A MODERN PARABLE . .

A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford) 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 management team made up of senior 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 paid 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 the 1 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 canceled 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 theUS. 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.

Very true and also very SAD!

Very true and Toyota and Honda were not stupid enough to settle contracts that got them into the legacy costs of the big three.

Toyota and Honda don't deal with the UAW at ALL; they don't have a union at their U.S. plants. Nor do they pay anything close to what UAW union people get at Ford et all. Nor do they have to continue to pay full wages to people who were "laid-off".
But I can't blame the union, GM, Ford and Chrysler management signed off on those expensive contracts.

quote:

Originally posted by CMcDermott:
But I can't blame the union, GM, Ford and Chrysler management signed off on those expensive contracts.

Like they had a choice?????????????????????????????????????

Greed is the toughest thing to manage in our economy. Union Greed and Management Greed is the reason we wre where we are. I am very close to this and have seen it from both sides. Most of my family retired UAW. I chose another direction.

Anybody that has questions regarding Fords leadership skills, and getting the job done attitude need only look at the cosecutive winning seasons of the Detroit Lions. Owned by the Fords and playing poorly at FORD Field!

Well this is going to rankle a few feathers but so be it.As an open shop owner I have no truck with the union.I will admit that they started as a very grand idea but have since screwed themselves away from the table;+ left the consumer to pick up the tab.

When union types sit around the break table, they don't brag about how much they have done and how they have helped the company to earn a profit; but rather, how little they have done and what tactics they have used to submarine the company.
By the same token, however, someone needs to explain to me how a CEO that heads a company that has lost a bazillion dollars rates a bonus????? For doing what?

I live in an area with high auto-sector (un)employment. The big thing right now is all the bumper stickers that say "Out of a job yet? Keep buying foreign!"

I want to take a piece of wide tape and change it to read "Out of a job yet? Keep working union!"

Most ridiculous thing I saw was one of these bumper stickers on a Pontiac Vibe, which is just a rebranded Toyota Matrix.