...Team B Assesses Public Relations for Toyota SUA Recalls MKT/578 University Of Phoenix Team B Assesses Public Relations for Toyota SUA Recalls In August of 2009, an off duty California Highway Patrol officer and three family members died when their Lexus crashed after the accelerator pedal stuck. The car was traveling at a high rate of speed and could not be stopped according to a panicked call from the driver (MacKenzie and Evans, 2010). This tragedy kicked off a crisis for Toyota as it had to deal with accusations that a faulty accelerator pedal is what caused the crash. The company faced negative publicity from the media, the public and the NHTSA (National Highway Transportation Safety Administration) as a result of this accident and other accidents involving sudden unattended acceleration (SUA) from a stuck accelerator pedal. In response to these incidents and the publicity, Toyota eventually recalled 7.5 million vehicles to fix the stuck accelerator problem and shut down production of its effected vehicles until the problem could be solved. In this paper, Learning Team B has evaluated the role public relations played in this case and how the company could better prepare for a similar crisis. Problem Toyota realized it had a public opinion problem after numerous reports of “runaway” cars were claimed to have been caused by an accelerator pedal that would remain pressed down after the driver released the pedal. This resulted in the California accident...
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...of Toyota. Like other companies, Toyota operates in a complex global industry. In order to develop and execute a successful strategy, the Toyota Corporation must take into account the global automotive environment. As part of strategy Toyota must look at their current opportunities in the market. Along with these opportunities, Toyota also faces some threats. Toyota has taken many actions to respond to these environmental contingencies. Based on my analysis, Toyota should continue to focus on its customers, as well as coping with change, and announcing their responses to its customers. Toyota Motor Corporation is a multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan; in the current market they have many opportunities. Currently, Toyota is one of the world’s largest automobile manufactures and employs over 300,000 employees. A major opportunity for Toyota is the new fuel efficient cars that they are producing. With the oil prices reaching record highs, Toyota has the advantage over other car manufactures with their more fuel efficient cars. This is one of their keys to success right now. Toyota is also producing cars that are targeted towards the younger generation of drivers. A great deal of money can be made here also. Acting on any opportunities in the automobile market is a risk taking action, and risk is associated with threats. Along with these opportunities, Toyota also faces some threats. The threats for Toyota are product recalls. In...
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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...
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...TOYOTA, INC. A Case Study in Communicating Bad News Written by: Alex Mezey Scott Hamilton Kevin Kuwahara Courtney Sandlin Dr. Robyn Walker Faculty Advisor Center for Management Communication Prepared for: Case Study Initiative Center for Management Communication 2013 Page 1 of 12 INTRODUCTION In 2005, Lupe 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...
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...A Lesson in Communicating Bad News: The Toyota Recall Crisis: Missteps, Miscommunications, and Missed Opportunities Mari E. Friedrich MGT 460 June 24, 2015 Abstract The paper will serve to examine the corporate leadership failures of the Toyota 2009-2010 defective acceleration recalls. Focusing specifically, on a case that occurred in the state of California in 2011, resulting in a massive recall by Toyota, and nearly 30 percent of all U.S. vehicle recalls in 2010. This study will center on Toyota’s response on 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...
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...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, it is difficult to make the perfect product and products often need to be recalled. Recalls occur when the customer...
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...Business Research Project: Part IV Darby Bess, Roslyn Mason, Jessica Hardin, Jennifer Steimle, Stephen Yeager QNT/561 December 3, 2013 James Krause The purpose of this research paper is to identify and correct causes of Toyota’s seat belt recall of 310,000 of its vehicles (Eisenstein, 2013). Seat belt failures contribute to loss of income as well as lives. If the issue is extrapolated to the economy, the loss of income and lives equate to a moderate yet significant portion of lost GDP. Thousands of people that contribute to the nations production essentially disappear effecting economic growth. Seat belt legislation is goverened by the states. Twenty-five states and the District of Columbia require seat belts for all passengers. All vehicles including buses are required to be fitted with what the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and Regulations (FMVSR) call a type 2 seat belt assembly consisting of a combination pelvic and upper torso restraint (Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 2013). Currently, states are expanding their seat-belt laws to cover rear-seat occupants (Copeland, 2010). It is prudent for any organization to understand the mechanics, processes, and products they use or create. If a product or process fails, it is important the same institution initiates sound research to generate dependable data derived by professionally conducted practices that can be used reliably for decision...
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...& Recommendations | 10 | 7 | Bibliography | 14 | INTRODUCTION Toyota Motor Corporation, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2010, Toyota Motor Corporation employed 317,734 people worldwide, and was the world's largest automobile manufacturer by production. The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937 as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. TMC is part of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world. It created its first product, the Type A engine, and, in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation group companies are Toyota (including the Scion brand), Lexus, Daihatsu and Hino Motors, along with several "non-automotive" companies. Sakichi Toyoda invented the Toyoda Model G Automatic Loom in 1924 incorporated the principle of Jidoka, which means that the machine automatically stops itself when a problem occurs, later becoming a part of the Toyota Production System. RESEARCH PROBLEM: Toyota has long been recognized as an industry leader in manufacturing and production. Toyota's management philosophy has evolved from the company's origins and has been reflected in the terms "Lean Manufacturing" and Just In Time Production, which was instrumental in developing Toyota's managerial values and business methods collectively known as the Toyota Way. In 2010, the Toyota Motor Corporation ranked first by the International Organization of Motor...
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...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 Company...
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...Case Assignment Analysis MRKT 5000 Online Course Toyota Uses Advertising to Restore Trust Case Summary: For decades Toyota had been known for its commitment to reliability and quality however during a two year time frame as Toyota was coming off of becoming the top auto manufacturer in the world they were also hit with massive recalls. Recalls pointing toward safety concerns such as braking systems and acceleration problems began to tarnish Toyota’s reputation that had taken decades to build causing concerns for shareholders and stakeholders alike. Toyota had to pull its ad campaign focusing on safety and dependability and create a new campaign to deal directly with the problem admitting they had strayed from quality amid high sales. Pairing this marketing campaign with sales incentives, maintenance programs, and ads designed to target and segment the market Toyota is once again growing seeking to reclaim the top spot which had been taken over by General Motors. Key Marketing Issues • Advertising Campaign – The creation and execution of a series of advertisements to communicate with a particular target audience. In this case the campaign had many specific targets in mind. Not only was the general public targeted to be reassured regarding safety concerns but minorities were targeted as they were the primary purchasers of Toyotas and African Americans were targeted in order to generate higher sales of hybrid vehicles. . ...
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...new marketing strategies initiated by Toyota Motor Company (“Toyota”) to improve the trust and overhaul of the company’s image in response to a $10M recall in 2010. The vehicles that were recalled resulted from an introduction of acceleration-related accidents for which Toyota encountered hundreds of lawsuits (Jacobs & Chase 2014). Naturally, the recalls and lawsuits threatened to tarnish the company’s image. Thus, in an effort to reconstruct this persona, the company improved in its total quality management (“TQM”) program which resulted in many new marketing strategies including, global advertising campaigns, technological developments, quality and safety reforms (Kozaki, Oura & Amasaka, 2012). Specifically, this included one of the new marketing initiatives included an international computer database being able to track all repairs, while decreasing customer complaints from months, to days (Jacobs & Chase, 2014). Additionally, Toyota accommodated the advertising strategy by eliminating national advertising campaigns for which they promoted the cars for safety, dependability, and reliability. The automaker also reorganized its just-in-time (“JIT”) and the Toyota Production System (“TPS”) production processes (Amasaka, 2009). Toyota announced a new managing director to restore and overlook all safety-related concerns, in addition to the company building Swift Market Analysis Response Teams (“SMART”), teams responsible for finding safety defects and determining the cause of...
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...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 Company...
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...5/19/13 Toyota Recall: Five Critical Lessons | Business Ethics You are here: Home » Business Ethics, Economy, Featured Story, Michael Connor, Recent Stories, Regulation & Legislation » Toyota Recall: Five Critical Lessons Toyota Recall: Five Critical Lessons Posted by Michael Connor • January 31, 2010 • Printer-friendly by Michael Connor Toyota’s announcement of a technical fix for its sticky gas pedals – which can lead to sudden acceleration problems - is not likely to bring a quick end to the company’s current recall nightmare. Having already halted sales and production of eight of its top-selling cars in the U.S. - and recalled more than 9 million cars worldwide, in two separate recalls – Toyota faces the prospect of billions of dollars in charges and operating losses. The Toyota brand, once almost synonymous with top quality, has taken a heavy hit. While all the facts are not yet in, it’s clear that Toyota’s crisis didn’t emerge full-blown overnight. Fixing the problem and ensuring that something like it doesn’t happen again will require an all-out effort, from assembly line to the boardroom. Even then, there are no guarantees. Maintaining a good corporate reputation in the 21st century is tricky business indeed. Toyota’s case offers a number of valuable lessons for other business people and companies to consider. Here, for starters, are five: Aggressive growth can create unmanageable risk. Toyota’s desire to supplant General Motors as the world’s number-one car-maker...
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...Abstract Toyota Motor Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a multinational manufacturer of motor vehicles. Its brands include Lexus, Prius, Avalon and the Camry, the “best-selling car in America for nine years running and 13 of the past 14 years” (Pressroom.Toyota.com, 2011, October 17). Started in 1937, Toyota has numerous manufacturing facilities around the world, with regional offices in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Southeast Asia. Over the years, Toyota built a reputation of high-quality vehicles and excellent workmanship, and in 2008, it overtook GM as the #1 carmaker in the world by sales volume (Treehugger.com, 2009, January 21). However, in 2010, this reputation was put on the line when safety issues led to a massive recall of vehicles. To make matters worse, Toyota’s crisis communications failed to shore up confidence in the general public on the way the situation was being handled. This crisis management assessment will investigate some of the issues with Toyota’s “Open Letter to Toyota Customers”. How could a company that built itself on the pillars of safety, quality and reliability go from hero to villain in the blink of an eye? Rather than rebuilding trust and confidence with the public during a crisis, the “open letter” simply enraged much of the public and has become a case study in poor crisis communications. Next, we will review a second crisis communication letter, prepared by yours truly, that could be delivered by Toyota to the...
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...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...
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