American company philosophy



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 performance before the race.
On the big day, the Japanese team 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 team had 8 people rowing and 1 person
steering, while the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.
So American management hired a consulting company and paid them a
large amount of money for a second opinion. They advised that too many
people were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing.
To prevent another loss to the Japanese, the American's 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 outsourced to India.