Toyota's Top Female Executive Arrested In Japan On Drug Charges

IS-SV

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This incident might of been hard to detect via better candidate vetting is my guess, and I don't see it as a diversity issue.

For sure a PR nightmare for Toyota. The number of pills and the obvious attempt at hiding the drugs in the shipment doesn't help the PR situation/perception.
 

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Well I wasn't even born at the time :D, but as an avid observer of the auto industry, I'm well aware of that really wild situation with John DeLorean. A situation that seems straight out of an 80s action movie.

Yes, after his successes at Chevy and Pontiac, he was unhappy at GM (especially with the awful Chevrolet Vega), decided to form his own company in Northern Ireland, and build his own stainless-steel sports car, using a jointly-developed Volvo/Peugeot/Renault V6 engine. Without GM's vast financial reserves, though, his company quickly got in financial trouble, and it was well-known that he was urgently trying to build up cash for his struggling firm. Whether he was actually dumb enough to start running drugs for the quick profits it brings, or whether his political and financial enemies (he had several) set him up to make it look like that (as he maintained to his dying day), perhaps will never be known for sure. I myself had a lot of respect for DeLorean, so I personally want to give him the benefit of the doubt.
 
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For sure a PR nightmare for Toyota. The number of pills and the obvious attempt at hiding the drugs in the shipment doesn't help the PR situation/perception.


They've survived worse. Only a few years ago, their own execs and CEO were dragged before the U.S. Congress, testifying on the runaway-acceleration and throttle-by-wire issues.
 
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IS-SV

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They've survived worse. Only a few years ago, their own execs and CEO were dragged before the U.S. Congress, testifying on the runaway-acceleration and throttle-by-wire issues.

Yes, that's why I said PR situation, not a GM-like bankruptcy for example.
 
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http://www.autonews.com/article/201...ecutive-hamp-steps-down-after-arrest-in-japan
Toyota's top female executive, Hamp, steps down after arrest in Japan

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Toyota Motor Corp. today said Julie Hamp, its first female managing officer, had resigned following her arrest last month on suspicion of illegally importing the painkiller oxycodone into Japan.

Hamp, who in April became the automaker's chief communications officer, notified Toyota of her intent to resign, the company said in a statement. Toyota said it had accepted Hamp's resignation after "considering the concerns and inconvenience that recent events have caused our stakeholders."

Senior Managing Officer Shigeru Hayakawa will take over Hamp's duties until a replacement is appointed, it said. Toyota declined to give further details, citing the ongoing investigation.

Hamp was arrested on June 18 after customs officials found oxycodone tablets in a parcel shipped to her from the United States. Hamp said she did not think she had imported an illegal substance, according to the police.

Hamp, who remains in police custody, has yet to be charged and under Japanese law, can remain under detention for up to 20 days after her arrest. That timeframe ends on July 8.

Oxycodone is a prescription drug in both the United States and Japan. Bringing it into Japan requires prior approval from the government and it must be carried by the individual.

Following Hamp's arrest, Toyota said it believed that she had no intent of breaking the law.

Hamp was appointed managing officer as part of a drive to diversify Toyota's male-dominated, mostly Japanese executive lineup.

She joined Toyota's North American unit in 2012 and in June relocated to Tokyo, where she was to be based.

"We remain firmly committed to putting the right people in the right places, regardless of nationality, gender, age and other factors," Toyota said in its statement today.

Blow to diversity

The resignation of Hamp, an American, is a blow to Toyota's drive to make management ranks more international and accepting of female executives. It also deals a high-profile setback to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has made empowering women a priority to help modernize and jumpstart the nation's economy, including calling on Japan Inc. to have women in 30 percent of leadership roles by the end of the decade.

"Japan Inc. will suffer from this," Jeff Kingston, professor of Asian Studies at Temple University's Japan Campus in Tokyo, said by telephone.

Hamp's treatment by the police and local media "sends a chilling message to other foreign managers who might be considering a posting to Japan."

From Toyota to Sony Corp., Japanese companies succeeded on the world stage through the 1990s despite maintaining an insular management culture dominated by lifelong company executives.

That closed business model began to show cracks as the economy struggled through two decades of deflation, prompting calls for companies to hire and promote outsiders for diverse ideas and skills.
 
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Has she entered rehab yet?
Since she no longer holds the position, I don't know if she will be mentioned anymore.

Japanese companies always will have Japanese executives in charge somehow. Behind all the Toyota/Lexus executives that are "American", there are almost as many Japanese executives that work behind the scenes with equal power and don't take the spotlight in front of the US/American media, because not having American management makes them look foreign and unfriendly to the buying public (this was the stigma that they encountered when Toyota USA grew as a company).
 

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Of course if she enters rehab and word gets out, it's not likely to be Toyota telling us.

Not sure about Japan, but in the U.S., some medical records, by law, are private. It would be illegal without a court order to reveal them to the general public, though that doesn't always stop the media.
 

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Since she no longer holds the position, I don't know if she will be mentioned anymore.

Perhaps not, but the way I look at it, even if she isn't a corporate exec any more and/or in the news, she is still a human being who, if addicted to pain-killers, has a serious condition that needs treatment either way, and I hope things work out for her. :) Drug addiction is something that doesn't care how many stripes you wear on your sleeves or how high/low your rank is.
 

IS-SV

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Not sure about Japan, but in the U.S., some medical records, by law, are private. It would be illegal without a court order to reveal them to the general public, though that doesn't always stop the media.

Obviously regarding medical records, and I don't expect any medical facility of that type to be giving out names. The media can legally observe and report via other methods too. Sorry, no use wasting more time about fictional rehab, I didn't expect this to go on and on...