(100) The fate of corporations: Toyota vs. Apple

By Janet Shin

The recent mishandling of Apple’s iPhone 4 antenna problem has reminded people of Toyota, and whether or not Apple will follow the same path of failure as Toyota.

Since the initial recall of Toyota cars, the situation grew so great that people even imagined the tragic end of the company. It was a shocking issue considering the fact that the company had once been the most invincible carmaker in the world.

Toyota was once the epitome of a great carmaker, as was noted by their responses: “Toyota pursues perfectionism,” “Toyota is not authoritative but humble whenever they need to apologize,” and “They keep introducing a new system.”

They lost face as the situation continued to go downhill, although they were willingly acknowledging their mistakes.

The sad saga of Toyota reminds us of the fact that when you are high, the fall downward is much more painful.

Toyota had been the second biggest carmaker for a long time. When they chased the first runner, they were humble and weren’t afraid to reveal their problems. Once the problems reached the higher levels, it didn’t seem as easy to be humble.

The authority and perfectionism of the No. 1 car maker made them hesitate. It truly seems that it’s difficult to stay at the peak for long.

When we look at our lives, it might take a long time to reach the highest point, but the way down is abrupt.

Recently Apple has been facing a similar crisis over their technical problems.

The past Toyota crisis gave us insight about the fragility of a corporation’s brand and reputation. An iconic international company went from being one of the world’s favorite car manufacturers to being in a critical situation with a drastic drop in sales volume.

Many people these days are starting to compare Apple’s iPhone problem with that of Toyota’s recalls. Reviewing some surface issues, one may come to the conclusion that the two are similar.

But, if we are to look at saju for this comparison, the two seem to have different paths in their fates.

This reading can be applied not only to corporations but also to our lives.

We experience several cycles in our life paths. Saju classifies the five cycles according to the five elements’ relationships. Among these fortune cycles, some people may pursue their reputation or authority more than others. They usually value ``respect’’ the most. Those who put more weight on authority and social identity are often the people who care about people’s recognition of them as well.

From saju’s standpoint, people who have these tendencies are stronger in the knowledge cycle (respect) and the career cycle (authority and social identity).

On the other hand, some care more about creativity than recognition. According to saju analysis, these people can be considered stronger in the expression cycle or in the money cycle.

If saju’s main energy flows through the expression and money cycle, a person tends to be upfront. They often make mistakes, because they put more value on creativity rather than the flawlessness of the process, and they acknowledge their incompleteness. Their creativity surpasses administrative or technical flaws. Through trial and error, they experience new things and go for it.

Once they earn their career and respect from others, they re-organize their system so as not to make any mistakes. This is the phase when they move their energy to their career and knowledge cycles.

At this point, you may be able to figure out that Toyota is keener on the cycle of knowledge and career while Apple is on the cycle of expression and money.

It is a natural process that an individual or a corporation follows through their growing path, although each might have more tendencies in a certain cycle group. On their way to following that route, some experience growing pains and learn to mature.

What we should pay attention to is how people lose their flexibility and desire for challenges, due to an obsession to retain their current position.

Toyota seemed to be at the high point of their career and knowledge cycle. The corporation’s image as a perfect and first-ranking automotive manufacturer in the world could have bound them up not to acknowledge the problem they made at first stage. Apple seems to face a different strain of problem, as they have been seen not just for their perfectionism, but for their uniqueness and magnetism of creativity.

It is not only reputation but a flexibility of system or mentality that can help in situations of crises.

The writer is the president of the Heavenly Garden, a saju research center in Korea, and the author of “Learning Four Pillars.” For more, visit her website at www.fourpillarskorea.com