TOYOTA CASE STUDY

Business Process Engineering

And

Viable System Diagnosis:

Corporate Web Site Development

(ISP Solutions PLC Case Study)

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Organizational Problem

Toyota needed to redesign the company’s United Kingdom web site in

order to meet new corporate guidelines. The web site had to manage content for

internal corporate users, as well as for consumers. Toyota wanted to make the

best use of Internet technology to enhance the consumer experience and build a

closer relationship with consumers by personalizing the web site functions and

keeping the web site fresh and inviting (IS Solutions, 2003).

The efficient and effective delivery of content to consumers was the major

goal for the web site. They also needed the site to be easy for the Toyota

business users to manage.

Since the web site already existed, they needed to do a major upgrade

without causing the site to be down for very long. They wanted consumers to

continue using the web site while the upgrades were being installed and tested,

so they had to be able to do system diagnosis without disruption of the service.

Relevant Approaches to the Problem

IS Solutions approached the problem with an eye to the future, developing

and building in the means to make changes after the foundations of the web site

were established. They illustrated the possibilities for what the web site could do

for consumers. They used consultant services in the areas of business analysis,

technical analysis and information architecture. Information architecture is

important because it blends business requirements with the design and

navigation of the web site that makes it efficient and effective for delivering

information to the user (IS Solutions, 2003).

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The approach of taking down the web site and replacing it with an entirely

new web site was rejected. Instead, they developed major upgrades and

additions to the existing web site to improve the functionality and user-

friendliness for both consumers and Toyota business users.

Site Management

The site was designed with publishing categories that match the site

navigation, so the business managers can easily publish content to be displayed

on the page where they want consumers to see it. When they generate content

in the Oracle database, they can view the page where it will be displayed, to see

how it looks. The site is divided into zones, so managers can see which zones

are more popular, as well as track the visitors on the site as they move from zone

to zone. Zones provide a hierarchical structure, so high priority messages reach

the web site visitor. In addition, the buttons on the side of the page allow visitors

to find each zone easily.

Thus, the dealers can see which zones the consumers visit most often,

and they can place their high-priority content in those zones. This helps them to

target advertisements to consumers and ensure that the consumers see those

advertisements.

The web site was easy to manage, and it was easy for both consumers

and Toyota business users to find the content that they needed.

Site Content

The content was designed to help change web site visitors into Toyota

buyers. A “persistent guest” technology enabled them to personalize the content

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based on the online behavior of the guests and the business rules of the web

site. Thus, they could show visitors the content that interests them, and

encourage them to become prospects for the sales of Toyota cars. The site also

offered data on used cars for consumers (IS Solutions, 2003).

In addition, the site contained content for Toyota business users, including

databases that they could access and use for their marketing activities. The

Oracle databases can be retrieved easily, and the site has a management tool for

debugging, so they can view the page and fix any problems before it becomes

available for viewing by consumers who visit the web site (IS Solutions, 2003).

User Registration

The site offered several advantages to registered users, to encourage

registration. The visitors can see the site without registration, but having a

personalized profile helps Toyota to target their market better. Registered users

could receive up-to-date information about new car launches, road show events

and other promotions and news from local Toyota dealers. The vicinity mapping

on the site could show them where local dealers were located (IS Solutions,

2003).

Thus, the consumers and Toyota benefited if the users were registered.

Mobility Services

Up-to-the-minute travel information is just one of the added value features

of the web site. Getmethere.co.uk provides travel data across Europe, including

weather reports, traffic, route planning, points of interest and fuel stops (IS

Solutions, 2003).
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Key Activities

For Toyota’s business and technical users, the web site provides

customized training to help them publish and manage business rules on the site,

without having to contact technical support to make those changes. The site also

has project management capabilities, so Toyota business users can employ a

methodology that conforms to industry standards (IS Solutions, 2003).

Changes/Improvements Generated

IS Solutions used past experience with web site development, as well as

focused workshops to learn the requirements of the organization and find ways to

meet those requirements.

They developed business and technical specifications, then reviewed and

evaluated them to form the basis of development work.

The key technologies employed included

 BroadVision One-to-One Enterprise platform

 Oracle database
 Sun Solaris operating system
 iPlanet (Sun ONE) web server

The web site also employed Java and XML. BroadVision's One-to-One

technology formed the foundation of the web site. It was originally designed with

version 3.0 of BroadVision's One-to-One, and then it was upgraded to version 7.0

Java and XML software technologies facilitated the compiling of temporary and

permanent databases and the extraction of those databases for display (IS

Solutions, 2003).
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Toyota’s business and technical users were enabled to publish content

and manage business rules on the site. Employee training was also provided on

the web site.

Consumers were allowed to view the web site without registering, but

registration would allow each consumer to enter information that would build a

personal profile to customize the content of the web site for each individual.

In order to provide a flexible, personalized web site, IS Solutions utilized

dynamic menus that allowed the subnavigation to change as new content was

brought online. In addition, the consumer would see only the content that was

relevant to their personal profile.

The site made extensive use of existing Toyota content, and it used zones

to allow the placement of advertisements and important notices on pages where

they were most likely to be seen by the consumers (IS Solutions, 2003).

The upgraded web site provided more functions for consumers, and it was

easier for them to use. In addition, Toyota business users were enabled to

personalize their messages to consumers and encourage web site visitors to

become Toyota customers.

Difficulties Arising During Implementation of the Changes/Improvements

The web site needed to be easy and comfortable for consumers to use. In

addition, Toyota needed to use the web site for corporate use in training and

support. This made it necessary to limit access to Toyota’s internal data to

corporate users and to block consumers from access to that sensitive

information.
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There was a great need for security, to stop attacks from worms, viruses

and hackers. Toyota implemented the TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention Systems

to secure their web site against cyber threats:

Toyota Europe researched security solutions from TippingPoint, Cisco,

Symantec, McAfee and ISS. They eliminated the Cisco system because
they found it costly and cumbersome to manage. After doing head-to-head
concept testing between the TippingPoint™ IPS and ISS’s Proventia
system, Toyota Europe concluded that the TippingPoint IPS was "the best
security appliance on the planet."

Toyota Europe found their conclusions confirmed by SC Magazine, which

ranked the TippingPoint solution "the Best Security Solution 2005."
(3Com Corporation, 2005).

There was also a great need to minimize the downtime when it became

necessary to expand and upgrade the web site to handle growing levels of user

activity into the future.

The BroadVision configuration allowed the web site to operate the

upgraded system on a load-sharing configuration, so the site could continue to

function during expansions and upgrades (IS Solutions, 2003). Thus, they could

test the site for functionality and user-friendliness, before it went on line for the

consumers. This enabled viability system diagnosis and testing of the web site

and everything that it does.

Toyota needed to manage its regular bulletin, “Toyota Dealer Daily”, for

display on the web site. The company outsourced this task to LeadingWay

Services, utilizing the LeadingWay KnowledgeOne Content Manager as a

knowledge system (LeadingWay, 2001).

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Strengths/Weaknesses of the Approach for Contemporary Strategic Design

within the Organization

The use of a web site can reach a large audience at a relatively low price,

but not all consumers utilize the Internet. Therefore, it is important to employ

other forms of marketing to reach consumers.

For example, Toyota has partnered with Xerox Corporation to produce

high-quality brochures with color photographs for mail shots, door drops and

point-of-sale distribution. Xerox developed technology that allows dealer sin the

United Kingdom to create brochures that contain uniform branding with

customized information about location, store hours and other variables, while

enjoying cost savings and avoiding the dilution of brand image that might occur if

each dealership created and printed their own brochures. This allows for a

uniform marketing strategy across the entire UK network of 200 Toyota Centers

(“Steering TOYOTA’S marketing”).

Discussion

When designing a web site, it is important to remember that “the main

focus of the web site design should still be alignment with corporate business

goals” (Web Transitions, 2004). The web site should motivate consumers to buy

Toyota products, and an automobile is a major purchase.

A vehicle purchase is a major undertaking and customers typically take

several months to make their choice. In addition, the average car buyer
changes their vehicle every three or so years. These factors operate in an
industry sector of huge competition where companies and brands are
contesting aggressively for a share of customer attention.
(IS Solutions, 2003).
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Toyota has a very functional web site. It looks attractive and is easy for

consumers to use. In addition, it provides good functionality for dealers to place

advertisements and for employee training, as well as database storage and

retrieval.
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Sources

Case Study: Toyota Dealer Daily. 2001. LeadingWay Knowledge

Systems. Irvine, California. www.leadingway.com.

Case Study: Toyota Motors Europe S.A./N.V. (EMEA). 2005. 3Com

Corporation. www.3com.com/solutions/en_US/casestudy.jsp?caseid=229112.

“Corporate web site development.” 2004. Web Transitions, Inc.

www.webtransitions.com/articles/Corporate-web-site-development.asp

“Steering TOYOTA’S marketing into the fast lane.” No date. Xerox

Magazine. www.podi.org/best-practices and www.xerox.com

Toyota Case Study 2003. 2003. IS Solutions PLC. Sunbury-on-Thames,

Middlesex. www.toyota.co.uk, www.issolutions.co.uk.