...Toyota’s Culture and the “Sticky Pedal” Recall Toyota may be one of the most successful car manufacturers of all time. A large corporation with a strong culture, one that was characterized by employees sharing the same core values. When a culture is as strong as Toyota’s, things like secrecy, loyalty and full commitment are rewarded. When Toyota first became aware of the faulty accelerator pedals they had produced and let out on the streets they didn’t want to react, they wanted to conceal the issue. Toyota simply took note of the problem, replaced a few of the pedals that were having issues and called it a day. Due to the strong culture, managers and higher ups did not want to disclose this information. Toyota, a huge corporation known for year after year innovation and reliability would not want a few sticky pedals to diminish their reputation. It wasn’t until 2010 that they finally let the cat out of the bag. With more and more sticky pedal cases being documented, Toyota knew they had to do something. There was simply way too many of these faulty pedals out on the road now, people were dying. In reaction to the situation, Toyota issued one of the largest recalls to actually fix these pedals. They now severely damaged their reputation, got hit with many fines, and one of the largest criminal penalties imposed on a car manufacturer. The corporation lost trust and hurt their reputation, they were now trying to rebuild and regain what they lost. A cultural change at Toyota would...
Words: 580 - Pages: 3
...Identifying Process improve Toyota Process Improvement Abstract This paper will address the identification of processed used by Toyota Corporation during the accelerator crisis. It will identify the process used and the core problems with the process. In part A of the paper the paper addresses the issues that began with sticky gas pedals, floor mats, and pedal entrapment and braking issues on some models of Toyotas vehicles. The quality of the vehicle was the issue. In part B of the paper the issue was safety and this lead to drivers dying because of safety issues. In part C of the paper Toyota has a lean process established that had no buy in from employees or Leadership which contributed to issues with their product. Toyota thought they had implemented a learn culture that consist of problem solving, teamwork, and a continuous improvement culture to sustain lean. Toyota Process Improvement Toyota is considered a global leader in the automobile business. Toyota has dominated the market with accolades from several organizations endorsing the Lexus as well as the Camry on a top ten list of best cars to own. Toyota had the market share of 12.8 percent. Toyota was based in Japan in 1933 and was introduced to the United States of American in 1957. Toyota made a name for them for producing reliable vehicles with superb quality. This paper will identify several processes for improvement that Toyota has researched, developed, or incorporated due to the crisis of the...
Words: 1251 - Pages: 6
...Toyota Motor Corporation BY Jochen Eckel/Bloomberg Updated: April 25, 2011 In 2008, Toyota achieved its long-held goal of becoming the No. 1 carmaker in the world, passing General Motors, which had been the leader since 1931. Shortly after Toyota gained that distinction, global auto sales plunged, leading to a loss for the fiscal year of $4.8 billion, the largest in the company's 72-year history. As Toyota returned to the black in late 2009, its reputation for safety and quality were battered by a series of recalls. The issue of unintended acceleration would lead the company through a bruising gantlet of government investigations, lawsuits from crash victims and one of the heaviest fines ever imposed on a car manufacturer in the United States. Toyota’s struggles continued late into 2010 as the carmaker dealt with the fallout from the recalls and the company was the only full-line automaker to report lower sales that year. In 2011, the company reduced production after the impact of the Japanese natural and nuclear disasters caused severe supply chain disruptions. Though Toyota’s 17 plants in Japan escaped the disaster relatively unscathed, factory lines are working at only half volume in Japan and at 40 percent overseas, as vital suppliers in Japan’s worst-hit areas struggle to restart operations. The company announced that it would not return to predisaster production levels until the end of 2011. The two other main Japanese automakers, Nissan and Honda, are also operating...
Words: 1320 - Pages: 6
...* ------------------------------------------------- Log In * ------------------------------------------------- Register Now * ------------------------------------------------- Help * ------------------------------------------------- TimesPeople * ------------------------------------------------- Home Page * ------------------------------------------------- Today's Paper * ------------------------------------------------- Video * ------------------------------------------------- Most Popular * ------------------------------------------------- Times Topics ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Search All NYTimes.com Bottom of Form Saturday, January 8, 2011 Business Day * ------------------------------------------------- World * ------------------------------------------------- U.S. * ------------------------------------------------- N.Y. / Region * ------------------------------------------------- Business * ------------------------------------------------- Technology * ------------------------------------------------- Science * ------------------------------------------------- Health * ------------------------------------------------- Sports * ------------------------------------------------- Opinion * ------------------------------------------------- Arts * ------------------------------------------------- Style * ------------------------------------------------- ...
Words: 3279 - Pages: 14
...1. What did Toyota do Wrong? Ie., What were the major mistakes? The problem that Toyota faced was quality crisis related to accelerator pedal issue. Over 8 million vehicles have been recalled for these problems—an aftermarket floor mat that, if not clipped down properly, can interfere with the gas pedal; a pedal from one supplier that can get "sticky" because a composite material interacts with moisture over time as it wears. A critical contributor to these problems might be that Toyota leadership abandoned their quality driven system for increased market share and rapid growth. With the strategy to grab more markets shares in order to growth rapidly, new products had to be introduced more quickly, new plants had to be opened more rapidly, and supply chain networks had to be expanded more aggressively. I think it was the step that Toyota did wrong. Quality should always be the key competency and main focus for Toyota. 2. What should Toyota do now? I believe that Toyota should have a right attitude to respond to the crisis. They should not delay recall the cars and have a slow response to the public. Instead, they should face the evidence that problems exist with its accelerators. And Toyota has to learn to trust non-Japanese leaders in order to communicate efficiently to avoid delay fixing future problems. Furthermore, The top management and engineers should focus on root cause analysis and coming up with solutions in order to recover its reputation from public. Moreover...
Words: 462 - Pages: 2
...Recently Toyota’s announced a recall because of a technical fix for its sticky gas pedals, which could lead to sudden acceleration problems. This issue have their sales and production on hold for their top selling cars in the United Stated. Toyota can face billions in charges and losses. Many believe that Toyota was trying to keep up with numbers and stop providing quality. The growth of the Toyota car was going very fast and to keep up with the demand may have push the industry a little too far too fast. “The evidence that Toyota was expanding too much and too quickly started surfacing a couple of years ago. Not on the company's bottom line, but on its car-quality ratings,” writes Paul Ingrassia, a Pulitzer Prize-winning former Detroit bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. (Connor, 2010). Toyota was trying to keep up with the demand so much to increase profits across the board they didn’t want to discredit the image of their business when the problem first arise. According to Ruddell “one of the reasons that businesses are tempted to act unethically is because they have not done a proper job planning strategically” (Ruddell, 2004). The biggest question in the sticky gas pedal issue is who’s at fault. Toyota gets most of their manufacturing parts from outside sources. Toyota is taking full responsibility for the problem which many seems it’s about time. The issue date back before the company started using the company that supplies the gas pedal...
Words: 1413 - Pages: 6
...How Toyota Ought to Organize its Decision Processes to Minimize the Risk of Major Design Flaws that Lead to Massive Recalls and Driver Deaths from the Perspective of Organization Design and Decision-Making Abstract Japanese automaker, Toyota was a quality assurance trademark trusted by consumers worldwide. Though, in recent years, the company has been inundated by numerous vehicle recalls. Toyota’s quality problems surfaced when it was forced to recall nearly 7 million vehicles in the late part of 2009 (Chris, 2010). The recall crisis of 2009-2010 prompted a wave of negative publicity for the company (Chris, 2010). Many issues were discovered that led to the recalls. Sticky gas pedals, pedal entrapment, and software glitches that affected braking in some models were some of the problem areas (Trudell, 2014). Over time, the safety related recalls continued growing. In fact, by May 2011, the automaker had recalled close to 20 million vehicles (Trudell, 2014). Naturally, the numerous recalls and lawsuits that ensued threatened to damage Toyota’s image; thus, to rectify this the company should organize its decision processes more efficiently. Keywords: organizational change, recall, total quality management Introduction For decades, Toyota set the standard for quality and reliability in the automotive industry. In fact, the Toyota brand has been touted as the pinnacle of automotive excellence by rating industries and industry consultants (Piotrowski & Gray, 2010)...
Words: 4041 - Pages: 17
...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...
Words: 1680 - Pages: 7
...Michael Greto Andreas Schotter Mary Teagarden Toyota: The Accelerator Crisis The root cause of their problems is that the company was hijacked, some years ago, by anti-family, financially oriented pirates. Jim Press, former President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. On February 24, 2010, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota Motor Corporation’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, endured a grueling question-and-answer session before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The committee represented just one of three Congressional panels investigating the 2009-2010 recall of Toyota vehicles related to problems of sudden acceleration and the company’s delay in responding to the crisis. Signs of the coming recall crisis began as early as 2006 when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into driver reports of “surging” in Toyota’s Camry models. The NHTSA investigation was closed the next year, citing no defects. Over the next four years, Toyota, known in the industry for its quality and reliability, would quietly recall nearly nine million Toyota and Lexus models due to sudden acceleration problems. Toyota’s leadership, widely criticized for its slow response in addressing the problems, now had to move quickly to identify a solution that would ensure the safety of its vehicles, restore consumer confidence, protect the valuable Toyota brand, and recoup a plummeting share price....
Words: 13407 - Pages: 54
...Toyota Company Name University Affiliation History and back ground of Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese automobile company that came into existence in 1937. This company was established mainly to manufacture automobile after the founder had traveled to Europe and the US to investigate how to manufacture gasoline powered engine (Kalb, 2012). The company came into existence because there was a need to develop a local automobile by Japan since the government needed domestic automobile production units because it had war with China (Meyer, 2015). The company produced its first engine known as Type A engine which was used in its first models of passenger and truck vehicles. In 1950, a separate Toyota Motor sales company was established to deal mainly with the marketing of the Toyota car products. This separate company lasted until 1982. In the 1950s, the Toyopet dealer chain has established a chain which specialized in the production of Toyopet Model SA; by 1957, Toyota Company managed to start exporting its car products to other parts of the world such as Australia, United States, and Europe (Kalb, 2012). In 1982, Toyota Motors Company and Toyota Motor Sales merged forming one company known as Toyota Motor Corporation. The company started establishing new brands of vehicles that surpassed the brands of the competitors (Kalb, 2012). In the 1990s towards the new century, the company started to branch out by adding many larger and luxurious vehicles...
Words: 3138 - Pages: 13
...Michael Greto Andreas Schotter Mary Teagarden Toyota: The Accelerator Crisis The root cause of their problems is that the company was hijacked, some years ago, by anti-family, financially oriented pirates. Jim Press, former President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. On February 24, 2010, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota Motor Corporation’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, endured a grueling question-and-answer session before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The committee represented just one of three Congressional panels investigating the 2009-2010 recall of Toyota vehicles related to problems of sudden acceleration and the company’s delay in responding to the crisis. Signs of the coming recall crisis began as early as 2006 when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into driver reports of “surging” in Toyota’s Camry models. The NHTSA investigation was closed the next year, citing no defects. Over the next four years, Toyota, known in the industry for its quality and reliability, would quietly recall nearly nine million Toyota and Lexus models due to sudden acceleration problems. Toyota’s leadership, widely criticized for its slow response in addressing the problems, now had to move quickly to identify a solution that would ensure the safety of its vehicles, restore consumer confidence, protect the valuable Toyota brand, and recoup a plummeting share price....
Words: 13407 - Pages: 54
...Michael Greto Andreas Schotter Mary Teagarden Toyota: The Accelerator Crisis The root cause of their problems is that the company was hijacked, some years ago, by anti-family, financially oriented pirates. Jim Press, former President & Chief Operating Officer (COO) Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. On February 24, 2010, Akio Toyoda, the grandson of Toyota Motor Corporation’s founder, Kiichiro Toyoda, endured a grueling question-and-answer session before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The committee represented just one of three Congressional panels investigating the 2009-2010 recall of Toyota vehicles related to problems of sudden acceleration and the company’s delay in responding to the crisis. Signs of the coming recall crisis began as early as 2006 when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an investigation into driver reports of “surging” in Toyota’s Camry models. The NHTSA investigation was closed the next year, citing no defects. Over the next four years, Toyota, known in the industry for its quality and reliability, would quietly recall nearly nine million Toyota and Lexus models due to sudden acceleration problems. Toyota’s leadership, widely criticized for its slow response in addressing the problems, now had to move quickly to identify a solution that would ensure the safety of its vehicles, restore consumer confidence, protect the valuable Toyota brand, and recoup a plummeting share price....
Words: 13407 - Pages: 54
...Critically evaluating a business response Introduction Between 2009 and 2011, the Toyota recall crisis has aroused massive attentions, discussions and criticisms in a wide range of media circles (Piotrowski and Gray 2010). This paper will firstly review the whole crisis situation and then evaluate Toyota’s response from three different perspectives. There are many arguments about the deep root problems of Toyota’s poor reactions. This paper will only focus on two perspectives to offer recommendations. One is the corporation’s communication strategy; the other is the corporation’s crisis strategy. Case study overview Toyota Motor Corporation is one of the baggiest car manufactory in the world. It is the car industry leader on both sales and production. The brand name was treated as the synonymous with good quality and safety (Kingston 2010). However, between 2009 and 2011, Toyota was experiencing sequent recalls due to its safety issues. Recalls were mainly triggered by several car accidents in U.S. The first recall was caused by the problems with floor mats that might trap accelerator pedals in November 2009. But the crisis did not end there. Toyota continually conducted more recalls due to wide range reasons. The problems include sticky gas pedals, software glitches, steering control and fuel leakage. Before February 2011, there were nineteen separate recalls and encompassed over twenty million cars in total within different car models (Cole 2011). Toyota’s initial response...
Words: 2080 - Pages: 9
...To : University of Sunderland From : Kam Kah Sam Date : 10th December 2012 Chosen Organization : TOYOTA 1.0 Introduction Ethics as according to (Riley 2012), are moral guidelines in which governs a person to behave appropriately. Thus, it could be assumed that one whom behaves ethically is also doing what is morally right. From this, it could be understood that business ethics as according to (Riley 2012) is regarded as good business practice. (Collins 1994) on the other hand claims that business ethics is an oxymoron, a contradiction of two concept. What (Collins 1994) mean is that there are not or cannot be ethics in business, or that business in some sense is unethical. In some sense, it is not surprising that some thinks this way as there are countless scandals involving undesirable business activities happening nowadays. Examples of notable scandals as according to (Garrison et al. 2008) includes Enron, WorldCom, Global Crossing, and Tyco International. As according to (Crane and Matten,2007), unethical business practices such as exploitation of workers, pollution of the environment, bribery, and deception of consumers has been going about business today. Thus as according to (Watson 1994), majority of businesses do require the maintenance of basic ethical standards such as trustworthiness, teamwork, and truthfulness. Without it businesses would not be able to proceed smoothly as consumers no longer trust vendors while employees refused to comply with...
Words: 3588 - Pages: 15
...issues of quality and ethics in Toyota Motor Corporation in line with the recall crisis at Toyota and its overall impacts to the brand as revealed by (Greto, Schotter & Teargarden, 2010) in their study titled, “Toyota: The Accelerator Crisis.” In her process identification, Ndagire introduces us to the drivers of the Toyota accelerator crisis and in her response, she contends with the fact that nonfamily members who were obsessed with quantity influenced the crisis in quest. In addition, the author says that the reason behind the recall crisis at Toyota was the nonfunctional management structure. Ndagire goes on o mention that failure by the top management to involve the employees in decision making especially concerning the TPS system demoralized the employees hence they could not support the corporate brand while the stakeholders would only do so upon invitation and satisfaction of the model quality. Also to not from the process identification is that Toyota did not manage public relation in U.S in the verge of the accelerator crisis thus need for crisis management. According to Ndagire, for the CEO to restore Toyota‘s reputation, he should change the management structure by ensuring flow of information among different units as well as minimizing on cost cutting. Further, she concludes that Toyota lost sight of its long-term philosophy by focusing on quality rather than quality and that three different quality dimensions were not addressed at Toyota. After analyzing the...
Words: 2311 - Pages: 10
