Dancing The Toyota Way

[Mulboyne]

[American Oyaji]

so basically, they are taking the brain out of the process?

[Greji]

so basically, they are taking the brain out of the process?

Based on my work experience here in the land of the rising sun, there might be some merit there!

[Hanakuso]

[kamome]

so basically, they are taking the brain out of the process?

Yep, they're taking a mindless job and making it brainless, too!

[amdg]

Well, Toyota may have arcane (or indeed ‘goofy’) training practices but they’ve been topping the list of the most reliable cars in the world for more than 15 years.

[American Oyaji]

I just noticed that that article came from the hometown newspaper.

[Taro Toporific]

Sex scandal puts Toyota in the headlines
Top U.S. exec allegedly groped assistant
AutoWeek | Published 05/08/06, 11:08 am et
...<snip> ....The lawsuit outlines several alleged incidents:
During a business trip to Washington on Sept. 6, Otaka called Kobayashi to his room at 10 p.m., "forcibly grabbing her body and attempting to engage in sexual contact with her."
In October, Otaka sent an apologetic card and a garnet necklace to Kobayashi at her desk and proposed lunch.
A second groping occurred Nov. 14 in Central Park.
Later that month Kobayashi filed a sexual harassment complaint with Ko Takatsu, Toyota's vice president of human resources.
"The company obviously did not take any action to correct this problem," Kobayashi said in a telephone interview from her lawyer's office in New York. "It has been a very lonely procedure."
She says she did not turn to friends or colleagues for help "because I was still respecting Toyota's dignity and Mr. Otaka's dignity.
"Those three months for me were hell. I was living in a world of fear."
Did Toyota fail to act?
The lawsuit alleges Toyota's human resources department did not launch an investigation into the complaint.
On Dec. 6 Kobayashi turned to Cuneo, who runs human resources, accounting, advertising, public relations and investor relations.
After the Dec. 12 meeting in Otaka's office, Kobayashi felt some relief when Toyota announced her promotion on Dec. 22 to assistant manager. She got a raise but was still reporting to Otaka.
"I was thrilled," she said. "That was my first promotion in my entire career at Toyota."
But Kobayashi grew increasingly frustrated by Cuneo when her complaints against Otaka seemed to go nowhere. "Suddenly he wasn't responding to me anymore," she said. "Instead, the corporate attorney came to speak to me as instructed by Dennis."
Toyota declined a request to interview Cuneo.
According to the lawsuit, Alan Cohen, Toyota's North American general counsel, contacted Kobayashi on Jan. 4 with an offer of compensation to leave the company. She refused his offer to leave.
"My goal was to regain my old position (in planning) or to get away from Mr. Otaka," Kobayashi said. "So when the corporate attorney came and offered 'some kind of arrangement so you can go back to school full time,' that implies money."
Without explanation, Toyota subsequently reversed the Dec. 22 promotion and put her back into corporate planning, the lawsuit alleges. Kobayashi says she believes Toyota retaliated against her.
Kobayashi still is employed at Toyota but said she is on medical leave because of what her doctor diagnosed as a mild heart attack.
She says she believes Otaka behaved the way he did because she is Japanese. "Growing up in Japan, you will see discriminatory behavior against women all the time," she said. "It is an underlying culture in the society, and that reflects in the workplace, too."