Author: Yash
The devastating scandals that rocked Toyota a few years ago are still fresh in the minds of car lovers everywhere. The company faced a crisis when it was discovered that their accelerator pedals were susceptible to getting stuck and accelerating the cars uncontrollably. This caused multiple crashes, including a fatal crash involving a high-end Lexus ES 300. In response to this crisis, Toyota has taken drastic measures to rebrand its image and entire company structure to prevent another scandal from ever happening again. Readers may recall hearing about how Toyota began working with advertising agencies and PR firms (such as Koba Communications) specializing in reputation management. They’ve also been investing heavily in digital marketing innovations, artificial intelligence, and telematics technology. Let us find out how Toyota’s reputation is being rebuilt step-by-step.
Toyota aims to make the manufacturing process more efficient, transparent, and accessible to all employees to avoid another scandal. At the moment, Toyota’s manufacturing process can only be accessed by key employees, meaning that problems cannot be detected quickly and easily. Toyota plans to make the manufacturing process more transparent by introducing a software platform that can be accessed by every employee. This software will allow employees to log issues, request changes, and monitor their manufacturing process. Additionally, Toyota hopes to create a culture of continuous improvement by making employees feel safe and confident to report issues and share ideas for improvement. Toyota hopes to make its culture more open and accessible by equipping employees with handheld devices that allow them to receive and send emails and conduct other business tasks without being tethered to a computer.
Toyota has committed to hiring more women and people of color to bring in fresh perspectives and combat the “old boys club” culture that may have contributed to lapses in judgment and oversight. They have pledged to prioritize hiring women and people of color for top and leadership positions and the departments responsible for designing, producing, and testing cars. Toyota has partnered with LeanIn and Paradigm for Parity to implement these hiring policies. LeanIn is a nonprofit organization founded by Sheryl Sandberg. She co-authored the book “Lean In” on women in the workplace. The Paradigm for Parity is a nonprofit organization focusing on workplace racial diversity.
Toyota is limiting the amount of executive travel senior employees can take as a way of cutting costs and reining executive spending. They have also implemented a travel policy that requires executives to justify their travel plans and report on their travel expenses. This has been done in response to the outrage sparked by the lavish trips and lavish spending by Toyota executives during the height of the crisis. Toyota has implemented these travel and spending cuts to prove that they are serious about reforming its cost structure and reining in excessive spending.
After the crisis, Toyota redesigned its recruiting practices for all levels of employment, from entry-level to management. Specifically, they have implemented a new recruiting process designed to be more accessible, inclusive, and transparent. For example, Toyota has reduced the time it takes to get hired and the number of hoops applicants must jump through in the application and hiring process. They have done this by implementing a more digital and automated hiring process, including hiring managers and recruiters who conduct interviews via video calls and use scheduling software for interviews. Toyota has also made its hiring process more accessible by hiring and interviewing people in places like Detroit and Austin affected by the crisis.
At the height of the crisis, senior Toyota executives had full access to data they should not have had access to. For example, they had access to test data that was supposed to remain confidential and be used for internal purposes only. These executives were able to see how the cars performed in various simulations and driving conditions. This allowed them to see the issues the cars were experiencing. Still, it also allowed them to conceal the issues from regulators. To prevent this from happening again, Toyota has limited access to key data that informs the design and production of cars. Specifically, they have reduced the number of employees given access to this data, making it available to only a select few senior executives.
Ending manufacturing practices have been criticized for being unsafe, unethical, and exploitative. These practices include hiring outsourced workers who work for low wages and in dangerous (or even deadly) conditions and using brokers who obtain those workers on behalf of Toyota. More specifically, Toyota has vowed to end these practices by making efforts to hire more workers directly from the cities in which they are building cars. They also hope to better inform workers of their rights and enforce safe working conditions.
Transparency through electronic records that are accessible by all employees. Toyota has implemented a new system that stores information in a central database that is accessible by all employees. This database allows employees to see all correspondence and documentation related to their work, including emails and meeting notes. This way, employees can see who said what and when promoting transparency throughout the company. This system also allows employees to access important data and information related to their work and research without having to log into multiple computer systems. This centralization of data and information promotes transparency by making all information accessible to employees.
Toyota has committed to using self-driving technology in its cars by 2020. They plan to use this technology to improve safety, connectivity, and efficiency. While the self-driving technology has been criticized, Toyota has vowed to commit to using it, but only after it has been rigorously tested and proven safe. Toyota is also planning to use this technology to promote transparency, efficiency, and collaboration. Specifically, they are hoping to create a new operating system based on artificial intelligence that can be accessed by employees. This operating system will be accessible to all employees and designed to improve communication and collaboration within the company.
Conclusion
Overall, Toyota’s reputation is being rebuilt by taking several drastic measures to rebrand its brand and company structure to prevent another scandal from happening again. By implementing continuous improvement culture, hiring more women and people of color, limiting executive travel, redesigning recruiting practices, limiting access to key data, ending manufacturing practices, and committing to transparency through electronic records, Toyota has taken major steps toward rebuilding its reputation and regaining the trust of its customers.
