Japanese brands were famed for manufacturing excellence around the world and had a stellar reputation at home and abroad.We offer a unique insight to your company culture that helps you manage your risk and showcase your strengths.To make matters worse, the Kobe Steel case is only one of several revelations that have recently been unleashed among the heavy hitters in Japanese industry with admittance of product data fabrications at Toray Industries and Ube Industries as well as Mitsubishi Materials Corp. At the same time, Nissan Motors are being issued heavy fines for using uncertified staff to conduct vehicle inspections and Subaru Corp. have a third lawsuit filed against them for concealing engine defect problems from customers.However, in recent years Japan’s impeccable image in manufacturing excellence has suffered some significant setbacks. Kobe Steel company had a culture that placed profit over quality, and this led to the misconduct.
The format was later converted to the segment structure in 2010, but even as segments the business arms continued to enjoy outsize independence. Kobe Steel has seven business segments, the most among materials makers.
"A culture that prioritised winning purchase orders and meeting delivery deadlines, over ensuring quality," reads one sentence.The report also points out that these problems "took place at many locations within Kobe Steel Group". The company expects profit to shrink by about 10 billion yen ($94.3 million) this fiscal year due to expenses related to the misconduct, including the cost of replacing material. Monday October 16 2017, 12.01am, The Times.
"There were tall barriers between the head office and the operating segments," Kawasaki said.The Kobe-based steelmaker has pledged to minimize the fallout from the scandal during the next fiscal year, although it is currently under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department.Because of the rigid and divided structure that formed, there was hardly any lateral movement of personnel between segments, meaning no fresh blood that might be quicker to blow the whistle on misconduct.Sign up to our newsletters to get our best stories delivered straight to your inbox.The 80-page report pins the blame on governance lapses that led to a deep divide between management and front-line workers. • Editorial_ Kobe Steel's data fabrication scandal more than domestic business issue - The Mainichi.html • Japan’s corporate culture at root of Kobe Steel scandal.html • Kobe says 500 firms affected in steel scandal - BBC News.html • Kobe Steel again pays for its lax compliance- Nikkei Asian Review.html If quality testing yielded results that fell short of customer specifications, testers would simply refer to the list to ship out the material in question without consulting the quality assurance staff, the report said.In 1999, Kobe Steel adopted an internal company structure that gave each unit a high degree of authority. Managers start prioritising production speed and cost above all else often thinking that what they’re doing is saving the company, and it is what’s necessary to keep their competitive edge.
VW is still not out of the woods from their emissions scandals. We appreciate comments and thoughts! So, the obvious question is: what is going on?