Monday, February 22, 2010
Worse And Worse
Just when one thinks it could not get any worse for Toyota, it does. The company has had a PR meltdown of epic proportions. It will be a case study for years on how not to handle reputation and relationships with government and customers.
One could blame Toyota's American managers for the failures but that would be too easy. The problem apparently stems from headquarters in Japan. For some reason, Toyota's Japanese managers never learned how to handle incidents of engineering failure. They have examples of other Japanese companies that have handled crises well, but some how it appears Toyota's leaders never considered that it applied to them. Toyota will survive this period of crisis but there is a good chance that its insensitivity won't. Look for a much humbler company in the future.
One could blame Toyota's American managers for the failures but that would be too easy. The problem apparently stems from headquarters in Japan. For some reason, Toyota's Japanese managers never learned how to handle incidents of engineering failure. They have examples of other Japanese companies that have handled crises well, but some how it appears Toyota's leaders never considered that it applied to them. Toyota will survive this period of crisis but there is a good chance that its insensitivity won't. Look for a much humbler company in the future.
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