Corporate Social Responsibility Report: Toyota and Volkswagen Analysis

This report provides a comparative analysis of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports of Toyota and Volkswagen, two leading automobile manufacturers. The report examines their approaches to sustainability, environmental initiatives, and social accountability. It explores the key differences in their CSR strategies, including stakeholder engagement, internal management, and community initiatives. The report analyzes the companies' adherence to Zadek criteria, comparing their inclusivity, comparability, completeness, and other aspects. It highlights the influence of cultural factors and organizational objectives on their CSR practices. The report also provides insights into each company's vision statements and overall approach to sustainable development. The student concludes that Toyota demonstrates greater transparency and fairness in its reporting compared to Volkswagen, making it a more effective and structured approach to CSR reporting. The assignment uses the provided reports to compare and contrast the two companies' approaches to corporate social responsibility, with a focus on their environmental and social impacts, and internal and external stakeholder engagement.

Running head: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate social responsibility
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Introduction
Global market scenario of automobile industry is rapidly changing along with the
development of the technologies. Competition in the automobile industry is also showing growth
due to the entry of more and more automobile organizations. However, with the emergence of
the new competitors in the market, established organizations such as Toyota and Volkswagen are
less affected. This is due to the reason that, these two organizations are not only selling
automobiles to their customers but also considers other social aspects in driving their business
activities (Mayyas et al., 2012).
Toyota is the leading automobile organization in the world with having the status of
market leader in the global market. Toyota was being originated in Japan and gradually entered
and gained footholds in several regions around the world with their diversified product portfolio.
On the other hand, Volkswagen is a German automobile brand and is just behind Toyota in terms
of sales. They have set their target of overtaking Toyota and becoming the largest automobile
manufacturers in terms of sales by 2018. They are also having presence in various regions
around the world and are having diversified product portfolio.
Thus, both the organizations are going to neck to neck to compete for the global
leadership in the automobile market. This assignment will help to determine other aspects such
as environmental criterion of both the organizations to identify their competitiveness on one
another.
Question: 1
Both of the organizations are maintaining effective policies of publishing their social
accountability reports. However, determination of their reports helped to identify the differences

2CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
in their approaches to the social responsibility. It is been seen that Toyota is having more
extensive and holistic approach in reporting their social accountability report (Toyota Global Site
| Sustainability Report 2016, 2017). On the other hand, Volkswagen is having intensive
approaches in dealing with the social accountability (Volkswagen Sustainability Report 2016 -
Strategy - Introduction, 2017). They are more concentrated with effective and sustainable
internal management in the organization. However, newer technologies are being initiated by
both the organizations to deal with the environmental issues.
Social accountability report of Toyota
Customer safety
Customers are being considered as the most preferred stakeholder for their business activities.
Accordingly, they are taking various initiatives in providing the highest standard of safety to
their customers. One of the key initiatives includes the safety features being installed in their
vehicles (Kusano & Gabler, 2012). Toyota safety sense C and sense P is being promoted by them
which comprise of camera and laser sensors. These features help the vehicles to automatically
detect the obstacles and eventually help to reduce the road casualties. They to enable the vehicle
owners in reducing the parking issues are also initiating intelligent parking systems (Reve &
Choudhri, 2012). They have also initiated collision free safety body for their vehicles, which will
prevent the damage for the occupants in case of accidents.
Environment safety
Toyota has taken the initiatives to curb the carbon emission from their vehicles as well as
from their facilities. They are promoting hybrid vehicles, which will have less level of emission
for their customers (Li et al., 212). Already, the sale of their hybrid vehicles crossed 8.90 million

3CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
units. Toyota has taken the initiative of reducing the carbon emission by about 90 percent by
2050. Electric vehicles are also be introduced by them which will further decrease the pollutions
(Hawkins et al., 2013). They also introduce fuel cell vehicles in order to promote vehicles
running on alternative fuels. The average fuel efficiency of their vehicles increased from 28
Km/L to 40.8 Km/L (Zhu, Ma & Zhang, 2012).
Corporate governance
Along with the customers, Toyota also involves employees in reporting their social
accountability (Wintoki, Linck & Netter, 2012). They follow effective human resource
management in their internal organization (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). Their main
concentration of their human resource management is the mutual trust and coordination among
the internal stakeholders. Similar approaches are being promoted and maintained by them in all
the facilities around the world. Every single year, Toyota promotes initiation of the discussions
from their key affiliates around the world to ensure the effective working environment in the
organization. Workplace health and safety are also been given most preference to ensure the
safety standard in the organization (Goetzel et al., 2014). Their approach of ensuring the interests
of the employees eventually helps them in providing effective customer service.
Community initiatives
Various community activities are being promoted by Toyota in enhancing the
sustainability of the surrounding societies and communities (Cheng, Ioannou & Serafeim, 2014).
One of the most prominent initiatives for them is Kokoro Hakobu Project, which had been
initiated as recovery support for the Japan earthquake. Their community activities are ranging
from the climate awareness to providing education and supporting plantation programs.

4CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Social accountability report of Volkswagen
Internal management
The internal management of Volkswagen is being designed and implemented in such a
way that it will be flexible to the rapid change in the automobile industry. Innovations are being
promoted in the organization, which in turn helps them in enhancing their competitive
advantages in the market (Eiriz, Faria & Barbosa, 2013). It also helped them in achieving the
award of most innovative automobile manufacturer by CAM. According to the approach being
initiated by the management, equipping and engaging the employees will help them in
maintaining the effective working environment in the organization. Adhering with the legislation
and other external environment is one of the key aspects that are being considered by them in
order to maintain the standard across all the partners in the value chain.
Human resource management
One of the key motives of the human resource management of Volkswagen is to be the
attractive and sustainable employer. Reliability and transparency are being most preferred in
their internal activities. They have introduced diversity policy in order to promote diversity in the
workforce (Barak, 2016). This is due to the fact that, their operational facilities are situated in
different locations around the world. Thus, promotion of diversified workforce helps them in
having employees from different cultures and offering in accordance to the diversified customer
requirements.
They maintains dual model of vocational education and training to equip their employees
with required skills and competitiveness, which is necessary to compete in the market. By 2016,

5CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
19490 people are being trained under this project. Another initiative named Wanderjahre are
being introduced in offering the people in working with any brand of Volkswagen for 12 months.
Environmental activities
They are promoting various initiatives towards their activities related to the environment.
One of the key initiatives is the introduction of the eco-friendly cars in the market. They have
initiated a program named together strategy 2025 to adhere their operational activities with the
sustainable development goals of United Nations.
Question: 2
Toyota and Volkswagen are being from Japan and Germany respectively. Thus, due to
the fact that, different countries are having different cultures and scenarios, the key
considerations and preferences for these organizations are also different. Environment is being
extensively and community activities are being given the most preferences in Japan, which is
being reflected in the social accountability of the Toyota (Mitchell, 2013). On the other hand,
Germany is representing first world economy and technological advancement and innovations
are being given much importance, which is being seen in the social accountability report of
Volkswagen.
Moreover, the social activities of the Toyota and Volkswagen are more customer oriented
and employee oriented respectively. Cultural aspects of the respective countries are also having
influences in this activity also. This is due to the reason that, the cultural and social traditions
being followed in Japan are more having holistic approach than that of Germany. Thus, the
stakeholder management by Toyota is being initiated by more extensively. On the other hand,

6CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Volkswagen is more concentrated on generating innovations from their internal organization and
promotion of technological advancement in their facilities and products.
Another prominent difference between the activities of Volkswagen and Toyota is their
organizational objectives. Toyota being the largest carmaker in the world in terms of sales are
more inclined in sustainable development. On the other hand, Volkswagen’s objective is more
economy oriented. Their short-term objective is to be the largest carmaker in the world by
overtaking Toyota with the initiation of technologies and innovations.
Question: 3
Zadek criteria
Social
accountability
report of
Toyota
Remark
Social
accountability
report of
Volkswagen
Remarks
Inclusivity Yes
All the stakeholders
are being involved in
the CSR
management. They
follow the extensive
management of the
social responsibilities
which are mostly
customer oriented.
Yes
Volkswagen also
involves all the
stakeholders in
their social
accountability
management.
However, their
main concentration
is towards the
employees rather
than the customers.

7CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Comparabilit
y Yes
Toyota’s report for
social responsibility
has given the
comparison with the
previous years. Thus,
social accountability
report of them will
enable to compare the
effectiveness of the
projects.
Yes
Volkswagen also
stated their
comparison with
their reports of the
previous years’
performance.
Completeness Yes
All the issues being
faced by Toyota is
being stated in the
report. Moreover, the
proposed initiatives
are also being stated
in the report.
No
In the case of
Volkswagen, they
have not stated
issues such as
diesel gate in their
social
accountability
report.
Evolution yes
Statement of
initiation of newer
technologies such as
fuel cell cars is being
given.
Yes
Same approaches
being implemented
by Volkswagen.
Management
Policies and
Systems
Yes More of customer
oriented. Yes More of employee
oriented.
Disclosure Yes
All the business
related activities are
being disclosed
Yes
They have also
disclosed all the
required
documents.
External
Verification Yes Verified by ISO Yes Verified by GRI
index
Continuous
Improvement Yes
Proposed
improvement and
initiatives are being
mentioned in the
report.
Yes
They have also
initiated the similar
approach.

8CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Question: 4
According to the vision statement of Toyota, they are committed to initiate sustainable
development in achieving their organizational objectives. Accordingly, they have designed their
social accountability and internal management. They have introduced eco friendly cars, which
will on the one hand offer the desired experience to the owners and on the other hand, will help
to curb the emission. Their vision statement of sustainable development is being followed by
initiating of various projects for the community empowerment (Griggs et al., 2013). Maintaining
of the workplace safety is also being initiated according to the vision statement of being a
responsible employer.
Volkswagen also mentioned about their desire of being the attractive employer in their
vision statement and in accordance, they have given the major concentration in the human
resource management. Majority of their social activities are being employee oriented along with
accomplishing the other aspects of sustainability.
Question: 5
The determination of the activities being mentioned in the social accountability report of
both Toyota and Volkswagen are being discussed in the group. Our group has the opinion that
Toyota is having more effective way and structure of reporting than that of Volkswagen.
According to me, I was of the opinion that, Toyota has maintained more transparency and
fairness in report their social accountability report. This is due to the reason that, they have given
all the issues that are being faced by them in the recent years. However, on the other hand,
Volkswagen has not stated their issues such as diesel gate in their report. Moreover, anything
negative to their business activities are not being discussed in their report.

9CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
With having the discussion regarding the Zadek et’s criteria, my group has given the
opinion that majority of the aspects in the criteria list are being fulfilled by both the
organizations. However, Volkswagen is being trailed in not discussing their negative issues in
the report. Thus, according to my group, Toyota has given the more transparent view in the
reporting their social accountability than Volkswagen. Moreover, my group also stated that
Volkswagen though is not proved as efficient as Toyota in reporting, however, they are more
specific in detaining their sustainability project than Toyota. According to them, Toyota has
given more generalized view regarding their initiatives, whereas Volkswagen is being more
specific in this approach. I argued that Toyota has more extensive and holistic approach than
Volkswagen regarding this, but they proved that Volkswagen has reported less information in
their report but what they given is more specific than Toyota. Further evaluation of both the
report by me helped to gain the understanding about the structure of the report of them. It is
being seen by me that, though Toyota has given more extensive information but Volkswagen
maintained the detailing of their given information in their report.

10CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Reference
Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Barak, M. E. M. (2016). Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage
Publications.
Cheng, B., Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2014). Corporate social responsibility and access to
finance. Strategic Management Journal, 35(1), 1-23.
Eiriz, V., Faria, A., & Barbosa, N. (2013). Firm growth and innovation: Towards a typology of
innovation strategy. Innovation, 15(1), 97-111.
Goetzel, R. Z., Henke, R. M., Tabrizi, M., Pelletier, K. R., Loeppke, R., Ballard, D. W., ... &
Serxner, S. (2014). Do workplace health promotion (wellness) programs work?. Journal
of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 56(9), 927-934.
Griggs, D., Stafford-Smith, M., Gaffney, O., Rockström, J., Öhman, M. C., Shyamsundar, P., ...
& Noble, I. (2013). Policy: Sustainable development goals for people and
planet. Nature, 495(7441), 305-307.
Hawkins, T. R., Singh, B., Majeau‐Bettez, G., & Strømman, A. H. (2013). Comparative
environmental life cycle assessment of conventional and electric vehicles. Journal of
Industrial Ecology, 17(1), 53-64.
Kusano, K. D., & Gabler, H. C. (2012). Safety benefits of forward collision warning, brake
assist, and autonomous braking systems in rear-end collisions. IEEE Transactions on
Intelligent Transportation Systems, 13(4), 1546-1555.

11CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Li, Q., Chen, W., Li, Y., Liu, S., & Huang, J. (2012). Energy management strategy for fuel
cell/battery/ultracapacitor hybrid vehicle based on fuzzy logic. International Journal of
Electrical Power & Energy Systems, 43(1), 514-525.
Mayyas, A., Qattawi, A., Omar, M., & Shan, D. (2012). Design for sustainability in automotive
industry: A comprehensive review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16(4),
1845-1862.
Mitchell, B. (2013). Resource & environmental management. Routledge.
Reve, S. V., & Choudhri, S. (2012). Management of car parking system using wireless sensor
network. Int. J. Emerg. Technol. Adv. Eng, 2, 262-268.
Toyota Global Site | Sustainability Report 2016. (2017). www.toyota.co.jp. Retrieved 7
September 2017, from http://www.toyota-global.com/sustainability/report/sr/
Volkswagen Sustainability Report 2016 - Strategy - Introduction.
(2017). Sustainabilityreport2016.volkswagenag.com. Retrieved 7 September 2017, from
http://sustainabilityreport2016.volkswagenag.com/strategy/introduction.html
Wintoki, M. B., Linck, J. S., & Netter, J. M. (2012). Endogeneity and the dynamics of internal
corporate governance. Journal of Financial Economics, 105(3), 581-606.
Zhu, M., Ma, Y., & Zhang, D. (2012). Effect of a homogeneous combustion catalyst on the
combustion characteristics and fuel efficiency in a diesel engine. Applied Energy, 91(1),
166-172.