Essay

Weathering the storm

By Steve Ford

What is going on in Japan these days? We've seen deflation, zombie banks, zombie businesses and department stores closing. American burger chain Wendy's said "so long" at the end of last year. The world-wide economic meltdown has hit Japan especially hard.

Young folks won't remember, but a few decades ago there was considerable fear in the United States that Japan would supplant it as the world's No. 1 economic juggernaut. And the lessons of Japan's success were a staple subject at business schools.

Nowadays, Japan has been reduced to an economic boogie man in economists' cautionary tales: "If we don't do (fill in the blank) we'll wind up just like Japan."

Even Toyota, the vehicle maker that taught the world about quality, is in trouble. Its corporate philosophy, the Toyota Way, was close to an industrial religion. Then came a problem with fuel pedals that supposedly caused unintended acceleration, which in turn sparked a media feeding frenzy that spiraled out of control as Toyota execs bungled every attempt at damage control.

The public and the media love nothing more than a ripping good story about how the mighty fall. Still, the facts of the case are curious. Depending on who you listen to, the problem of sudden unintended acceleration in Toyota vehicles doesn't exist, is a grave danger, or is somewhere between those extremes. How can one tell what's really going on?

I'm not usually one to side with a large corporation against the little people, and there is no telling how this case will turn out in the end, but based on what I've seen I doubt an engineering fault is behind the problems.

I'm suspicious because America has "sue first and ask questions later culture." Lawyers stand to make a lot of money from this, and because of that, it will take a long time to clear up this problem.

In the 1980's, Audi had a similar sudden acceleration problems. It was eventually found these problems were caused by driver error. Others have pointed out that a disproportionate number of drivers involved in the Toyota incidents were over the age of 60.

And neither Toyota nor the U.S. National Highway Traffic Society Administration has been able to replicate an unintended acceleration in a controlled environment. Yet somehow a fix has been created for a problem that may not exist, and recalls are underway.

In spite of the hard knocks they have taken lately, I have a feeling Toyota will weather this storm because of their philosophy of constant improvement and their respect for their workers and customers. Can Japan bounce back too? Only time will tell, but there is a Japanese proverb that states: "Fall down seven times, get up eight."

Shukan ST: April 2, 2010

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