One need not look very far to see countless images of Toyota’s Chief bowing apologetically and repeating, without pause, his apologies to Congress and the American people for the faults of Toyota and it’s mis-steps regarding the safety issues that have blanketed the airwaves these days.
Do the American people really buy it? Never mind the reactions of members of Congress and their Kabuki Theater performances (no pun intended), but how do we as Americans feel about his apology? As someone who has lived and worked extensively in Japan – although I don’t claim to be an expert on cross-cultural issues between our country’s cultures – I think numerous mis-steps were taken here by Mr. Toyoda and people aren’t buying this.
For those of you who were paying very close attention you may recall that just a week ago Mr. Toyoda originally announced postponing the trip to the US to testify in front of the NTSB until late-March. As more news of defects in not only the Prius and COrolla but the Lexus line as well, the media had a feeding frenzy. Enter now the stories not only of unintended acceleration with near-misses and even crashes occurring but, in numerous cases, a significant number of deaths were being reported as well. Add to that the information now slowly becoming public that Toyota was aware of these issues and intentionally ignored them as a “cost-saving measure” is inexcusable.
In Japanese culture when an executive does wrong apologies go a long way in a culture where shame has value and bears weight. However, in our culture telling the truth early on goes a long way to not only people’s acceptance and understanding of the offenders sins but, goes a long way as well towards reconciliation – if – the offending party has told the whole truth and nothing but. Bill Clinton, there’s a lesson here for you.
As sincere as Mr. Toyoda’s apology may have been, the fact that it is truly a case of too-little-much-too-late will not wash his sins away. All of the evidence points to, like the tobacco cases we are all too familiar with, prior knowledge of the safety issuesm with a choice to turn an intentional blind eye is criminal by any measure.
Mr. Toyoda, no matter what the “culture of diversity” crowd may tell you about America, we are still a land of laws and integrity and this culture dictates that truth be told no matter what the cost.
