Toyota’s Corporate Social Responsibility

Toyota’s Corporate Social Responsibility

 

 

            An enterprise’s usual main goal is to establish itself in the business world

 

and reach the largest market possible. Shortly speaking, business is basically

 

about money-making. Employing jobs is the most important benefit an enterprise

 

gives that helps run the economy. The business industry is the main core of

 

economy of a country. However, gaining profit should not only be the sole focus

 

of a business. Founding an enterprise engages in larger social responsibility.

 

            Social responsibility involves everyone in the society, from individuals to

 

groups and organizations. It is an ideology that citizens should not function as

 

individual beings with selfish motives but instead contribute to the welfare of the

 

society. In the business world, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a

 

mechanism of self-regulation in which it continues to focus on gaining profit but

 

ensuring the enterprise abides by the law, support ethical standards and consider

 

international norms. In this case, businesses embrace the responsibility of its

 

stakeholders, employees, consumers, communities and the environment.

 

Essentially, corporate social responsibility deliberately includes the public interest

 

into enterprise decision-making and voluntarily eliminates practices that harm the

 

general public. However, critics debate that CSR distracts the fundamental

 

economic role of businesses because considering public interest might decrease

 

its contribution to the economy in financial terms. Considering public interest

 

could confine the innovations and market of an enterprise, thus losing money.

 

But nonetheless, the pressure applied on industry in improving ethical business

 

processes has increased due to arising issues of 21st century marketplaces.

 

            Regardless of the size of an enterprise, corporate social responsibility has

 

definitely found its place in every establishment. And Toyota is one of the leading

 

group companies that consider corporate social responsibility.

 

            Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) was established in 1937, starting as a

 

division of Toyoda Automatic Loom Works devoted to the production of

 

automobiles under the direction Kiichiro Toyoda, but later on became an

 

independent and separate company. During the World War II, the company was

 

dedicated in the production of trucks for the Imperial Japanese Army. The trucks

 

were kept simple as possible like having only one headlight placed on the center

 

of the hood. After the war, Japan experienced extreme economic difficulty

 

pushing the company on the brink of bankruptcy. But due to announced layoffs

 

and reduced wages, union went on a strike and the company had to change the

 

management. The start of the Korean War helped to revive the company by

 

taking more than 5,000 vehicle orders from the US Military. In 1960s, Toyota

 

began to expand research and development facilities. And up until now, Toyota is

 

one of the largest automobile manufacturers around the globe.

 

            However, due to alarming concerns of threats of climate change due to

 

carbon emissions, the automobile industry is pressured to innovate hybrid cars

 

that will reduce carbon emissions from burning oil fuels. Toyota acknowledged

 

the challenge of reducing the contribution of carbon emissions by pioneering the

 

concept of hybrid technology, thus mass producing the world’s first co-efficient

 

vehicle, the Toyota Prius.

 

            Toyota Prius featured the Hybrid Synergy Drive which integrates aspects

 

such as an optimum mix of electric motor and petrol engine and electricity

 

regeneration through the braking system. It allows the vehicle to run at an

 

optimum level in terms of emission efficiency, generating up to 89 percent fewer

 

tailpipe pollutants than a conventional combustion engine. It is a big step in

 

addressing the threats of global warming. Innovating a hybrid car does not only

 

establish its leadership in the market but also proves its concern in environmental

 

issues.

 

            However, Toyota cars were recalled early this year due to safety

 

complaints of faulty brakes and accelerators. Toyota was criticized by the

 

dragging company’s response over the issue. Moreover, the initial decision of

 

repairing the faulty components instead of replacing them resulted in customers’

 

outrage. The company who has prided itself in competitive quality took a severe

 

blow by this crisis, plunging down sales and stock price.

 

            Despite being one of the leaders in the automobile industry, Toyota has

 

suddenly lost its name and reputation. Although the company responded to the

 

environmental issues, it has failed to prove its dedication to the customers

 

because of the company’s reluctance to solve the problem. Also, the company

 

refused to accept safety lapses of their cars.

 

            Nonetheless, corporate social responsibility is a big accountability that

 

should be totally embraced by an enterprise. 

 

 

 

 

References:

Biswas, Prithwish, The History of Toyota Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability and Climate Change, February 2010 Dissection of Corporate Social Responsibility, October 2009

 

Nowak, Margaret and Gail Thomas, Corporate Social Responsibility, December 2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

https://researcharticlebase.blogspot.com/2011/10/toyotas-corporate-social-responsibility.html