Unit8CrisisManagementTextAACrisisMadeinJapanInJapanthereisaproverb,'Ifitstinks,putalidonit.'Alas,thisseemstohavebeenToyota'sapproachtoitsburgeoningsafetycrisis,initiallydenying,minimizingandmitigatingtheproblemsinvolvingbrakesthatdon'tbrakeandacceleratorsthathaveamindoftheirown.PresidentAkioToyoda,grandsonofthefounder,wasMIAfortwoweeksandthecompanyhasappearedlessthanforthcomingaboutcriticalsafetyissues,riskingthetrustofitscustomersworld-wide.日本有句谚语：“要是闻着发臭，那就盖上盖子。”（眼不见为净。）丰田汽车公司(Toyota)似乎就在以这种方式处理其日益凸现的汽车安全问题。对于不能刹车的刹车以及颇有“主见”的油门，丰田起初是否认，然后想大事化小，后来又百般推托。公司总裁丰田章男（AkioToyoda)是丰田创始人的孙子，在危机发生的头两周成了失踪人员，公司对重大汽车安全问题的反应似乎不再那么积极，有负全球消费者对其的信任。Thishasbeenapublic-relationsnightmareforToyota,asitsbrandnamehasbeensynonymouswithqualityandreliability.Crisismanagementdoesnotgetanymorewoefulthanthisandthecostofthisbunglingsofar-the$2billionrecallandthelossof17%ofsharevaluesinceJan.21,whenthegas-pedalrecallwasannounced-isonlyadownpaymentonthefinaltally.Therecallwillsurelyexpand,includingcarsproducedinJapan.Lawsuitsarebeingfiledandanexpensivesettlementlooms.Andthentherearetheidlefactoriesandemptyshowroomstoaccountfor.对丰田来说，这是一场公共关系的噩梦，因为长久以来，丰田品牌一直是品质和可靠性的代名词。再也没有比这更糟糕的危机管理了，到目前为止，丰田已为此付出20亿美元的召回费用，公司股价自2010年1月21日（当天丰田宣布因油门踏板问题实施召回）以来下跌17%，而这些仅是丰田最后要承担的巨额损失的首付款而已。召回规模肯定会扩大，将包括在日本生产的汽车；丰田已面临多起法律诉讼，未来可能要付出高昂代价才能解决；而闲置的工厂和空荡荡的汽车专卖店展示区同样意味着巨大的经济损失。ItisnotsurprisingthatToyota'sresponsehasbeendilatoryandinept,becausecrisismanagementinJapanisgrosslyundeveloped.Overthepasttwodecades,IcannotthinkofoneinstancewhereaJapanesecompanyhasdoneagoodjobmanagingacrisis.Thepatternisalltoofamiliar,typicallyinvolvingslowinitialresponse,minimizingtheproblem,footdraggingontheproductrecall,poorcommunicationwiththepublicabouttheproblemandtoolittlecompassionandconcernforconsumersadverselyaffectedbytheproduct.Whetherit'sexplodingtelevisions,fire-proneappliances,taintedmilkorfalselabeling,incaseaftercasecompanieshaveshortchangedtheircustomersbyshirkingresponsibilityuntiltheaccumulatedevidenceforcesbelatedd