[notyoubob]

Car makers way of thinking: A Modern Parable...

A Japanese company (Toyota ) and an American company (General
Motors) decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River . Both teams
practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
The Americans, very discouraged and depressed, decided to
investigate the reason for the crushing defeat. A team made up ofsenior management was formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action.Their conclusion was the Japanese had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.
Feeling a deeper study was in order, American management hired a
consulting company and pai d them a large amount of money for a second opinion.
They advised, of course, that too many people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.
Not sure of how to utilize that information, but wanting to prevent
another loss to the Japanese, the rowing team's management structure was
totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area steering
superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the1
person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was called the
'Rowing Team Quality First Program,' with meetings, dinners and free pens for the rower. There was discussion of getting
new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra vacation days for
practices and bonuses.
The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid off the rower for poor
performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold the paddles,and cancelled
all capital investments for new equipment. The money saved was
distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the next year's racing team was out-sourced to India
Sadly, The End.
Here's something else to think about: Ford has spent the last thirty
years moving all its factories out of the US , claiming they can't make
money paying American wages. Toyota has spent the last thirty years building more
than a dozen plants inside the US. The last quarter's results:
Toyota makes 4 billion in profits while Ford racked up 9 billion in
losses.
Ford folks are still scratching their heads.
IF THIS WASN'T SO SAD IT MIGHT BE F UNNY