Ethical Issues In Toyota

Toyota Recall

Introduction

Toyota Motor Corporation, one of the leading automakers known for its safety and fine quality design was forced to recall approximately 28 million vehicles under the brand names of Toyota, Lexus and Scion due to several safety issues. This paper discusses the causes of the safety issues faced by consumers and the following ethical consequences of the case.

Findings

The investigation to this case began when five consumer complaints about the entrapment of accelerator pedals in the floor mats were reported and floor mats were identified as the probable cause [1]. Later more cases were reported and Toyota recalled 55,000 floor mats [1]. In July 2009, Toyota managed to save $100 million by negotiating and bounding the

The major ethical issue faced by the company was due to the process of lean manufacturing. Lean manufacturing first used in Toyota Motor Corp. factories help manufacturers strip down production costs and get rid of waste [8]. One of the common processes in lean manufacturing is standardizing parts across different models. Lean manufacturing works for companies to make the production methods more comprehensible. The key to prevent quality-control problems from widely used parts is a combination of good design and adequate testing [9]. Reducing the risk of quality-control problems in using the process of standardizing parts includes a flawless design and suitable inspection before launching the car in market. The design flaw Toyota had in the floor mats was a possible cause for entrapment of pedals. Toyota’s prioritization of cutting cost and trading quality over ensuring safety was ethically inappropriate. The World federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Model Code of Ethics state that “professional engineers shall hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public and the protection of both the natural and built environment in accordance with the Principles of Sustainable Development” [10]. The company was in charge of violation of this code in the negotiation between cost and safety. The failure of Toyota’s technical teams to realize the aftermath of flawed designs and poor engineering may have resulted in one of the biggest recalls in the history of auto making. Kailash Kapur, an industrial and systems engineering professor at University of Washington aptly analyzed the case by saying that, “ There is a lot of emphasis on cost reduction and streamlining, but something can slip by and have a big