| Author | Message | ||
     Old_man |
> >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. > > > >Sad, but oh so true! 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. | ||
| Diablobrian |
That sounds scarily close to reality. | ||
| Thumper74 |
As much as it pains me to say with an 02 Focus SVT in the drive, a 05 Buell in the garage and a 69 Mach 1 at the body shop, my next car will be a Honda Civic... |
