Toyota Corporate Reputation

Corporate reputation can be defined as the overall impression of an organisation in the eyes of its internal and external stakeholders. This opinion is formed through the company's performance in the past and its predicted future performance (Harrison, n.d.). The responsibility of building a positive corporate reputation lies not only in the hands of the company itself, but also through media coverage and how the organization's behaviour is communicated to external publics. According to Argenti (2003), the media is "a conduit through which investors, suppliers, retailers and consumers receive information about and develop images of a company”. Any negative reportage can have adverse repercussions on its public image.

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Toyota was forced to recall 7.5 million vehicles worldwide after a number of fatal accidents caused by sticking accelerator pedals, brake failures and quality problems. The company's world-class corporate reputation took a severe beating after the issue grabbed national attention, resulting in a surge of negative news surrounding Toyota. The Los Angeles Times published a series of reports claiming that there had been other cases of unintended acceleration resulting in fatalities and lawsuits lodged against the company were still pending. By 2010, the company announced it was suspending the sale of models affected by the recall, and shutting down manufacturing plants. As a result, "vehicle sales in the U.S. fell 16% in January 2010 and 8.7% in February" (Infotrend,

For instance, Johnson and Johnson's handling of a crisis in 1982 is considered one of the best public relations strategies in history. McNeil Consumer Products, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson was faced with a series of poisoning deaths caused by consumption of their Tylenol branded capsules that had been laced with potassium cyanide (Kaplan, n.d.). Johnson & Johnson immediately issued warnings to the public in the national media and even halted the production and advertising of Tylenol products. The company was applauded for its handling of the crisis, receiving much positive media coverage for its socially responsible actions. An article in The Washington Post called the company "candid, contrite, and compassionate, committed to solving the murders and protecting the public" (Kaplan, n.d.). In an effort to preserve their reputation, the company launched an extensive public relation strategy, which successfully allowed the Tylenol brand to make a comeback. Yet again, Johnson and Johnson received favourable press coverage, causing the company to recover rapidly from the crisis, and improving their public