Page 185 - Toyota Under Fire

TOYOT A UNDER FIRE

TABLE 4.1 ALLEGED PROBLEMS, SYMPTOMS,
AND PRESUMED ROOT CAUSES

POSSIBLE ALLEGED PRESUMED ROOT
PROBLEMS SYMPTOMS CAUSES
A disregard for • A fall in the safety • Focus on profits
customer safety ratings of vehicles and growth over
• Increasing numbers driver safety
of accidents in • A failure to teach
Toyota vehicles the Toyota Way to
• Failure to seriously all employees
test for any and
all causes of
SUA, including
electronics
A slipping focus • A significant • Cutting engineering
on quality increase in quality and design budgets
problems worldwide too much
• Rising warranty • Fast growth, with
costs new employees not
• A significant trained in quality
increase in recalls procedures
Unresponsiveness • Poor understanding • Communication
to customers of how customers breakdowns
and the public use vehicles • Overly bureaucratic
relations climate • Inattentiveness to decision making
customer concerns • Failure to “go
about SUA and and see” with
potential electronics customers
problems • Too centralized to
• Poor public respond quickly to
relations strategy regional context
• Executives not
taking crisis
seriously

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