Saving the US Auto Industry

[tw]

Originally Posted by classicman

I for one am curious. Are there cliff notes available?

That was the Cliff note. A very easy read. Actual story is much longer, more involved, and even more damning.

Post 188 - a short quote from a 14 page 2002 article in The Economist - tells the story that TheMercenary's Boortz video forgot to include. Long before 2002, Japanese and European auto makers had already been doing what is hyped as revolutionary in that Boortz video. Revolutionary? Hardly. Just another example of American MBAs finally permitting what was world standard 10 and 20 years ago.

That is an example of lessons taught even by W E Deming in the 1950s. Deming taught why production was so inefficient and what is necessary to be productive. He even cited a Quality Control inspector as a symptom of no quality. Post 188 is simply another example of a philosophy that is so difficult for MBAs to comprehend.

How many foolishly entered this discusson believing that popular myths that blamed the unions? GM is exactly what happens when MBAs - people without dirt under their fingernails - become corporate leaders. The auto industry repeatedly demonstrated what is necessary to make an auto company productive. Very first task every time - replaced bean counters with car guys. Only then can innovation begin.