Is it just me or does it seem that the past few days have been filled with ominous government warnings about Toyota vehicles and today the newspapers are filled with stories about the quality of Japanese vehicles eroding while American car companies are building better cars then ever. Today Toyota’s stock dropped 7% when Obama’s Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood said American’s should stop driving their Toyota’s until they all fixed.
So the United States Government makes the unprecedented statement that Toyota drivers of recalled vehicles should immediately stop driving their cars. They never made such a statement when Ford Explorers were rolling over in what seemed like everyday. What could their motivation be …… maybe, just maybe it’s because the very same Federal Government owns 60% of GM? Could someone in the Obama administration be pressuring government officials to trash the most respected car maker in the world in an effort to improve the return on their $30 billion investment in an effort to hide the fact that GM still cannot make a car people want?
We do not own Toyota stock (we do own Ford stock so this is oddly helpful …but still wrong)… but I do own two Toyota vehicles and thy and one’s I’ve owned before have always been heads and shoulders better then anything GM could produce.
Some say Toyota’s decision to halt production of these vehicles as an admission of some kind of widespread problem, I disagree. The culture of Toyota demands that you stop to fix a problem. For some time I’ve kept this list at my desk the 14 Management Principles of Toyota or the Toyota Way … check out number 5:
The 4 Sections and the 14 principles of the Toyota Way
I. Having a long-term philosophy that drives a long-term approach to building a learning organization
1. Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals
II. The right process will produce the right results
2. Create a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface
3. Use “pull” systems to avoid overproduction
4. Level out the workload (heijunka). (Work like the tortoise, not the hare)
5. Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time
6. Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment
7. Use visual control so no problems are hidden
8. Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes
III. Add value to the organization by developing its people and partners
9. Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others
10. Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy
11. Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve
IV. Continuously solving root problems to drive organizational learning
12. Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu).
13. Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly (Nemawashi).
14. Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement (Kaizen).
I think we should follow the money and understand who has the most to gain by trying to beatup on Toyota … I think we will find their their motivations are far from genuine. I applaud Toyota for sticking to their principles and putting safety before financial gain. There can be no other explanation when you see how their principles are guiding them through this problem.
BTW. I dare say that I may be picking up some Toyota stock tomorrow. Symbol TM. They are going to bounce back much bigger and better than GM will.






Hi, My name is Kris Kovacs and welcome to KoFacts my blog about everyday leadership, management tips, web technology, politics, and other fun stuff. I have a very diverse background in financial services and information technology so the topics I cover tend to be applicable to business and IT. Thanks for stopping by. Please subscribe to my blog or bookmark it and visit often.