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Working Paper: Case Study

Digital in the Driver’s Seat: Accelerating Toyota’s Transformation to Mobility Services

Toyota created an independent, small organization to develop digital offerings and introduce new ways of working.
By Nick van der Meulen, John G. Mooney, and Cynthia M. Beath
CASE STUDY

An in-depth description of a firm’s approach to an IT management issue (intended for MBA and executive education)

Abstract

In 2020 Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) was the world’s top-selling car manufacturer. Despite this, the company was being driven to excel further in response to changing consumer expectations, technological developments, and new kinds of entrants into the automotive industry. Toyota’s leaders sought to accelerate the company’s culture of incremental innovation and realize a bold new future centered on mobility services. They pursued this by launching Toyota Connected, a new organization with its own decision rights and ways of working and a mandate to create new digital offerings for Toyota. In parallel, a new division within Toyota Motor North America called Connected Technologies facilitated the company-wide diffusion and commercialization of the offerings Toyota Connected created. This case describes what it took to empower the small, independent, agile Toyota Connected and how the entity collaborated with Connected Technologies to design and scale new digital offerings and new ways of working for TMC globally.

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About the Authors

Profile picture for user john.mooney@pepperdine.edu

John G. Mooney, Professor, Pepperdine Graziadio Business School

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Cynthia M. Beath, Professor Emerita, University of Texas and Research Collaborator, MIT CISR

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