Toyota's Cross-Cultural Blunder and How it Lead to Their Fall from Grace in the Eyes of the American Public

This link related to the issue of Toyota’s falling from grace is really worth a look. Interesting issue regarding the recall, but the more interesting issue to me (given my work in the cross-cultural training and consulting arena) is why there seems to be a lack of insight relative to the communication issues between a Japanese company,focused on the concept of “kaizen,” and the American consumer, focused on the concept of “transparency.” A quick consult with a cross-cultural specialist would have averted the trust issue by advising Toyota to “come clean” much earlier in the game, own up to a mistake which was a relatively easy fix, and move on as the squeaky clean, honest manufacturing protecting its customers.

[Via http://denisehummel.wordpress.com]

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