I was really disturbed last week to read in HBR.org Jeffrey Liker’s otherworldly appraisal of the Toyota situation (”The Wrong Lessons From Toyota – And the Truth“. Reading more like a paid advertisement than a blog post, Liker, the author of “The Toyota Way,” minimized the complaints of Toyota customers, wrote that 2 million recalls actually represented only 10 instances of problems, and, in general, made a reader feel Liker was from outer space, rather than the University of Michigan.
Thankfully, a few days later, also in HBR.org, Robert Coles eviscerated Liker’s account, point by point (”No Big Quality Problems at Toyota?“.
Finally, yesterday HBR.org published a post by Joel Kurtzman, a consultant who had worked with Toyota in the 1970s, as it was still establishing its North American business. In “Toyota’s Problems Start At The Top,” Kurtzman does not take on Liker’s post directly, but instead contrasts Toyota’s leadership today with what he knew from their earlier days.
This has been fascinating. Blogging has brought a spirited debate about an important business subject out into the open. If Liker’s post had instead been a New York Times op-ed, any response would have been a heavily condensed letter to the editor, not something of equal prominence. It certainly wouldn’t have spawned dozens of public comments. And by sharing multiple viewpoints of experts with varying experiences and specialties, HBR.org has shown why new media, rather than necessarily being watered down, sloppy and amateurish, is, in many cases, far superior to the old.
