EDITORIAL: Toyota chief's testimony

Consumer confidence in Toyota Motor Corp. will not immediately recover following President Akio Toyoda's testimony before the U.S. Congress. Toyoda has yet to face a real test of his sincerity and ability to deliver on his promises.

Testifying before the House of Representatives' Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Toyoda promised to lead efforts to regain public trust. While apologizing for the delayed recalls of Toyota's popular models over faulty gas pedals, Toyoda denied any link between reported sudden accelerations of Toyota vehicles and problems with the electronic engine control system.

In a prepared statement he read at the outset of his testimony, Toyoda explained the automaker's philosophy.

"At times, we do find defects. But in such situations, we always stop, strive to understand the problem, and make changes to improve further. In the name of the company, its long-standing tradition and pride, we never run away from our problems or pretend we don't notice them," he said.

It could be argued, however, that the safety problems resulted from the company's failure to act according to these principles as it responded to such changes as rapid globalization of its operations and increased sophistication of its products.

Toyota's philosophy was developed at actual workplaces, mainly sites where vehicles and equipment are developed and manufactured.

When a problem arises, the production line is stopped immediately to prevent defective products from rolling out. Under the company's practice, workers on the site ask "why" five times to identify the root cause. This companywide drive to improve product quality has supported Toyota's competitiveness, although it invited criticism about the heavy workload on workers.

Toyota, however, appears to have been slow to build an effective companywide system to respond to valuable feedback from consumers, such as complaints about their cars. As Toyota has expanded globally at a breakneck speed, this systemic shortcoming has become a more serious vulnerability.

It is said that behind Toyota's delayed and misguided responses was the concentration of authority to order recalls in the company's Customer Quality Engineering Division in Japan.

Another factor was the company's failure to pay enough attention to the opinions and judgments of its U.S. and other overseas units.

As products become highly complicated, information about defects and problems noticed by customers become more valuable. One important challenge is how to build an open management system that can make effective use of such information. Such a system helps companies continue to grow while retaining customers' trust.

Toyota needs to establish a mind-set and a system that ensure its employees will ask "why" five times whenever a customer has trouble with a Toyota vehicle.

It is vital for other global companies and export-oriented businesses to ask themselves some fundamental questions about their relations with customers. It is crucial for these companies to come up with systems that make it easier to identify the causes of problems.

Kaizen is known worldwide as the word that symbolizes Toyota. It means an approach to improving product safety and quality and the operational efficiency that relies on effective use of wisdom and ingenuity at workplaces.

We hope Toyota will ride out the biggest crisis since its foundation. Toyota must clear up the causes of its delayed decisions on the recalls as well as the sudden accelerations. The company must apply its kaizen approach to swiftly improve its management structure so that it will pay more attention to the voices of outsiders.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 26