I wrote this for my PR Writing (Storytelling for Results) class in the University of Washington. Our assignment was to pick our favorite organization and write a short story (~250 words). We were given five types of stories to choose from. I decided on writing a story about how a company was founded. The goal of the exercise was to "vividly bring the company to life to potential customers, donors and/or opinion leaders."
I really enjoyed writing this piece because it's about Toyota, a company driven by innovation, rooted on its founding principles.
When I was in college, Toyota was my dream company. I could say that my affinity towards the company spawned from working on case studies about Toyota and going on a plant tour inside Toyota's manufacturing plant. It was love at first sight!
It was indeed a dream come true when, after graduating with a bachelor's degree in business administration, I got a call from Toyota's hiring professional. Shortly after, I joined the company as a Sales Planner in the Marketing Division. I moved to the Public Relations team in the Corporate Affairs Group after three years. I worked in the company for a total of 9 years and 11 months.
To this day, Toyota -- a company built on the pillars of Continuous Improvement and Respect for People -- remains as a company I truly admire.
Opening the Paper Door
Sakichi Toyoda, like his father, was a carpenter. At the same time, he had a propensity for invention.
Due to the poverty in their village in Japan, his mother wove
cloth by hand to supplement their family income. One night, while observing his
mother weave without results to show for her long hours of work, the idea of improving the hand loom struck him. He soon began working on his project.
Sakichi successfully completed and attained a patent for his design. Still, what he really wanted was to invent a power loom, he continued making improvements. Based on his patented device, he invented Japan's first self-powered loom and established the Toyoda Loom Company. However, a major economic downturn eventually forced him to resign from his own company.
Sakichi then traveled abroad to study the textile industry. Upon his return, he opened Toyoda Cotton Spinning and Weaving Company with more than 1,000 employees. When his decision to expand to China was questioned, he replied, "Open the paper door. The world is wide out there."
Together with his son, Kiichiro, Sakichi invented a fully automatic loom and established Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. Impressed with automobiles during his trip to the United States and Europe, he told Kiichiro, “The coming world needs cars. You must work on its development.” Consequently, an automotive production division was established within the company. While not officially a part of the company’s organization, the team researched, studied and developed vehicle prototypes under Kiichiro's leadership. This spawned Toyota Motor Corporation, one of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world today.
By venturing in vehicle production, the Toyodas had broken through another paper door.
Sakichi successfully completed and attained a patent for his design. Still, what he really wanted was to invent a power loom, he continued making improvements. Based on his patented device, he invented Japan's first self-powered loom and established the Toyoda Loom Company. However, a major economic downturn eventually forced him to resign from his own company.
Sakichi then traveled abroad to study the textile industry. Upon his return, he opened Toyoda Cotton Spinning and Weaving Company with more than 1,000 employees. When his decision to expand to China was questioned, he replied, "Open the paper door. The world is wide out there."
Together with his son, Kiichiro, Sakichi invented a fully automatic loom and established Toyoda Automatic Loom Works. Impressed with automobiles during his trip to the United States and Europe, he told Kiichiro, “The coming world needs cars. You must work on its development.” Consequently, an automotive production division was established within the company. While not officially a part of the company’s organization, the team researched, studied and developed vehicle prototypes under Kiichiro's leadership. This spawned Toyota Motor Corporation, one of the largest automotive manufacturers in the world today.
By venturing in vehicle production, the Toyodas had broken through another paper door.
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