• In most cases of quality crises, Japanese companies habitually think lightly of their customers by shirking their responsibilities and the costs of such belittlement and negligence are low. But drug company executives paid dearly for selling tainted blood: a rather generous settlement of compensation and an abject apology.
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• …shedding the constraints of a fusty corporate culture and wowing customers with a recall and above and beyond after sales service and care (Para. 8)
• Secondly, due to a corporate culture that values team-work, employees‘ loyalty for firms and concern for corporate image override their compassion for consumer interest.
Unit Eight
Crisis Management
What is crisis management?
What are the keys to effective quality crisis management?
Case study: Tylenol
Unit eight
Para. Main Topics Para. 1-7
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• And a high-status company like Toyota has
much to lose since its corporate face is at stake. (Line 4, Para. 6)
• Its corporate prestige is at risk for Toyota enjoying a good market standing.
• 在日本，产品责任的赔偿数额低的可怜或 根本没有赔偿，因此，为这种疏忽付出的 代价是很低的。
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• Why is the case of blood contamination of
pharmaceutical companies said to be “one glowing exception to this parsimonious record”?
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• What cultural inclinations can Japan’s negligence
of crisis management be ascribed to? (para.6-7)
• First, owning up to product defects poses threats to corporate face, especially for such a highstatus company as Toyota in a nation obsessed with craftsmanship and quality.
Unit ht
• …raise the bar on disclosure and assuming
responsibility.( Para. 6) • Paraphrase • raises people‘s standards for under what
circumstances the truth must be revealed and responsibility must be claimed.
• Paraphrase
• companies have treated their customers unfairly by avoiding responsibility until an increasing amount of evidence obliges them to make a delayed move of revealing the truth and confessing their fault.
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1. In Japan, there is a proverb, “If it stinks, put a lid on it.” (Line 1, Para. 1)
• If a situation or a problem arises, seek to cover up or fudge the facts.
• Thirdly, the hierarchical corporate structure and a corporate culture of deference prevent the two-way communication between superiors and subordinates.
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• deference (Para. 7)
• He is deferential to his superiors. 他对他的 长官、上司毕恭毕敬
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• the focus on consensus and group is an asset
in building teamwork, but also can make it hard to challenge what has been decided or designed. (Para. 7)
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• the costs of such negligence are low in
Japan where compensation for product liability claims is mostly derisory or nonexistent.
• Translation
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loom (Para. 2) • v. hang over, as of something threatening, dark,
or menacing • synonyms: emerge, appear • example:
National self-confidence has been flagging under the threat of looming recession.
• Translation
• 对一致意见和团队的重视是团队合作的优 势，但这也会使公司难以质疑和挑战已经 做出的决定和设计。
Unit eight
• Q1. What’s the main idea of Part II (Para.
8-12)?
• The social, economic and political status of Japan, closely related to Toyota, are impacting Toyota’s reform on quality crisis management.
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• Crisis management does not get any
more woeful than this and the cost of this bungling so far … is only a down payment on the final tally. (Line 2, Para. 2) • …is only an initial portion of the total amount in the end.
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• companies have shortchanged their
customers by shirking responsibility until the accumulated evidence forces belated disclosure and recognition of culpability.
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• Outside director / non-executive director /inside director
• Any member of a company's board of
directors who is not an employee or stakeholder in the company. Outside directors are paid an annual retainer fee in the form of cash, benefits and/or stock options. Corporate governance standards require public companies to have a certain number or percentage of outside directors on their boards as they are more likely to provide unbiased opinions.
Unit eight
• penchant (Para. 6)
• n. a strong liking（强烈的）倾向，爱好 • synonym: aptitude • example:
It is noticed that Chinese customers have a penchant for products projecting national pride in traditional Chinese culture.