Kaizen crisis

本文英文部分选自经济学人Business板块

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 firm 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 firms, have admitted to similar fakery.

household

n.  家庭，户; （集合词）全家人，（包含人在内的）家眷，家属，家里人; 家庭; （英）王室;

adj.  家庭的，家内的，一家的; 日常的，家常的，普通的; 家喻户晓的; 王室的;

tensile

[只用于名词前] used to describe the extent to which sth can stretch without breaking 张力的；拉力的；抗张的

the tensile strength of rope

绳索的抗拉强度

that can be drawn out or stretched 可拉长的；能伸长的；可延展的

tensile cable

可伸延的电缆

fakery

n.  伪造，伪装;

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 falsifications 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 uncertified technicians on final vehicle checks goes back 40 years. The technicians reportedly borrowed hanko— Japan’s all-important signature seals—from qualified inspectors.

welter

[单数](formal) ~ of sth a large and confusing amount of sth 杂乱的一堆

a welter of information

一大堆杂乱的信息

revelation

[可数名词] ~ (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；被曝光的秘闻

同义词 disclosure

startling/sensational revelations about her private life

对她的私生活令人吃惊的 / 轰动性的揭露

[不可数名词] ~ (of sth) the act of making people aware of sth that has been secret 披露；揭露

同义词disclosure

The company's financial problems followed the revelation of a major fraud scandal.

重大的欺诈丑闻被揭露之后，公司随之出现了财政问题。

[可数名词, 不可数名词] something that is considered to be a sign or message from God （上帝的）启示

misconduct

[不可数名词](formal)

unacceptable behaviour, especially by a professional person 失职；处理不当；行为不端

a doctor accused of gross misconduct (= very serious misconduct )

被控严重失职的医生

professional misconduct

玩忽职守

bad management of a company, etc. 管理不善

misconduct of the company's financial affairs

对公司财务的管理不善

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 （常不按规则或省略地）用最简捷经济的方式做事，图省事；（做事）走捷径

blizzard

a snowstorm with very strong winds 暴风雪；雪暴

blizzard conditions  暴风雪天气

a raging/howling blizzard  猛烈的 / 怒吼着的暴风雪

a large quantity of things that may seem to be attacking you 大批侵扰性的事物；大量的负担

a blizzard of documents

一大堆棘手的文件

non-conforming products

不合格品