>>A 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 stu! dy 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 .
>>
>>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.