Impact of work ethics on the performance of employees and the business
Work ethic is an essential factor in a business which helps to determine business success or failure. Many sources define work ethics as a belief in work as a moral good. Still, Miriam Webster (2020) further defines work ethics as values focused on the importance of doing work, and they are reflected in a person’s desire or determination to work hard. As explained by Thompson (2019) for one to have good work ethics needs to be dedicated to the job, reliable and dependable, cooperative and teamwork, self-disciplined character, and productivity that does not stop. This brings us to our discussion on the impact of work ethic on the performance of employees and the business with a study on a case on the Toyota motors continued growth due to high work ethics.
Topic explanation
Work ethic in no doubt has an impact on the employee’s performance and business performance. An organization with proper work ethics will have a high output and will always be growing as the employees will be dedicated and committed to their work. The business with great work ethics will too grow in comparison with one that has poor work ethics. The company with great work ethics will have a great difference from those without or have minimal in terms of the employee’s performance and business performance.
Points of discussion
Successful businesses have organized their workers on teams to have great teamwork. Adeyeye, Adeniji, Osinbanjo, and Oludayo (2015) state that teamwork is the willingness of people to work together to achieve a common goal. With the team working together without any differences or conflict of interests occurring, the business has a good work ethic, and the company grows as well as the employee’s performance. The employees will be motivated by their colleagues as they learn more about the roles or tasks they are assigned to them. Teamwork brings together individual strengths and skills with which by the end of the day, they have a great output.
With good work ethics, the employees will improve performance and even becoming innovative. The employee’s satisfaction in the job and having a good work ethic determines how innovative they are. The code of ethics, which is developed by the organization for the employees determines the employee’s satisfaction and development of good work ethic when their values are not affected by the code of ethics. Mussner, Strobl, Veider, and Matzler (2017) on their study through partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modelling (SEM) demonstrate that when an employee is self-reliant and is time-efficient has a positive influence on the employees’ innovation behaviour. These characters are anchored on the characteristics of good work ethics of being self-disciplined.
Good work ethics will impact the employee’s performance, and when there is good work ethic, organization productivity, as well as performance, will improve. The most significant work ethic, according to Sunanda (2018), is the encouragement of self-discipline at work. Employee’s commitment to the work is also another strong determinant of the organization’s performance. Work attitude is also a determinant in the performance of the organization. Other characters are important also but are found to have minimal impact on the organization’s performance. Still, they cannot be overruled because, without them, there will be no good work ethics.
Toyota motors continued growth
Toyota motors have been among the top motor companies in the world surpassing even the early manufacturers of motor vehicles like Ferrari and ford. The continued growth of Toyota Company has been attributed to the great work ethic displayed at the organization which has made them grow in the market surpassing their peers and rivals Nissan which is facing hard and turbulent business times. The work ethic has been great at Toyota, which has seen even the development of JIT management system to encourage work ethic characteristics while also ensuring that the production is streamlined.
Case background information
Toyota motor company, although the great success they have enjoyed has faced different hurdles which almost led them to decline in business. The most notable one being the release of faulty vehicles to the market which caused deaths due to the cars accelerating to speed than the intended or displayed hence causing many deaths. They have also been faced with an accusation of selling cars which use fossil fuel hence harming the environment. The company upon facing these and other hurdles they anchored their operations into, teamwork, challenges, Genchi Genbutsu (go and see), respect and Kaizen(continuous improvement). These operation anchors are mostly characteristics of work ethics which has shaped the company to where it is today.
The relevance of Topic to Business today
The business today has been struggling to ensure that they have good production level and business performance that surpasses that of their competitors for continued growth. The businesses have struggled to have employees who have good work ethics, therefore, facing difficulties in their business performance. This topic helps the today business world understand how to shape their organization to have good work ethics, the characteristics to focus on as well as understanding the impact of good work ethics to the employees and the organization. With good work ethic, the employees will be innovative, hardworking and with minimal or no supervision while the organization will have great and improved business performance and profits.
Identified Stakeholders/Concerns of key stakeholders
In business, there are internal and external stakeholders. The internal stakeholders are the employees in different departments performing different tasks where they are required to be creative, inventive and innovative. The organization’s management is another stakeholder as it develops the code of ethics which will maintain the face of the firm to the outside world. The external stakeholders like the government and the customers also help in shaping the work ethics; the customers will want their products delivered in a certain way. Within a certain period, therefore, the employees will conform to the demand s of the customer hence great work ethics. The work ethics have to be in line with the government regulations and set a base in which the company should operate. Ethically correct products are also appealing to customers.
Analysis of the case
After Toyota facing hurdles, especially in 2010, it shaped its operations and has seen the company go through various developments in the industry. The Toyota car has always had a new design and new features since 2010, which shows that there has been creativity and innovation as well as invention. This has seen the production of two models which are offered separate features of Toyota land cruiser, which has led to the end of production of Toyota land cruiser by 2022. The innovation in Toyota by developing the 4runner for off-road and sequoia for luxury has led to the land cruiser being irrelevant to the consumers as both of the activities cannot be combined and are quite different. This shows the great work ethic displayed by the company to rise past the 2010 setback, which almost saw them lose confidence with the consumers. The innovative feature of the employees has also seen the reduction in the engine capacity of a land cruiser to six valves which will reduce the emission of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Evaluation of alternatives for all Stakeholders
With the cancellation of the production of a land cruiser by 2022, the employees will now be involved in the production of the other alternative models that is the 4runner and the sequoia. The invention of these models has seen the company serve the interests of many customers, especially the U.S market, where land cruiser does not sell well. Still, with these two models, they will tap into different needs of may united states of America needs and global needs. The production of the six valve engine realigns to the need for minimal carbon dioxide emissions to the environment to avoid global warming.
Examination of actions steps taken to solve the issue
These steps of replacing the land cruiser will help the Toyota motors company to tap in these consumers of the different tasks of the vehicles and increase the sales of the company. The replacement will make the employees feel that they are listened to, and they will become more productive, creative, innovative and inventive. The replacement of the eight-valve engine with a six valve engine is a great move to counter the news that Toyota produces unfriendly environmental vehicles.
Case outcomes
The further development of the 4runner and the development of sequoia has seen the customers believe in the innovative nature of the company and led to increasing sales. In South Africa, the four runners became the most purchased SUV in 2019. The change of the engine valves from eight to six has silenced the critics of the company and the company also aligning itself to the global agenda to end global warming by reduction of emission of toxic gases.
Recommended Action Plan
The company to have strong growth and consumer confidence should change with current world changes. Although placing it as the most notable SUV vehicle providers, they need to consider the consumer needs of the markets they sell their products. For example, in many places in Africa, the land cruiser would be an ideal vehicle to provide the two services as compare to a person purchasing the two cars to suit their needs. The company should also focus on developing more electric cars which are now becoming the trend in the today world. The employee’s values should be the primary focus to help them be innovative and avoid another incident like that of 2010, which was due to the negligence of the personal values of the employees.
Conclusion
Work ethics is vital for the growth of a business. Work ethics has a significant impact on employee performance and business performance. On a case study on the Toyota motors growth, which saw an increase in innovation due to high work ethics saw the cancellation of production of Toyota land cruiser by 2022. The innovation has seen the manufacturer to produce environmental fit vehicles.
References
Adeyeye, J.O, Adeniji, A. A., Osinbanjo, A.O., and Oludayo, O.A, (2015). Effects of Workplace Ethics on Employees and Organisational Productivity in Nigeria. International Conference on African Development Issues (CU-ICADI).pp. 268.
Mirriam-Webster (2020). Definition of work ethic. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/work%20ethic
Mussner, T., Strobl, A., Veider, V., and Matzler, K. (2017). The effect of work ethic on employees’ individual innovation behaviour. Creativity and innovation management. Volume 26(4). Pp 391-406.
Thompson, J. (2019). Five Characteristics of a Good Work Ethic. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/five-characteristics-good-work-ethic-10382.html