Toyota

Last night there was an item on the news about Toyota. The item was about two seemingly opposite subjects: on the one hand, the state prosecutor for California was issuing a class action against the Japanese car manufacturer because of the gas pedal problems, whereas on the other hand, the company's profits are soaring.

My first reaction was: we have a Toyota car, but my wife took it to the dealer to be checked a few weeks ago, so we should be all right. My second reaction was: Toyota recently closed down their joint venture with General Motors in America; the name of the factory was NUMMI which stands for something that I can't remember. My third thought was that oh my God, we were told time and time again in Organisational Behaviour that NUMMI was thought to be the standard bearer for self directed teams … and there was a question in the exam about SDTs. I should have mentioned NUMMI! How forgetful of me!