1. Toyota faced a major recall crisis in the United States in 2010 over complaints of unintended acceleration in its vehicles. 2. The author analyzes how Toyota failed at crisis communication despite its previous CSR communication efforts. 3. Pathologies within Toyota like "collective myopia" and "collective hyperopia" compounded the problem and led to inadequate initial responses to the crisis. Executives were arrogant and ignored external stakeholders.

1. Collapsed Buffer, Reputation, Instrumental CSR: Toyota’s Crisis 2010 Nobuyuki Chikudate, Ph.D. Professor Department of Management Studies Graduate School of Social Sciences Hiroshima University

2. Overview of Toyota’s Recall Crisis in 2010 2007 starting mechanical complaints in U.S. 2009 rise of complaints against Toyota cars in U.S. TV coverage of a horrific crash involving a California highway patrolman 2010 Jan.-Mar. floods of issuing recalls by Toyota Feb. Jim Lentz (Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.), Yoshifumi Inaba (CEO of Toyota U.S.A.), & Akio Toyoda (grandson, president of Toyota) testified at Public Hearings, US congress. Toyota paid a record fine of $16.4 millions. groups of lawsuits against Toyota 2011 Feb. Ray Lahood of NHTSA announced, “We feel that Toyota Vehicles are safe to drive.”

5. 2. Pathologies surrounding corporate communication adequate responses to crisis reality construction of critical situations by Toyota’s executives influencing certain perceptions shaped by intersubjective lifeworld among Toyota executives delaying/disturbing collective myopia the situation in which members of certain communities or organizations are able to make sense and give sense in each context in which they live but are not able to monitor the emerging order or patterns as a whole created by themselves stagnation of sensemaking in view of external events even in emergent, changing, and critical situations of corporate crises collective hyperopia People try to make sense of something external, aloof, and general by ignoring the reality of internal, immediate, and concrete contexts. -”Being far” means external stakeholders/general advocacies, and “being near” means internal stakeholders– U.S. employees

7. ▶ huge political donations toward U.S. congress-persons ▶ hiring former inspectors of NHTSA ▶ crashing the formal negotiations with NHTSA ▶ neglecting initial responses to public criticisms ▶ Reckless public speeches by Toyota’s two executives angered Japanese public. (unprepared Crisis Communication) ▶ no political supports from Japan (LDP -> DPJ) ▶ mid-term elections in U.S. ▶ sensationalism seeking U.S. media + It’s too expensive for Toyota to learn lessons about CSR communication. Toyota’s instrumental CSR communication activities in U. S. But, these were not effective, Because there were uncontrollable factors. The only option left for Toyota was corporate apologia.