Toyota: A Visionary Company?

Table of Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Toyota wants to be PAGEREF _Toc377229077 h 1Mission and stakeholders PAGEREF _Toc377229078 h 1Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc377229079 h 2Lessons Learnt PAGEREF _Toc377229080 h 3References PAGEREF _Toc377229081 h 4

Toyota wants to beToyota brand has been facing a number of problems in the past year owing to the fact that it failed in serious ethical evaluations. It is for such reasons that the statement ‘Toyota Wants to be” is an indication of the things that the management of the company would like to do to harm its image. One of the things is allowing car with defaults on the roads. The customers of Toyota have continually been driving cars having acceleration defaults with the knowledge of the company’s top management hence risking their lives. In addition to this it is evident that investors of Toyota did not know such issues were on going, which is ironical. Hence, the term “Toyota is wants to be” is selective since it does not include the entire fraternity of the company.

“Toyota wants to be” tries to explain the mission and vision statements of the company (Ceniceros, 2010). However, it is quite clear that the company is not keen on following and maintaining of a good culture. In the recent recall of its cars due to complications the company refused to include China in the program even though there were many individuals residing in that jurisdiction driving the car recalled. Hence, a conclusion that Toyota as a brand does not support its own ideology is appropriate. According to studies many customers of the brand are not happy with the actions of the company.

Mission and stakeholdersToyota does not align its mission with the interest of its own stakeholders. After the infamous recall stakeholders went to court to sue the company on the grounds of deceit. Though the company dictates in its site that it wants to provide quality cars to its customers, it is clear that the opposite is true. Even though investors want the enterprise to produce automobile that have world wide acceptance, the management of the company wants to make more profit by selling defective cars to its customers. Hence, Toyota does not align its mission to the needs of the stake holders of the company.

During these controversies, the price of the Toyota stock dropped from around $90 to $70 (Patton & Estep, 2010). Evidently, when stockholders of a given company go to court to sue their own company, then that company is running parallel to the wants of its own authorities. Engaging in such acts without informing the stakeholders causing to them losing huge chunks of money is illegal and portrays the level of irresponsibility on the part of Toyota’s management. It is total disregard of the interest of its investors that will obviously lead to a decline in the number of potential investors.

RecommendationsMany potential investors of the company are at the moment scared to invest in the company lest they incur the evident losses (Patton & Estep, 2010). Hence executives of the company have the mandate of ensuring that they restore the confidence of investors on the company. Managers of the company will have to come up with ways to counter the blow that the company experienced for it to restore its competitive advantage and market share. One the best methods are to own up to their mistake and assure their customers that there will be compensation due the inconveniences caused (Ceniceros, 2010). This will ensure that customers do not choose to use another brand instead of Toyota. Though it will incur losses customers will feel that the company values them more money.

When a Chicago pharmaceutical realized that there was contamination of some of their medicines, they recalled them and compensated affected families (Vance, 2010). Though initially the sales of the company went under, they recovered more than 70% three months after the scare. Hence, Toyota executives should learn how to handle the public using better public relations techniques. In addition, it has to do some damage control on its image. That is, given the fact that many people have no trust with products from Toyota the management ought to come up with strategies of doing some damage control.

Lessons LearntThis case study provides an insight into the issue integrity and deception. Toyota management is fully aware of the problem present in their cars but allows their consumers to continue using the product (Vance, 2010). Consequently they suffer the consequences of lying after the truth is known. On the other hand, the management of the company does not handle the situations with the required technique leading. Hence, many customers end up losing trust with Toyota products and sue the brand in a court of law. According to sources, Toyota litigation goes down as the worst in the recent times.

On the other hand, deceiving the stakeholders has repercussions to the same measure. Stocks will go down and investors will end up losing a lot of money. There is a possibility of a lawsuit as a result and in the case of Toyota, stakeholders go court seeking compensation. Hence, Toyota case gives a good example of failed public relations after BP oil spillage. Executives need to learn ways of relating better with the public to avoid such controversies incase of errors. Furthermore, it is very important to speak the truth and maintain transparency in a company.

ReferencesPatton, J. and B. Estep (2010,). Toyota debacle could be largest consumer fraud case ever, expert says. Lexington Herald-Leader (KY), Retrieved fromhttp://wf2dnvr1.webfeat.org/g84EO13666/url=http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=6&sid=c74bd1ca-7ef2-41e5-831a-ba27913d8ed8%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=nfh&AN=2W6638002481Ceniceros R. (2010) .As Toyota saga continues shareholders ready case. Business Insurance. Retrieved from: http://wf2dnvr1.webfeat.org/g84EO13545/url=http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=17&sid=2b623ff8-bdaf-45ff-a74a-a27ffa3bc223%40sessionmgr12&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=48623308Vance, C. (2010). Toyota’s Pain Will Be Rivals’ Gain With Little Net Economic Impact. Investor’s Business Daily. Retrieved from http://wf2dnvr1.webfeat.org/g84EO13469/url=http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=17&sid=581f5999-01a3-47db-92b4-d046cc25c05c%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bwh&AN=49169229