2024年4月3日发(作者：)

Unit 8 Crisis Management

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A Crisis Made in Japan

In Japan there is a proverb, 'If it stinks, put a lid on it.' Alas, this seems to have

been Toyota's approach to its burgeoning safety crisis, initially denying,

minimizing and mitigating the problems involving brakes that don't brake and

accelerators that have a mind of their own. President Akio Toyoda, grandson of the

founder, was MIA for two weeks and the company has appeared less than

forthcoming about critical safety issues, risking the trust of its customers

world-wide.

日本有句谚语：“要是闻着发臭，那就盖上盖子。”（眼不见为净。）丰田汽车公司(Toyota)

似乎就在以这种方式处理其日益凸现的汽车安全问题。对于不能刹车的刹车以及颇有“主

见”的油门，丰田起初是否认，然后想大事化小，后来又百般推托。公司总裁丰田章男

（Akio Toyoda)是丰田创始人的孙子，在危机发生的头两周成了失踪人员，公司对重大汽

车安全问题的反应似乎不再那么积极，有负全球消费者对其的信任。

This has been a public-relations nightmare for Toyota, as its brand name has

been synonymous with quality and reliability. Crisis management does not get any

more woeful than this and the cost of this bungling so far-the $2 billion recall and

the loss of 17% of share value since Jan. 21, when the gas-pedal recall was

announced-is only a down payment on the final tally. The recall will surely expand,

including cars produced in Japan. Lawsuits are being filed and an expensive

settlement looms. And then there are the idle factories and empty showrooms to

account for.

对丰田来说，这是一场公共关系的噩梦，因为长久以来，丰田品牌一直是品质和可靠

性的代名词。再也没有比这更糟糕的危机管理了，到目前为止，丰田已为此付出20亿美

元的召回费用，公司股价自2010年1月21日（当天丰田宣布因油门踏板问题实施召回）

以来下跌17%，而这些仅是丰田最后要承担的巨额损失的首付款而已。召回规模肯定会扩

大，将包括在日本生产的汽车；丰田已面临多起法律诉讼，未来可能要付出高昂代价才能

解决；而闲置的工厂和空荡荡的汽车专卖店展示区同样意味着巨大的经济损失。

It is not surprising that Toyota's response has been dilatory and inept, because

crisis management in Japan is grossly undeveloped. Over the past two decades, I

cannot think of one instance where a Japanese company has done a good job

managing a crisis. The pattern is all too familiar, typically involving slow initial

response, minimizing the problem, foot dragging on the product recall, poor

communication with the public about the problem and too little compassion and

concern for consumers adversely affected by the product. Whether it's exploding

televisions, fire-prone appliances, tainted milk or false labeling, in case after case

companies have shortchanged their customers by shirking responsibility until the

accumulated evidence forces belated disclosure and recognition of culpability. The

costs of such negligence are low in Japan where compensation for product liability

claims is mostly derisory or non-existent.

丰田的反应如此迟钝笨拙倒也不足为奇，因为在日本，危机管理在很大程度上还未发