the medium to long term it is stable. The
management practices used in the industries such as the sale of
time shares smoothen the volatilities that commonly
experienced in the industries. Industries such as savings &
cooperative banks and independent power production tend to
perform poorly in the medium to long term period. This is
because the savings and cooperative banks are affected by both
the economy and customer demands hence the varying year
returns. Savings and cooperative banks avail various substitutes
to customers in the long term. These substitutes determine the
competition in the industry. Independent power production
industry performs poorly because it is privately owned .
2. Some industries are inherently profitable than others because
some of the industries perform better in the medium to long
term compared to others. For example the returns in resorts and
casinos may be volatile in the short run but stable in the long
term while industries such as the coal and gold industries have
low returns in the short run because of their nature of getting
depleted with time and hence depreciating value. This,
therefore, makes some of the industries to be more profitable
than others.
3. Companies in the same industry may perform differently over
the long term. Strong and focused leadership, strategies and
tactics laid by the company, the company’s competitive
advantage, industry environment, innovations and competitive
activities are the factors which can help to explain the
differences in performances over the long term in the industries.
Strong and focused leadership provide the necessary vision and
mission statement for the company to determine the guidelines
to achieve its goals and explain the long term performance
differences. Successful companies establish and implement
strategies and tactics that enable them to achieve competitive

3. advantage over others. The companies also need to ensure that
they meet the actual need and preferences of their customers
that vary from time to time and hence distinguished
performance (Blackburn, 1991).
4. The issues facing the industry in which my organization
exists include; modernizing finance, actuarial and risk
management functions in the industry, taxation problem,
efficient management of policy administration systems and
strategies including the future of life insurance and improving
the experience of customers in the industry. Comparing the
company’s performance and the industry in which it operates,
for one year the returns are low while for five years time the
returns are high implying a better performance over the long
term. The industry also portrays the same trend as shown in the
Morningstar database. Conclusively, the company performs
better over the long term compared to the short term.
References
Blackburn, J. D. (1991). Time-based competition: the next
battleground in American manufacturing. Irwin Professional
Pub.
Your company’s strategy for competitive advantage (i.e. cost
leader, differentiation, etc.) and your opinion about how they
might change or improve this strategy.
An analysis of your company’s industry from the point of view
of Porter’s Five Forces, the Industry Life Cycle, and any other
strategy frameworks that provide insight to your understanding
of the industry and the competitive position of your company
within it.
Toyota is an automotive company that deals in the manufacture,
distribution and selling of motors and their part. As such, the
organization operates within the auto industry which besides it
sustains Ford and other motor companies. This article is a

4. discussion designed to confer the company’s auto industry from
the Porter’s Five Forces point of view alongside its strengths
and weaknesses from the Resource Based View point of view.
Porter five forces analysis refers to a structure used to analyze
the competition degree in a specified industry; the auto one in
this context, or/and a corporate stratagem development. The
framework depicts upon the money matters of the industrial
organization (IO) to deduce five drives that establish the
cutthroat strength, hence the charisma of an Industry (Highfill,
et. al, 2012). The Auto industry upholds several entry buriers.
As a result, it presents several intimidations on new
participants. For instance, expertise, human resource firm
facilities and machinery are heavily entailed. These factors as
Highfill, et al. (2012) explains are what define the entry
obstacles in the industry. As such, for new institutions in this
auto sector like KIA, they ought to establish mass production so
as to attain economies of scale.
The bargaining influence of consumers is somewhat high in this
industry. Product outlook, price and environmental factors hold
on the list of aspects that influences the clients’ buying choices
(Highfill, et. al, 2012). The rationale behind the low customers’
purchasing power is that their volume and size is small. On this
ground, the buyers have no aptitude of incorporating backwards
in the diligence.
While this is the course with the buyers bargaining power, the
one for suppliers is extremely minimal (Highfill, et. al, 2012).
The reason is that there are a lot of suppliers in the market. For
a case in point, Toyota sustains approximately ten diverse
dealers in the U.S.
On the ground of antagonism, rivalry brings various reliefs to
consumers in this industry. For instance, when new firms get in
the market, they better prices and enhance commodity
differentiation among others (Osono, et. al, (2008). As this
course holds, product differentiation lingers significant in the
sector as well. There are so many similar vehicles in the car
industry. Just observe a mid-range Nissan and you will see an

5. almost same Toyota.
Given that Toyota still operates in this kind of industry, a fact
upholds that the company has several strengths that enable it to
manage the condition in the quarter. In the similar manner, the
organization faces various weaknesses that curb it from
experiencing maximum profits according to (Osono, et. al,
(2008). As a result, despite Toyota being around twenty years
old, the Resource Based View lingers a blazing subject. The
framework focuses on the inner aspects of corporate that
perpetuate their operation and growth.
According to this structure, Toyota outperforms amid other
players in the auto industry. As such, it sustains it competitive
advantage in the sector. One of the company’s strength is that it
has distinguished itself from other performers, like the General
Motors through its advanced productivity and quality that
perpetuates raise of the efficacy of product. Osono, et al. (2008)
says the firm has also captured the value creation in clients. It
has achieved this curse through putting up poise in the
perspective of consumers and becoming more credible. All the
same the firm experiences several weaknesses in terms of
incompetent personnel, stiff competition and inadequate
finances to fund its operations and compete effectively.
References
Highfill, D., Baki, M., Green, M. & Smith, J., (2012).
Automotive Industry Analysis - GM, DaimlerChrysler, Toyota,
Ford, Honda. [Online] AcademicMind.com Available
at:http://academicmind.com/unpublishedpapers/business/manage
ment/2004-11-000aaa-automotive-industry-
analysis.html[Accessed 15 March 2012].
Osono, E., Shimizu, N., Takeuchi, H., & Dorton, J. K.
(2008). Extreme Toyota: Radical contradictions that drive
success at the world's best manufacturer. Hoboken: John Wiley
& Sons.

6. An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of your company
from the point of view of the Resource Based View of the Firm
model and any other strategy frameworks that provide insight
into your company’s strategic competitiveness.
Your organization’s international business, if any (where, what,
how, etc.). Can you think of areas of additional global
opportunity for your company?
Also, post a link to at least one news story in your PA and
explain briefly how the news story bears on your
company/industry and the topics for the week.
Post your PA in the Conference Area. Read and comment upon
the PA posts of at least two your fellow students.
Toyota Company is a leading company in manufacturing,
assembling and distribution of cars all over the world. The good
performance that has always been witnessed in the company is
due to an efficient management system that have always been
used in the company. Some other salient factors have
contributed to the achievement of the market niche for this
company. The company is a prevailing market player in car
exploration following its dominating market differentiation
strategy. Currently, the company enjoys more of monopoly in
the developing nations of the world. The market structure of the
company is perceived as an oligopoly because other key players
like GM exist in the market but are peer competitors. The goal
of Toyota is to see what its competitors are doing and make sure
it responds to their activities in a way that will create assurance
in its market leadership.
Customer Analysis.
The customers of Toyota Company are varying from low-
income earners to high-income earners, and they are found
almost everywhere around the world. This company has
accommodated all the requirements that usually and may arise
for persons with a broad range of vehicles. The type of vehicles
in this company vary from sports cars to big family cars, vans
and trucks. The customers of this company include the young

7. and the old, with varying ages, from different geographical
locations, with different cultural and social statuses. It has been
notably apparent that most of these customers go for Toyota
products mainly to satisfy their tastes and preferences. Product
awareness is enhanced through ads, website information,
newsletters amongst other sources.
In addition, once persons acquire the company’s product, there
is an enlarged exposure to its other products. The ability of
Toyota to generate revenue from complimentary products like
books and seminars by affiliates is very big.
Where customers Purchase.
Almost all the company’s products are sold through retail
distributors who are located most places in the world. The
buying of some edition models can be done directly from the
factories, especially for the limited edition models. The upsurge
in the use of electronic business, this company currently buy its
products on-line. The majority of the promotion materials can
be gotten in full by viewing over the Internet. Customers can
also place orders for the products that are present in stores and
with a toll-free number directly from the company. This has
always offered the customers opportunities to access the
products of the company around the world.
When the customers are making Purchases.
Most individuals have the capacity to buy the products of the
company any time anywhere that suits their taste and
preferences. This follows the fact that this company sells its
products throughout the year except for the limited edition
models that are purchased direct from the factories. For the new
users, in some countries, they purchase the company products
upon acquiring the driver’s license. Some customers purchase
the cars when the ones that they are using get old, the old
breaks down or when they want to have a newer model.
Why customers Purchase company products.

8. The products of Toyota Company are specialized in nature and
very comprehensive, this has made many customers prefer this
company. The company offers varied models that comprise of
all the client needs. These needs are always aimed at
maintaining and building high standards when it comes to the
products. They provide less expensive substitutions to the
clients for the similar products from other manufacturers that
are pretty expensive. In addition, this Company has invested
heavily in safety in their cars. Toyota currently stands at a
better position, after inventing the hybrid vehicle, to making the
future of the motor industry.
Why Potential Customers Don’t Purchase.
Toyota Company targets much wider population than their
customer base essentially reflects. Following the high number
of similar products, the acquisition of the products comes down
to dislike or like. Because of the different social and class
status of the potential buyers, and the fact that Toyota products
do not always offer an implication of high social standing, a
customer may opt to buy a car from the company’ product
despite similarities between the cars.
Toyota’s Opportunities.
There are two main opportunities that exist for Toyota
Company. The company provides better cars that suit the needs
and expectations of the customers and has the capacity of
increasing the efficiency of the company to reduce the costs and
the environmental impact. The opportunity of making better
cars is considered as a better step since it matches well with the
global trends. The current customers are interested in products
that have minimal impacts on the environment.
On the other hand, the capacity to increase the efficiency of the
company is also very essential in the sense of the up surging
prices of resources and the resulting possible rise in the cost of
production. These opportunities can provide ways by which
Toyota Company can make itself tougher within the present
issues and problems that it undergoes in the current market
conditions.

9. References
Armstrong, G., & Kotler, P. (2002). Marketing: an introduction
(International edition). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Retrieved
October 7, 2010 from
http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Marketing-
An-Introduction-7E/9780131424104.page
Chamberlin, P. (2009). Customer service complaint handling.
New York: The Gurdian. Retrieved October 7, 2010 from
http://www.impactfactory.com/p/customer_service_skills_traini
ng_development/issues_936-2103-87287.html
https://www.academia.edu/4784977/Running_Head_MARKETI
NG_PLAN_FOR_TOYOTA_MOTOR_COMPANY
Describe your company’s activities on the Internet and any
ideas you may have for additional strategic opportunities they
might explore in this new medium.
Toyota has quite a large selection on it's website. It includes a
showroom, new ideas and up and coming products, events,
sustainability, about the company and it's background, news,
and investors. Each one of these links has numerous options
attached for almost anything you could think of. It also has all
it's social media links (facebook, google and youtube), a search
engine and a website by region where you can click your
location and it will bring you to a more personalized local
webpage. The page is very user friendly and also offers FAQS,
contact information and more. I would say Toyota hit it out of
the part with their website and user friendly-ness.
If I were to suggest type of strategy at all it would be a
marketing or sexy, trendy video/commercial that plays when
you are first directed to the website. Ideally this will make
Toyota stand out and catch viewers attention in a strategic
marketing aspect.

10. Your organization’s past experience with mergers and
acquisitions or joint ventures. Based upon this week’s other
assignments, can you think of areas of additional global M& A
or joint venture opportunity for your company?
Toyota is and never has been a stranger to acquisitions and
mergers! Although the list is too long to list, Toyota has made
more than 100 acquisitions and or investments over its life.
Toyota is known more for acquisitions, forming companies, and
producing quality named products in other countries. In fact,
most of the acquisitions that Toyota has made span the globe,
while they maintain few corporations in Japan. (Toyota Motor
Corporation, 2012) Many of the acquisitions are in form of
automobile plants or sales corporations in foreign
countries. There are many companies that compete with
Toyota, and although Toyota might not maintain or have a
monopoly in any one country, they are perhaps one of the most
diverse companies in the world. This diversity has and will help
them sustain in a market that will most likely see a shaky near
future. Toyota's foreign interests are perhaps one of its greatest
strategies. Toyota has stake in many countries around the world,
and enjoys both failure and success all around the world. This
foreign interest helps Toyota sustain growth and mitigate shaky
markets, by playing all aspects of the market. If anything is for
sure, Toyota is more likely to expand its current global
footprint.
I currently cannot reccomend another merger/acquisition for
Toyota as of yet. They have their market that is flowing
smoothly and is focused on globally expanding. They have good
connections with the right companies and are working with the
right people in order to maintain strong acquisitions.
References Securities & Exchange Commission. (2012).
Toyota Motor Corporation. Retrieved December 11th, 2006
from
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1094517/00011931250
6135772/d20f.htm

11. Your company’s environment for encouraging and enabling the
implementation of innovation.
Toyota is one of the greatest companies in it's industry to really
devote energy to innovation (in all aspects). They encourage
innovation by allowing employees to share and implement
ideas, programs and even events. They promote and reward
collaboration as well. Lots of employee workshops have
committed time and money to employees perfecting their ideas
and bringing them to life. Beyond strong employee
encouragment and accelerating financial performance, creativity
continues to be strong for this company. In an era of intense
globalization, rapid demographic change and accelerating
technological progress, Toyota is truly a leader for being able to
recognize the value of innovation. Even their website is a great
example of how they continue to stay with the times and
progress with society. They keep up with all aspects of social
media, keep up with their competitors and MORE! They make it
the heart of their corporate culture and use a targeted, focused
innovation mindset to drive shareholder value and improve
efficiency.