Corporate Social Responsibility – The Global Financial Crisis: A Case Study on the Rise of Toyota and the Demise of General Motors

Abstract

Globalisation has connected the world at a phenomenal rate (Becks, 2000), and because of globalisation, MNCs now have to play roles that were traditionally the responsibilities of governments. Also, with global warming issues on the rise, the role that auto manufacturing companies play in curbing greenhouse emission cannot be ignored. This article will compare the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices of General Motors with Toyota. In this „David versus Goliath‟ saga, Toyota overtook GM in 2008 to become the world‟s largest automaker. Why GM failed as an automaker could be attributed to their inability to fully operationalise their corporate social responsibility commitments and strategies. Toyota, on the other hand implemented their CSR strategies on a global scale. The article proposes that CSR is crucial in the auto industry, and great companies, such as GM, can and will fail if they ignore the importance of CSR. Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, auto industry, Toyota, GM, Big Thre