Hello Prius, Goodbye Buick

I've always been a buy American kind of guy. I patiently waited for American companies to come out with fuel efficient small cars, knowing (as anyone who follows the financial news knows) that some day gas prices were going to rise sharply. So, when my daughter became old enough to learn to drive, my wife and I set out to find a small, safe, fuel efficient car for her to learn in. Guess what? For all my years of patience, the big three let me down. All they had was cheap, mediocre rebranded foreign imports (e.g. the Chevy Aveo ), and big gas guzzling SUVs. What a choice - and gas prices hadn't even begun to rise yet.

Well, if all they are going to offer is that, I give up. I figure I might as well buy directly from foreign car makers and get exactly what I'm looking for. Perhaps that market signal is one they'll understand.

 

A great example of how corporate greed is not a vice reserved to corporate officers and directors -- it belongs to institutional investors and even individual shareholders. How many times should adults be expected to learn that delayed gratification may have significant benefits?

 

I think this was fitting based on the story above...


A 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 peformance before the race.

On the big day, the Japanese won by a mile.
GM 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: GM 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 GM racked up 9 billion in losses GM folks are still scratching their heads. Don't even think about Ford.

 

I hate to admit this, but in that situation I always try to be the consultant. Hey, it's a living!