u03a1: Refining The Problem Statement
Student Name: David Garrison
MBA6022
Strategic Operations Management

Address: 20210 Cypresswood Glen, Spring, TX 77373
Telephone: 832-530-5311
Email: David.J.Garrison@capella.com
Instructor: Dr. Zhimin Huang
Date: 9/11/2015
Abstract

Prior to October 2009, Toyota was seen as a leader in manufacturing and quality that other companies were trying to emulate (Cole, 2011). The company was facing a recall crisis because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had to pressure them to recall additional vehicles after a driver died in what was identified as a stuck accelerator followed by reports of unintended acceleration as a result of sticky gas pedals (Cole, 2011). Communication was the process identified that Toyota needed to improve.

Communication between customers, management, employees, and the media was selected as the process for improvement. Project Management Institute (2013) reports that Business research from Forbes, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC, and Towers Watson proves that companies realize that effective communication is important for success. According to Project Management Institure’s The High Cost of Low Performance: The Essential Role of Communications, “PMI’s 2013 Pulse of the ProfessionTM report revealed that US$135 million is at risk for every US$1 billion spent on a project. Further research on the importance of effective communications uncovers that a startling 56 percent (US$75 million of that US$135 million) is at risk due to ineffective communications” (p. 2). This paper discusses the process of how to improve communication at Toyota.

Introduction

Toyota experienced the accelerator crisis because of a breakdown in communication. We start with a FishBone diagram to discover the Cause and Effect to identify the root cause of each. Then, we discover all