There is a great deal of truth in this:
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 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.
Sad, but oh so true! But consider this:
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!
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 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.
Sad, but oh so true! But consider this:
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!
: 
Thanks that felt good to get off my chest. Roy
Of course Gm is probably going to see some further decline due to management too quick and knee jerk reactions issuing press and decisions over the Imus issue.
