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Modern Parable.
A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford 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 7 people steering and 2 people 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, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant
superintendent steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people
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 rowers.
There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra
vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to
'equal the competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into
morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.
The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid-off one rower , halted development of a
new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new
equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.
The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even
finish the race (having no paddles,) so he was laid off for unacceptable
performance, all canoe equipment was sold 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, and collecting bonuses...
IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY
A Japanese company ( Toyota ) and an American company (Ford 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 7 people steering and 2 people 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, 2 area steering superintendents and 1 assistant
superintendent steering manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the 2 people
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 rowers.
There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment, extra
vacation days for practices and bonuses. The pension program was trimmed to
'equal the competition' and some of the resultant savings were channeled into
morale boosting programs and teamwork posters.
The next year the Japanese won by two miles.
Humiliated, the American management laid-off one rower , halted development of a
new canoe, sold all the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new
equipment. The money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses.
The next year, try as he might, the lone designated rower was unable to even
finish the race (having no paddles,) so he was laid off for unacceptable
performance, all canoe equipment was sold 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, and collecting bonuses...
IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY
