...Lee bought a new Toyota Camry from a local Sunnyvale, California, Toyota dealership, donating her immaculate Camry bought in 1990 to a local charity. Going from an older Camry model to a newer one, it was obvious that Lupe not only liked Camry cars, but she liked Toyota and its business model. However, this was all about to change on September 9, 2011. On this day, Lupe and her daughter were on their way to Berkeley for a niece’s wedding. They planned to stop in Burlingame to pick up Lupe’s sister, Rose. They arrived at the sister’s apartment early, so Lupe and her daughter went inside. After visiting in the apartment for a time, the three of them went out to get into the Camry to continue on to Berkeley. Lupe would have to make a U-turn to head back towards the freeway. Instead, she decided to maneuver into a nearby driveway to turn around. This is when things began to go horribly wrong; as they started up the driveway, the car began accelerating. Rose exclaimed “Lupe! What are you doing!? Why are you going so fast!? Push on the brake!” Lupe had no control of the car; she was terrified. She tried desperately to press the brake, but nothing happened. She quickly realized that the car mat had been lodged under the gas pedal forcing the car to accelerate and making it impossible for her to slow down. Her Camry crashed through the garage doors at the end of the drive, and Lupe had to think quickly about what to do next (reference Exhibit A for the crash visual). She knew that if she...
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...the case facts and its internal and external communications with Toyota North America, the Toyota owners, and the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA). It will also address key stakeholder issues and risks to the Toyota brand. Finally, desirable outcomes will be outlined for resolving the ethical challenges by Toyota, as well as possible solutions that could have been implemented and recommendations for the future. A Lesson in Communicating Bad News: The Toyota Recall Crisis: Miscommunications, Missteps, and Missed Opportunities Case Introduction There has been an unprecedented period of corporate crises over the past decade. Effective crisis management has been a key element in whether a company can ride the storm and come out the other side. There is a constant presence of crises in the world of business and global business today that the public has seen firsthand. A crisis can happen to any company, large or small in every industry, it can occur without warning, at any time for a multitude of reasons. In other words, no company is immune from a crisis situation. The ethical case in this discussion centers on Toyota Inc., and its response to a crisis that was the result of a case situation involving the crash of a Lexus that occurred in 2009 due to an unintended acceleration problem. Toyota’s issues became...
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...During the year 2014 General Motors has recalled millions of their newest vehicle models. Most recently in June 2014, GM has been under fire from the media over their issues with the Chevy Cobalt as well as other sedan and pickup truck models for mechanical issues that have resulted in several accidents as well as a handful of deaths. General Motors lack of safety concern is baffling and has led to investigation that resulted in the loss of jobs for multiple employees, including some high level executives with the company. I will be writing on General Motors and their recalls as a whole this year, with key points on vehicles that have caused the most trauma to this masses as of this year. The Chevy Cobalt seems to be the model that has caused...
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...Personal Case Study Toyota has been operating in automobile industry since decades and is enjoying a reputable market position. The company has hundreds of franchises and introduced world’s latest technology in global automobile market. The technology advancements are offered to public after several checks and quality assurance and safety measures. Still there are several accidents which happen despite of all security checks. During 2009 one of latest vehicle named Toyota Lexus encountered an accident due to failure of technology. The San Diego received an emergency phone call from passengers of Toyota Lexus who were terrified due to out of order accelerating control of car. The passengers could not get even few seconds and the car smashed completely. The technology failure resulted in loss of four lives. This accident has put a great question mark on authenticity of Toyota’s security check and quality control. It led to a crucial trust and reliability crisis for Toyota all over the world. The customers demanded a complete review of quality and reliability analysis of company products and services. Despite of such crucial circumstances, Toyota’s management delayed apologies or assurance for inquiry which created more resentment among customers. The tragic accident not only resulted in loss of four lives but also caused decline in Toyota’s sales, investors, and market share and customer loyalty. The company delayed communication regarding casual agents of incident and did not...
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...Proceedings of the 2012 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Istanbul, Turkey, July 3 – 6, 2012 Car Recalls: A Problem Unique to Toyota or For All Car Makers? Kamrul Ahsan School of Management and Information Systems, Faculty of Business and Law Victoria University Australia Abstract Often automobile recalls are drawing media and public attention. Influenced by Toyota’s recent automobile recalls 2009-2010 this research conducts an empirical study on historical car recalls. The research uses secondary data from recall websites maintained by public and private organizations. For different car model year and manufacturer the study looks at frequency of recalls, recorded customer complaints, and yearly sales data. Analysis shows recalls are a common event with the majority of recalls initiated by only a few car makers. Though car makers use many eye catching and popular quality and customer care slogans and programs, many popular car makers still face valid customer complaints and consequently face many unwanted recalls. This study identifies that most recalls occur during the first five years of the car model year. This preliminary study of automobile recalls can be further extended at a later stage to identify key causes of recall. Keywords Product recalls, Reverse logistics, car recalls, product returns, closed loop supply chain 1. Introduction Though manufacturers use state-of-the-art operations philosophies, tools and techniques...
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...Running head: Assignment 1: Leadership Styles of NHTSA and Toyota Recalls Leadership Styles of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Toyota Recalls By Michele L. Ennis, MS February 2010 Abstract The purpose of this research is to apply theoretical approaches of leadership styles and skills to the recent events of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Toyota automobile recall. Following a thorough examination of the issues involved in both events, the application of Blake and Mouton (1964) theory to the leadership styles will be separately applied to the NHTSA and Toyota cases in order to examine the ineffectiveness of leadership in both organizations. Toyota’s delayed and misleading consumer responses regarding the vehicle safety issues that lead up to the recent sticky accelerator recall has left consumers angry and concerned for the company’s ability to uphold its mission of producing “high-quality” vehicles (cbsnews.com, 2010; Toyota.com, 2010). Parallel to Toyota’s case, NHTSA’s failure to thoroughly investigate years worth of consumer automobile safety complaints because there was an absence of statistical trends, left consumers uncomfortable with the government agency’s ability to uphold its mission of “safety.” In both cases, the leaders’ failure to integrate task and relations orientations could be harmful to the outcome of...
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...Health and Safety Management Systems - An Analysis of System Types and Effectiveness EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION 2. HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS 3. TYPES OF HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS PART ONE: LITERATURE AND FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSMENT 3.1 INTRODUCTION 3.2 LITERATURE ON TYPES OF HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS PART TWO: CASE EVIDENCE 3.3 SYSTEM TYPES - CASE STUDY FINDINGS 3.4 SUMMARY 4. ASSESSING HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM EFFECTIVENESS PART ONE: LITERATURE AND FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSMENT 4.1 INTRODUCTION 4.2 LITERATURE ON EFFECTIVENESS OF HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS PART TWO: CASE EVIDENCE 4.3 THE TWENTY CASES: CONTENT AND LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT OF HEALTH AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS 4.4 THE TWENTY CASES: OUTCOME DATA 4.5 SUMMARY 5. FACTORS SHAPING PERFORMANCE AND THE ROLE OF SYSTEM TYPE 5.1 INTRODUCTION 5.2 BASICS AND EXTRAS 5.3 SYSTEM-RELATED CHARACTERISTICS 5.4 THE ROLES OF THE KEY WORKPLACE PLAYERS 5.5 THE LINKAGES BETWEEN HEALTH AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE AND SYSTEM TYPE 5.6 SUMMARY 6. CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES APPENDIX ONE: CASE STUDY PROTOCOL APPENDIX TWO: ASSESSMENT CRITERIA APPENDIX THREE: CASE SUMMARIES AND SYSTEM TYPES Executive Summary This report examines planned approaches to health and safety management in the workplace. It is the result of a two-year study of enterprise-level health and safety management systems, funded by Worksafe Australia, and conducted from late 1994 to late 1996. The need...
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...The case of Toyota recall By Daniel Opoku Abstract Purpose: the main purpose of this study is to find out about the recalls of Toyota vehicles which lead to the death of some innocent lives. The recall was due to unintended acceleration. Toyota ultimately recalled millions of its cars for floor mat issues, brake problems and "sticky" gas pedals. Methodology: Data was collected online, by the help of some selected search engines. Information was collected from Toyota’s national website as well as other private sites. Findings/results: Most organization should seek for customers or consumer’s satisfaction rather than targeting of making high profit. Arrogance and choosing to ignore quality warnings when failures begin to happen is also a problem facing most organization. Implications: Companies or organizations should design and manufacturing information and traceability data that can be shared with suppliers for effective root cause analysis. Paper type: case study Keywords: recall, unintended acceleration, floor mat, sticky gas pedals. Introduction Toyota has long been recognized as seventh largest company in the world and the second largest manufacturer of automobiles, with production facilities in 28 nations around the world (Toyota Assembly and part, 2011). As been the world third largest manufacturer of automobiles in unit sales and in net sales, Toyota has also created good customer relationship and provides customers with the products they need. Toyota Motor...
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...The case of Toyota recall By Daniel Opoku Abstract Purpose: the main purpose of this study is to find out about the recalls of Toyota vehicles which lead to the death of some innocent lives. The recall was due to unintended acceleration. Toyota ultimately recalled millions of its cars for floor mat issues, brake problems and "sticky" gas pedals. Methodology: Data was collected online, by the help of some selected search engines. Information was collected from Toyota’s national website as well as other private sites. Findings/results: Most organization should seek for customers or consumer’s satisfaction rather than targeting of making high profit. Arrogance and choosing to ignore quality warnings when failures begin to happen is also a problem facing most organization. Implications: Companies or organizations should design and manufacturing information and traceability data that can be shared with suppliers for effective root cause analysis. Paper type: case study Keywords: recall, unintended acceleration, floor mat, sticky gas pedals. Introduction Toyota has long been recognized as seventh largest company in the world and the second largest manufacturer of automobiles, with production facilities in 28 nations around the world (Toyota Assembly and part, 2011). As been the world third largest manufacturer of automobiles in unit sales and in net sales, Toyota has also created good customer relationship and provides customers with the products they need. Toyota Motor...
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...Police Department Roles and Functions Ashlee Hoagland CJS/241 March 16, 2015 Norman Healy Police Department Roles and Functions The Police Department must serve many roles and purposes so they also must take care of any issues that arise, dealing with the law and with the safety of the public. This is why the departments have different level of officers designated to carry out certain functions. These roles vary by jurisdiction where there are state, local, and federal jurisdictions. Police Functions and Roles The principal roles and functions of police organizations are the prevention of crime and protection of life, to uphold and enforce the law, to combat public fear of crime, to promote community safety, to control traffic, to encourage respect for the law, to protect the civil rights and liberties of individuals. The police are to protect and serve the community in which they work in. The basic mission of law enforcement is to maintain public safety by reducing the occurrence of crimes in society. To make this happen the Police must play a certain role in society. They are to enforce the laws, help maintain the peace. By providing their service they help prevent crime and by arresting offenders they enforce the laws. (Schmallenger, 2011.) The law determines the functions and roles of the police. The law dictates how they will fulfill these duties. The police have guidelines and restrictions they must follow. There are many different...
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...world's leading car manufacturing companies. . Toyota has a wide variety of vehicles ranging from cars, to trucks and SUV's in order to accommodate every consumer generation. Toyota's main competitor's in the market is Honda and Hyundai. Since the decline of the economy Toyota has been working tirelessly to create eco friendly cars and promote the green initiative, As a result the company has rolled out a chain of hybrid solar power cars. Toyota has also marketed the new 2009 Corollas, which are guaranteed to get more miles per gallon of gas than the any full size vehicle in its class. Toyota's marketing strategy is as follows: define marketing goals and policies and devise tactics, and competitive strategy. Toyota's marketing team convene on a weekly basis to discuss the competitions' strategies, and where they are succeeding. Toyota then creates a competitive strategy based on the findings. The top advisors of the company prepare a targeted marketing plan, market a regional performance report, update and establish new contacts within banks for financing and leasing purposes, and monitor sales during their weekly meeting. By doing this, Toyota will stay at the top of a competitive market. Toyota's target market is a potential or current customer between the age of 18-60 years old. Toyota's promotional strategies include but are not limited to advertising on television and radio, personal selling, and direct marketing. Toyota also displays their latest line of cars on billboards...
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...about this fact, is that it took the loss of life of a police officer and his family for the Toyota company to recognize that there was a product failure problem. Although the NHTSA had apparently received many reports of this accelerator pedal problem happening, it is cited by Bearman Law as having been ignored although previously investigated. As the investigation unfolded, many injuries and fatalities were uncovered that were caused by this Toyota malfunction and the public was not notified. The solution was for owners to remove the floor mat and not replace it. (Bearman Law Firm, 2012) I personally was shocked when I read further into this case as I recalled that this happened to my mother a number of times in her Toyota Lexus while on the highway and merging with traffic and the pedal sticking. I thought initially at the time, that this could not possible be true, Toyota was a well manufactured vehicle and was the reason we selected the vehicle; a safe and reliable vehicle always. As she continued to have these issues and we were not receiving resolution, we traded it for a new Toyota. Even though, we had these issues, we still believed in the quality. As I now read further into this, I was...
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...gas pedals, which can lead to sudden acceleration problems, is not likely to bring a quick end to the company’s current recall nightmare. During the course of this paper, I will explain in detail the Toyota recall in 2010 having to do with the gas petal sticking. I will also explain why I believe Toyota handled this situation from the deontological perspective and what other theories apply to the unethical situation. Description Unethical Situation In 2010, Toyota was forced to issue a series of highly-publicized recalls, due to reports of cars accelerating beyond the driver's control. The issue led to Congressional hearings, damaged the reputation of a company once known for its bulletproof reliability, and left millions of Toyota owners with questions about their own safety. Understandably, the news was worried for Toyota consumers. It also rocked the automotive industry, as questions about Toyota's reputation for reliability surfaced during this time. It started with a single, horrifying car crash in southern California in August 2009. In the weeks following, two separate recalls covering 7.5 million vehicles, Toyota was forced to announce it was suspending the sale of eight of its best-selling vehicles, a move that cost the company and its dealers a minimum of $54 million a day in lost sales revenue. How did a company that became the world's largest and most profitable automaker on the back of a rock-solid reputation for quality and dependability find itself at the center...
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...merged in 1990 for $2.6 billion. Today the company markets 8,000 different types and sizes of tires along with other products. Firestone has had a substantial history of scandals relating to tire safety In 1978 Firestone recalled 14.5 million tires—the largest tire recall at the time—after excess application of the adhesives binding the rubber and steel resulted in 500 tread separations and blowouts. The company was also fined $500,000 for concealing safety problems. ("e-businessethics.com") However in the late 90’s Firestone would be put into serious jeopardy and be threatened with going bankrupt. The Ford Motor Company was started by Henry Ford in 1903 in Dearborn, Michigan producing only a few cars a day. Ford was the first company to use assembly line production and has grown into one of the largest family run organizations in the world In 1999 Ford had a staff of 360,000 employees and revenues of more than $160 billion. (Rourke, 2001) Ford has also been no stranger to controversy from 1971 to 1980 Ford manufactured the “Pinto” during the production run of the Pinto a major flaw in design was made aware to the public. When a Pinto was struck from behind the design allowed for the gas tank to get damaged very easily causing fires and explosions from only minor car...
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...Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University ERAU Scholarly Commons Economics, Finance, & Information Systems Daytona Beach 2014 College of Business The Effect on Stockholder Wealth of Product Recalls and Government Action: The Case of Toyota's Accelerator Pedal Recall Jayendra Gokhale Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University - Daytona Beach, gokhalej@erau.edu Raymond M. Brooks Oregon State University Victor J. Tremblay Oregon State University Follow this and additional works at: http://commons.erau.edu/db-accounting Part of the Business Administration, Management, and Operations Commons, Finance Commons, and the Management Information Systems Commons Scholarly Commons Citation Gokhale, J., Brooks, R. M., & Tremblay, V. J. (2014). The Effect on Stockholder Wealth of Product Recalls and Government Action: The Case of Toyota's Accelerator Pedal Recall. The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 54(4). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.qref.2014.06.004 This is the submitted author’s version that was accepted for publication in The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, and formatting are not reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. The published version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.qref.2014.06.004. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Business at ERAU Scholarly...
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