Kaizen crisis
本文英文部分選自經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)人Business板塊
Japan's product-quality scandals
TOKYO
Two more illustrious Japanese firms admit to falsifying inspection data
AKIO MORITA,co-founder of Sony, liked to recall his first trip to Germany in1953, when a waiter stuck a small paper parasol in his ice-cream and sneered: “This is from your country.” Like many of his post-war compatriots, Mr Morita was ashamed that Japan was known for shoddy goods. The fierce drive to reverse that reputation resulted in theDeming Prize,a quality-control award named after an American business guru so revered in Japan that he received a medal from the emperor forcontributing to its industrial rebirth. All that hard work is under threat.
Toray Industries, a textiles and chemicals giant, is the latest pillar of corporate Japan to admit to quality problems. This week a subsidiary said it had faked inspections on reinforcement cords used to strengthen car tyres. Sadayuki Sakakibara, a former president of Toray, said he was “ashamed” and apologised on behalf ofKeidanren,the powerful business lobby he now heads. OnNovember 23rd,Mitsubishi Materials sheepishly confessed (during a public holiday) that its subsidiaries had falsified data, on aluminium and other products used in aircraft and cars, given to?customers in Japan, America, China and Taiwan. Those customers include Japan’s air force, earning a rebuke from Itsunori Onodera, the defence minister.
Kobe Steel, which was founded in 1905, recently revealed that it had sold “non-conforming products” to Boeing, Ford, Toyota and other household names. The ?rm had faked data on the tensile strength—the ability to withstand loads without breaking—of aluminium sheets, copper products and other items shipped to over 500 companies. Nissan and Subaru, both car ?rms, have admitted to similar fakery.
household
n.? 家庭敢艰，戶; （集合詞）全家人，（包含人在內(nèi)的）家眷，家屬瞬雹，家里人; 家庭; （英）王室;
adj.? 家庭的解愤，家內(nèi)的姆钉，一家的; 日常的愿卸，家常的佳晶，普通的; 家喻戶曉的; 王室的;
tensile
[只用于名詞前] used to describe the extent to which sth can stretch without breaking 張力的桅狠；拉力的；抗張的
the tensile strength of rope
繩索的抗拉強(qiáng)度
that can be drawn out or stretched 可拉長的轿秧；能伸長的中跌；可延展的
tensile cable
可伸延的電纜
fakery
n.? 偽造，偽裝;
The welter of revelations is bad for Japanese business as a whole. Its main defence against low-cost competitors from China, Taiwan and South Korea is its reputation for quality, says Takeshi Miyao, a consultant to the local car industry. Hiroshige Seko, the economy minister, said the falsi?cations had “shaken the foundations of fair trade” and demanded to know why it had taken Mitsubishi over six months to admit misconduct. That is timely compared withNissan. Its use of uncerti?ed technicians on ?nal vehicle checks goes back 40 years. The technicians reportedly borrowed hanko— Japan’s all-important signature seals—from quali?ed inspectors.
welter
[單數(shù)](formal) ~ of sth a large and confusing amount of sth 雜亂的一堆
a welter of information
一大堆雜亂的信息
revelation
[可數(shù)名詞] ~ (about/concerning sth) | ~ (that…) a fact that people are made aware of, especially one that has been secret and is surprising 被暴露的真相淤刃；被曝光的秘聞
同義詞 disclosure
startling/sensational revelations about her private life
對她的私生活令人吃驚的 / 轟動性的揭露
[不可數(shù)名詞] ~ (of sth) the act of making people aware of sth that has been secret 披露晒他；揭露
同義詞disclosure
The company's financial problems followed the revelation of a major fraud scandal.
重大的欺詐丑聞被揭露之后，公司隨之出現(xiàn)了財政問題逸贾。
[可數(shù)名詞, 不可數(shù)名詞] something that is considered to be a sign or message from God （上帝的）啟示
misconduct
[不可數(shù)名詞](formal)
unacceptable behaviour, especially by a professional person 失職陨仅；處理不當(dāng)；行為不端
a doctor accused of gross misconduct (= very serious misconduct )
被控嚴(yán)重失職的醫(yī)生
professional misconduct
玩忽職守
bad management of a company, etc. 管理不善
misconduct of the company's financial affairs
對公司財務(wù)的管理不善
Ironically, a corporate-governance code introduced in 2015 to rev up competitiveness may explain why such facts are coming to light. The code, which includes a whistleblowing clause, has encouraged employees to speak out, says Toshiaki Oguchi of Governance for Owners Japan, a governance lobby group (Toray disclosed its cheating only after an anonymous online post). Privately, people at car firms complain that the problems in their industry relate to excessively stringent government standards introduced in the early 1950s. Some workers consider them primitive and unnecessary.
It is also possible that manufacturers set standards too high. Many have stayed ahead of competitors by promising to deliver products that go far beyond minimum standards of quality or performance, says Alberto Moel, a specialist in industrial robotics. Conflict occurs when pressure flows down to the factory floor to meet those promises, he says. “Then you get corner-cutting, misrepresentations and sometimes unethical or even criminal behaviour.” Nissan’s woes have been blamed by some on Carlos Ghosn, its former chairman (nicknamed “Le Cost Cutter”), who sacked thousands of workers.
It is too early to predict permanent damage to Japanese manufacturing, says Koji Endo of SBI Securities in Tokyo. Most of the recent cases relate to paperwork rather than actual quality standards, he argues. They have thus far resulted in no foreign product recalls. True, Takata, a maker of defective airbags, was forced out of business this year by a blizzard of lawsuits linked to at least18 fatalities, but other firms have rebounded. Toyota is again the world’s top carmaker, despite a recall of 9m vehicles with faulty accelerator pedals.
That followed years of restructuring. Most Japanese companies now have at least two independent directors on their boards; until recently, they usually had none. The result is closer scrutiny of wrongdoing, along with greater pressure to perform well financially. The battle between quality and cost-cutting will surely intensify, says Mr Oguchi. “The key is getting the balance right.”
cut corners
(disapproving) to do sth in the easiest, cheapest or quickest way, often by ignoring rules or leaving sth out （常不按規(guī)則或省略地）用最簡捷經(jīng)濟(jì)的方式做事铝侵，圖省事灼伤；（做事）走捷徑
blizzard
a snowstorm with very strong winds 暴風(fēng)雪；雪暴
blizzard conditions ?暴風(fēng)雪天氣
a raging/howling blizzard ?猛烈的 / 怒吼著的暴風(fēng)雪
a large quantity of things that may seem to be attacking you 大批侵?jǐn)_性的事物咪鲜；大量的負(fù)擔(dān)
a blizzard of documents
一大堆棘手的文件
non-conforming products
不合格品
