lumberslinger178
God
Just sharing a story so do not get your panties in a wad you flagger.
A 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... and now wants the Government to
'bail them out'.
IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY
A 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... and now wants the Government to
'bail them out'.
IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY