MGMT Case Study Toyota Crisis 
Case Study for MGMT
The Case Study “Did Toyota’s Culture Cause Its Problems?” illustrates the slow reaction to safety problems and the arrogant culture of
Toyota regarding the issue of unintended acceleration (Robbins &Judge
2013). The key issues in the case study are the arrogant culture of
Toyota, miscommunication, groupthink and poor human resource management. The problems in Toyota began with the recall of 10000
Laxus Cars in 2000 (Finch 2010, p 475), followed by a series of recalls for different models in 2010 (Robbins & Judge 2013). These recalls associated with the unintended acceleration gave birth to lots of questions regarding the countermeasures of Toyota towards safety and the culture of the organization. The essay will use Organizational
Culture, Communication, Groupthink and Human Resource
Management as key theories to explore the prime issues of the Toyota crisis and will propose recommendations on the basis of relevant management concepts.
Key Theories:
Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is one of the main theories to analyze the key issues highlighted in the case study. Organizational Culture is defined as
‘the deep, basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by organizational members’ (Schein 1997, cited in Clegg et al. 2011,
p.221). Toyota had a strong culture in which ‘core values are held and shared widely in an organization’ (Robbins and Judge 2008, p.554). A
Strong culture has great influence on the behavior of its members because the high extent of participation and intensity creates an internal climate of strong behavioral control (Robbins and Judge 2008,
p. 554).
In Toyota corporation, the strong culture might have eventuated to the creation of ‘The Toyota way’. ‘The Toyota way’ was instituted in 2001 with 14 principles (Liker 2004, cited in Heller and Darling 2012,
p.158), as a mechanism of dealing with any issues. Toyota constantly used this philosophy to encounter any problem, so the employees had
The Case Study “Did Toyota’s Culture Cause Its Problems?” illustrates the slow reaction to safety problems and the arrogant culture of
Toyota regarding the issue of unintended acceleration (Robbins &Judge
2013). The key issues in the case study are the arrogant culture of
Toyota, miscommunication, groupthink and poor human resource management. The problems in Toyota began with the recall of 10000
Laxus Cars in 2000 (Finch 2010, p 475), followed by a series of recalls for different models in 2010 (Robbins & Judge 2013). These recalls associated with the unintended acceleration gave birth to lots of questions regarding the countermeasures of Toyota towards safety and the culture of the organization. The essay will use Organizational
Culture, Communication, Groupthink and Human Resource
Management as key theories to explore the prime issues of the Toyota crisis and will propose recommendations on the basis of relevant management concepts.
Key Theories:
Organizational Culture
Organizational culture is one of the main theories to analyze the key issues highlighted in the case study. Organizational Culture is defined as
‘the deep, basic assumptions and beliefs that are shared by organizational members’ (Schein 1997, cited in Clegg et al. 2011,
p.221). Toyota had a strong culture in which ‘core values are held and shared widely in an organization’ (Robbins and Judge 2008, p.554). A
Strong culture has great influence on the behavior of its members because the high extent of participation and intensity creates an internal climate of strong behavioral control (Robbins and Judge 2008,
p. 554).
In Toyota corporation, the strong culture might have eventuated to the creation of ‘The Toyota way’. ‘The Toyota way’ was instituted in 2001 with 14 principles (Liker 2004, cited in Heller and Darling 2012,
p.158), as a mechanism of dealing with any issues. Toyota constantly used this philosophy to encounter any problem, so the employees had