Kara S Alaimo, Columnist

The Takata Scandal and the Value of Diversity

Corporate crises have complex causes, and there’s plenty of blame to go around. But might a more diverse board have been less prone to groupthink?

January 27, 2017 at 7:31 PM UTC

By Kara S Alaimo

Kara Alaimo is an associate professor of communication at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She is the author of “Over the Influence: Why Social Media Is Toxic for Women and Girls — and How We Can Take It Back.”

Diversity is good for dummies, too.
Photographer: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images

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Earlier this month, U.S. prosecutors announced charges against three former executives of the Japanese auto-parts maker Takata for allegedly falsifying data to cover up a deadly air-bag defect. The company has admitted to a 15-year cover-up, agreed to plead guilty to wire fraud, and will pay a $1 billion fine. Meanwhile, the faulty air bags have been linked to at least 17 deaths worldwide, and tens of millions have been recalled.

Industry-watchers trying to understand how this happened have their work cut out for them. A 2016 review found problems with the company’s organizational culture, and there’s evidence managers pressured workers to manipulate data. Too-rapid production growth and executive overconfidence may have played a role; at the same time, American lawmakers have blasted U.S. regulators for missing the problem for years.