Archive for December 2008
29
Another Valid Viewpoint to this Management Mess
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From Gregory Knox,
In response to your request to call legislators and ask for a bailout for the United States automakers please consider the following, and please also pass this onto Troy Clark, the president of General Motors North America for me.
You are both infected with the same entitlement mentality that has bred like cancerous germs in UAW halls for the last countless decades, and whose plague is now sweeping the nation, awaiting our new “messiah” to wave his magical wand and make all our problems go away, while at the same time
allowing our once great nation to keep “living the dream”…
The dream is over!
The dream that we can ignore the consumer for years while management myopically focuses on its personal rewards packages at the same time that our factories have been filled with the worlds most overpaid, arrogant, ignorant and laziest entitlement minded “laborers” without paying the price for these atrocities…and that still the masses will line up to buy our products
Don’t tell me I’m wrong. Don’t accuse me of not knowing of what I speak. I have called on Ford, GM, Chrysler,TRW,Delphi,Kelsey Hayes, American Axle and countless other automotive OEM’s and Tier ones for 3 decades now throughout the Midwest and what I’ve seen over the years in these union shops can only be described as disgusting.
Mr Clark, the president of General Motors, states:
There is widespread sentiment in this country, our government and especially in the media that the current crisis is completely the result of bad management. It is not…
You’re right – it’s not JUST management…how about the electricians who walk around the plants like lords in feudal times, making people wait on them for countless hours while they drag ass…so they can come in on the weekend and make double and triple time…for a job they easily could have done within
their normal 40 hour week. How about the line workers who threaten newbies with all kinds of scare
tactics…for putting out too many parts on a shift…and for being too productive (mustn’t expose the lazy bums who have been getting overpaid for decades for their horrific underproduction, must we?!?) Do you really not know about this stuff?!?
How about this great sentiment abridged from Mr. Clarke’s sad plea:
over the last few years …we have closed the quality and efficiency gaps with our competitors.
What the hell has Detroit been doing for the last 40 years?!?
Did we really JUST wake up to the gaps in quality and efficiency between us and them?
The K car vs. the Accord?
The Pinto vs. the Civic?!?
Do I need to go on?
We are living through the inevitable outcome of the actions of the United States auto industry for decades.
Time to pay for your sins, Detroit. I attended an economic summit last week where a brilliant economist, Alan Beaulieu surprised the crowd when he said he would not have given the banks a penny of “bailout money”. Yes, he said, this would cause short term problems, but despite what people like George Bush and Troy Clark would have us believe, the sun would in fact rise the next day… and something else
would happen…where there had been greedy and sloppy banks new efficient ones would pop up… that is how a free market system works…it does work…if we would let it work…
But for some reason we are now deciding that the rest of the world is right and that capitalism doesn’t work – that we need the government to step in and “save us”…save us, hell – we’re nationalizing…and unfortunately too many of this once fine nations citizens don’t even have a clue that this is what’s really happening…but they sure can tell you the stats on their favorite sports teams…yeah – THAT’S /SPAN>important…
Does it occur to ANYONE that the “competition” has been producing vehicles, EXTREMELY PROFITABLY, for decades now in this country?…
How can that be???
Let’s see…
Fuel efficient…
Listening to customers…
Investing in the proper tooling and automation for the long haul…
Not being too complacent or arrogant to listen to Dr W Edwards Deming 4 decades ago
Ever increased productivity through quality, lean and six sigma plans…
Treating vendors like strategic partners, rather than like “the enemy”…
Efficient front and back offices…
Non union environment…
Again, I could go on and on, but I really wouldn’t be telling anyone anything they really don’t already know in their hearts. I have six children, so I am not unfamiliar with the concept of wanting someone to bail you out of a mess that you have gotten yourself into – my children do this on a weekly, if not daily basis, as I did at their age. I do for them what my parents did for me (one of their greatest gifts, by the
way) – I make them stand on their own two feet and accept the consequences of their actions and work them through.
Radical concept, huh…
Am I there for them in the wings? Of course – but only until such time as they need to be fully on their own as adults. I don’t want to oversimplify a complex situation, but there certainly are unmistakable parallels here between the proper role of parenting and government.
Detroit and the United States need to pay for their sins.
Bad news people – it’s coming whether we like it or not. The newly elected Messiah really doesn’t have a magic wand big enough to ”make it all go away” I laughed as I heard Obama “reeling it back in”
almost immediately after the vote count was tallied…”we might not do it in a year…or in four…” where was that kind of talk when he was RUNNING for the office.
Stop trying to put off the inevitable …
That house in Florida really isn’t worth $750,000…
People who jump across a border really don’t deserve free health care benefits…
That job driving that forklift for the big 3 really isn’t worth $85,000 a year…
We really shouldn’t allow Wal-Mart to stock their shelves with products acquired from a country that unfairly manipulates their currency and has the most atrocious human rights infractions on the face of the globe…
That couple whose combined income is less than $50,000 really shouldn’t be living in that $485,000 home…
Let the market correct itself people – it will. Yes it will be painful, but it’s gonna be painful either way, and the bright side of my proposal is that on the other side of it is a nation that appreciates what is has…and doesn’t live beyond its means…and gets back to basics…and redevelops the work ethic that made it the greatest nation in the history of the world…and probably turns back to God.
Sorry – don’t cut my head off, I’m just the messenger sharing with you the ”bad news”
Gregory J Knox
President
Knox Machinery, Inc.
Franklin, Ohio 45005
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The Chevy Vega: the Worst Detroit Car Ever? – FlowChart (usnews.com) – Bombs from the past are coming back to haunt GM, Ford, and Chrysler.
List Of The Day: The 10 Ugliest Cars Ever Made – CHEVROLET VEGA “Cheaply built, rough running, harsh ride, rust prone. It was without a doubt the worst vehicle I ever owned.” “So bad it turned off subsequent generations to GM and created the beginning of the downfall of the world’s …
Daimnation!: Don’t buy a car in its first year on the market – The Chevy Vega is on everyone’s short list for Worst Car of All Time. It was so unreliable that it seemed the only time anyone saw a Vega on the road not puking out oily smoke was when it was being towed. …
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Why GOP Policies Were So Good for the Food Supply | Crooks and Liars – And then there is the mercury contaminated high fructose corn syrup…very dangerous going for groceries in your Ford Pinto these days… Login or register to reply. If.. Thu, 01/29/2009 – 11:42 — Google_Meister …
1971 Ford Pinto sand bagger 1/4 mile trap speeds 0-60 – DragTimes.com – Fast 1971 Ford Pinto sand bagger 1/4 mile drag racing videos and timeslips.
Found in Mom’s Basement: 1971 Ford Pinto ad – TrackBack. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/788694/34661459. Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 1971 Ford Pinto ad:. Comments. I had a brown 1971 Ford Pinto Runabout–it was …
Ford Classic Cars | Miscellaneous Blog & Opinions at 4Wheel & Off … – This car really make ya think, some engineers and designers actually sat down and built this car, and Ford Motor Company backed it. How cool! An old girlfriend of mine had a Pinto, and boy did the memories come rushing back. …
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The United Auto Workers may be out of the hole now that President Bush has approved a $17 billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry, but the union isn’t out of the bunker just yet. Even as the industry struggles with massive losses, the UAW brass continue to own and operate a $33 million lakeside retreat in Michigan, complete with a $6.4 million designer golf course. And it’s costing them millions each year.
The UAW, known more for its strikes than its slices, hosts seminars and junkets at the Walter and May Reuther Family Education Center in Onaway, Mich., which is nestled on “1,000 heavily forested acres” on Michigan’s Black Lake, according to its Web site. But the Black Lake club and retreat, which are among the union’s biggest fixed assets, have lost $23 million in the past five years alone, a heavy albatross around the union’s neck as it tries to manage a multibillion-dollar pension plan crisis. Critics call it a resort for union leaders that wastes money from union dues. “It’s their members’ money that they’re spending on this thing,” said Justin Wilson, managing director of the Center for Union Facts, a union watchdog group. “The union has bigger issues at hand than managing a golf course.
Managing the course may become a burden for the union. The UAW covers costs for the Reuther Center from the interest it earns on its strike fund, according to tax documents, but massive losses in the past five years have forced the union to make heavy loans to keep the center afloat. Critics call it a poor investment for a group with over $1.25 billion in assets
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23
And Yet More Insightful Words Logic of Wisdom US Auto Industry
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Remember when you were a kid and you wanted a raise in your allowance? Your best argument with your parents was that “Johnny’s dad has raised his allowance!” Well, that was one of the arguments made by bailout/”bridge loan” supporters for the Detroit Three ala General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Michigan Democratic Senator Carl Levin points to the fact that countries that have their own auto industry are considering some kind of bailout program or already provide some kind of assistance. He points to the European Union, which is considering providing help in the tune of 40 billion euros (nearly $56 billion) to Renault-Nissan, Volkswagen, etc. for their automakers. The Swedish has already passed an assistance plan that totals $3.4 billion for Saab and Volvo, who are owned by GM and Ford, respectively. Moreover, Levin notes that the Japanese government pays for most of the employee health insurance costs for Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. Finally, South Korea has an import policy against other automakers like GM or Ford, that protects its automakers Auto Show by Auto Trader » Blog Archive The Beautiful and the … – While the stainless steel-bodied 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 recalls at once the industrial fiasco of its brief production and the subsequent fame it acquired as a time-travel machine in the Back to the Future films, the 1979 Ford Pinto is … Why GOP Policies Were So Good for the Food Supply | Crooks and Liars – And then there is the mercury contaminated high fructose corn syrup…very dangerous going for groceries in your Ford Pinto these days… Login or register to reply. If.. Thu, 01/29/2009 – 11:42 — Google_Meister … 1971 Ford Pinto sand bagger 1/4 mile trap speeds 0-60 – DragTimes.com – Fast 1971 Ford Pinto sand bagger 1/4 mile drag racing videos and timeslips. Found in Mom’s Basement: 1971 Ford Pinto ad – TrackBack. TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/788694/34661459. Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 1971 Ford Pinto ad:. Comments. I had a brown 1971 Ford Pinto Runabout–it was … Ford Classic Cars | Miscellaneous Blog & Opinions at 4Wheel & Off … – This car really make ya think, some engineers and designers actually sat down and built this car, and Ford Motor Company backed it. How cool! An old girlfriend of mine had a Pinto, and boy did the memories come rushing back. …
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23
The View from "Our Neighbors to the North" of the Auto Industry Bailout Packages
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According to Forbes:
Labor cost per hour, wages and benefits for hourly workers.
Ford: $70.51 ($141,020 per year)
GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per year)
Chrysler: $75.86 ($151,720 per year)
Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S.): $48.00 ($96,000 per year)
According to AAUP and IES, the average annual compensation for a college professor in 2006 was $92,973 (average salary nationally of $73,207 + 27% benefits).
Bottom Line: The average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D., and 52.6% more than the average worker at Toyota, Honda or Nissan.
Many industry analysts say the Detroit Three, must be on par with Toyota and Honda to survive. This year’s contract, they say, must be “transformational” in reducing pension and health care costs.
What would “transformational” mean? One way to think about “transformational” would mean that UAW workers, most with a high school diploma, would have to accept compensation equal to that of the average university professor with a PhD.
Then there’s the “Job Bank”
When a D3 (Detroit 3 carmaker) lays an employee off, that employee continues to receive all benefits – medical, retirement, etc., etc., PLUS an hourly wage of $31/hour.
Here’s a typical story….
Ken Pool is making good money. On weekdays, he shows up at 7 a.m. at Ford Motor Co.’s Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, signs in, and then starts working — on a crossword puzzle. Pool hates the monotony, but the pay is good: more than $31 an hour, plus benefits.
“We just go in and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the newspaper,” he says. “Otherwise, I just sit.”
Pool is one of more than 12,000 American autoworkers who, instead of installing windshields or bending sheet metal, spend their days counting the hours in a jobs bank set up by Detroit automakers as demanded by the United Auto Workers Union - UAW – as part of an extraordinary job security agreement.
Now the D3 wants Joe Taxpayer to pick up this tab in a $25 Billion bailout package – soon to be increased to $45 Billion if Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton have their way.
The “Big 3″ want this money – not to build better autos. No. They want it to pay the tab for Medical and Retirement benefits for RETIRED auto workers. Not ONE PENNY would be used to make them more competitive, or to improve the quality of their cars.
We ALL have problems paying for our Medical Insurance – but the Democrat leaders in Congress now want us to pay the Medical Insurance premiums of folks who have RETIRED from Ford, GM and Chrysler.
In Canada, the Conservative minority government must use taxpayers’ money to help out the auto industry.
This is because the Liberals and the NDP have threatened to bring down the minority government if the auto workers don’t receive an “economic stimulus”. The auto workers union bargained for high wages when the car industry was profitable, because the workers wanted their share. Now that the industry is losing money, the union insists that the workers can’t have their wages or benefits reduced.
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23
One Man's View of the "Wisdom" of the Economic Bailout
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An open letter to our elected officials:
Reference: The Wall Street Bailout (Otherwise known as: The Economic Stabilization Bill)
I strongly urge you to vote AGAINST any additional measures to bail-out Wall Street, financial and mortgage firms.
As a citizen who pays a lot of attention to politics and votes every time an opportunity presents itself, I also spend a lot of time talking with friends, associates, clients, and anyone who is willing to listen, and I espouse a strong conservative and libertarian point of view. I will make a very determined and pointed effort to share my perspective with anyone that is willing to listen. I will also identify those politicians who exercised good judgment and voted AGAINST any and all measures designed to bailout these firms. I will make a very determined effort to expose those who vote FOR such bailouts.
I am a well educated professional with an MBA in Corporate Finance and Investments, and am also someone who spent many years in the corporate world and am now a small business owner as well as home-owner; I am a strong supporter of the free market system.
I know that my success as a business owner is completely dependent on my ability to keep my business solvent and to generate sales and manage my business in a competent fashion.
I also know that I cannot depend on a government bailout, I cannot pay lobbyists and that I cannot make large campaign contributions in an effort to sway my politicians points-of-view.
Any business that makes poor business decisions MUST be accountable to the free market system. Therefore if liabilities exceed assets, these firms MUST be dissolved, forced into bankruptcy or otherwise shuttered. There cannot be any other response.
The strong will survive and the weak will succumb. This is what our free market system should be all about. These are the options that I face every day.
I am appalled at the thought of government further entwining itself within the free market system. The democrats, as well as many republicans, set the stage for this financial debacle. Everyone who helped Fannie May and Freddie Mac should be held FULLY accountable. What happened to Sarbanes-Oxley? What happened to regulatory checks and balances?
Where are the investigations and hearings into these individuals and issues? Why are Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, Charles Rangel, Chuck Schumer, Franklin Raines, Chris Dodd, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and other GUILTY individuals not being put on trial for their criminal actions?
If you have voted AGAINST these bailout measures, I applaud you and further encourage you to stand strong and resist the pressure to succumb to the pressures that will ultimately lead to the elimination of the free market system as we know it.
If you have voted FOR or are considering voting for these measures, I will tell you that the average American citizen is not stupid and naive as many of you would like to believe, and you will be held fully accountable for your ignorant and dangerous pandering to the lobbyists and financial firms.
We are actively participating in this process; we are closely watching your actions. We will reward those who act with prudence and good judgment. Come election time, we will punish harshly those who exercise bad judgment.
http://northhighrealtyhelpusell.blogspot.com
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18
Auto Industry Debacle – A Light at the End of the Tunnel ?
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The current debacle with the automotive industry provides further insight and introspection into the alleged concepts of management ,lack thereof or cluelessness of both parties involved or both sides of the fence so to say.
One the one hand we have the management / effect on the economy viewpoint as portrayed in this letter to editor entitled “Have You Driven a Ford Lately:
As I watch the coverage of the fate of the U.S. auto industry, one alarming and frustrating fact hits me right between the eyes. The fate of our nation’s economic survival is in the hands of some congressmen who are completely out of touch and act without knowledge of an industry that affects almost every person in our nation. The same lack of knowledge is shared with many journalists whom are irresponsible when influencing the opinion of millions of viewers.
Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama has doomed the industry, calling it a dinosaur. No Mr. Shelby, you are the dinosaur, with ideas stuck in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. You and the uninformed journalist and senators that hold onto myths that are not relevant in today’s world.
When you say that the Big Three build vehicles nobody wants to buy, you must have overlooked that GM outsold Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the U.S. and Ford outsold Honda by 850,000 and Nissan by 1.2 million in the U.S. GM was the world’s No. 1 automaker beating Toyota by 3,000 units.
When you claim inferior quality comes from the Big Three, did you realize that Chevy makes the Malibu and Ford makes the Fusion that were both rated over the Camry and Accord by J.D. Power independent survey on initial quality? Did you bother to read the Consumer Report that rated Ford on par with good Japanese automakers.
Did you realize Big Three’s gas guzzlers include the 33 mpg Malibu that beats the Accord. And for ’09 Ford introduces the Hybrid Fusion whose 39 mpg is the best midsize, beating the Camry Hybrid. Ford’s Focus beats the Corolla and Chevy’s Cobalt beats the Civic.
When you ask how many times are we going to bail them out you must be referring to 1980. The only Big Three bailout was Chrysler, who paid back $1 billion, plus interest. GM and Ford have never received government aid.
When you criticize the Big Three for building so many pickups, surely you’ve noticed the attempts Toyota and Nissan have made spending billions to try to get a piece of that pie. Perhaps it bothers you that for 31 straight years Ford’s F-Series has been the best selling vehicle. Ford and GM have dominated this market and when you see the new ’09 F-150 you’ll agree this won’t change soon.
Did you realize that both GM and Ford offer more hybrid models than Nissan or Honda. Between 2005 and 2007, Ford alone has invested more than $22 billion in research and development of technologies such as Eco Boost, flex fuel, clean diesel, hybrids, plug in hybrids and hydrogen cars.
It’s 2008 and the quality of the vehicles coming out of Detroit are once again the best in the world.
Perhaps Sen. Shelby isn’t really that blind. Maybe he realizes the quality shift to American. Maybe it’s the fact that his state of Alabama has given so much to land factories from Honda, Hyundai and Mercedes Benz that he is more concerned about their continued growth than he is about the people of our country. Sen. Shelby’s disdain for “government subsidies” is very hypocritical. In the early ’90s he was the driving force behind a $253 million incentive package to Mercedes. Plus, Alabama agreed to purchase 2,500 vehicles from Mercedes. While the bridge loan the Big Three is requesting will be paid back, Alabama’s $180,000-plus per job was pure incentive. Sen. Shelby, not only are you out of touch, you are a self-serving hypocrite, who is prepared to ruin our nation because of lack of knowledge and lack of due diligence in making your opinions and decisions.
After 9/11, the Detroit Three and Harley Davidson gave $40 million-plus emergency vehicles to the recovery efforts. What was given to the 9/11 relief effort by the Asian and European Auto Manufactures? $0 Nada. Zip!
We live in a world of free trade, world economy and we have not been able to produce products as cost efficiently. While the governments of other auto producing nations subsidize their automakers, our government may be ready to force its demise. While our automakers have paid union wages, benefits and legacy debt, our Asian competitors employ cheap labor. We are at an extreme disadvantage in production cost. Although many UAW concessions begin in 2010, many lawmakers think it’s not enough.
Some point the blame to corporate management. I would like to speak of Ford Motor Co. The company has streamlined by reducing our workforce by 51,000 since 2005, closing 17 plants and cutting expenses. Product and future product is excellent and the company is focused on one Ford. This is a company poised for success. Ford product quality and corporate management have improved light years since the nightmare of Jacques Nasser. Thank you Alan Mulally and the best auto company management team in the business.
The financial collapse caused by the secondary mortgage fiasco and the greed of Wall Street has led to a $700 billion bailout of the industry that created the problem. AIG spent nearly $1 million on three company excursions to lavish resorts and hunting destinations. Paulson is saying no to $250 billion foreclosure relief and the whole thing is a mess. So when the Big Three ask for 4 percent of that of the $700 billion, $25 billion to save the country’s largest industry, there is obviously oppositions. But does it make sense to reward the culprits of the problem with $700 billion unconditionally, and ignore the victims?
As a Ford dealer, I feel our portion of the $25 billion will never be touched and is not necessary. Ford currently has $29 billion of liquidity. However, the effect of a bankruptcy by GM will hurt the suppliers we all do business with. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy by any manufacture would cost retirees their health care and retirements. Chances are GM would recover from Chapter 11 with a better business plan with much less expense. So who foots the bill if GM or all three go Chapter 11? All that extra health care, unemployment, loss of tax base and some forgiven debt goes back to the taxpayer, us. With no chance of repayment, this would be much worse than a loan with the intent of repayment.
So while it is debatable whether a loan or Chapter 11 is better for the Big Three, a $25 billion loan is definitely better for the taxpayers and the economy of our country.
So I’ll end where I began on the quality of the products of Detroit. Before you, Mr. or Ms. Journalist continue to misinform the American public and turn them against one of the great industries that helped build this nation, I must ask you one question. Before you, Mr. or Madam Congressman vote to end health care and retirement benefits for 1 million retirees, eliminate 2.5 million of our nation’s jobs, lose the technology that will lead us in the future and create an economic disaster including hundreds of billions of tax dollars lost, I ask this question not in the rhetorical sense. I ask it in the sincere, literal way. Can you tell me, have you driven a Ford lately?
Jim Jackson
Elkins
link: http://theintermountain.com/page/content.detail/id/513450.html?nav=5011&showlayout=0
all very true and valid points. It can be said that truthfully did the American consumer not think in any way or manner that since the automotive industry was such a bullwark of the American and North American economy that by buying Toyotas etc that in some way this was shortsighted and would come back to haunt them.
It is true that the foreign automakers do have American / Canadian plants and that the vehicles are “made in North America”. On the other hand though – the big paying jobs are still back home in the country of ownership/ origin. In addition one only has to look under the hook for foreign labels ( in foreign languages – and not Spanish) to understand that many , if not most of the more expensive non- sheet metal components , are not made “here”. Secondly the real high paying jobs – management , designers etc are not in the US . For the most part the screwdriver assembly plants are mainly hiring laborers here , that are new and young with few health care problems and lower insurance costs. There are some “white faces” to appear in management and at the dealerships but these are still predominantly foreign made vehicles in an industry on which the basis of the American economy is based on – whether it is in actual manufacturing or in support services – be they repair , parts , maintenance etc.
These points are all true . However some are misstated or misconstrued . Whether these are half truths told as spin or are actually believed that is all unknown, indeterminable and debatable.
Contrast this by an actual email sent around by a “used car dealer” who felt that he was getting the short end of the stick always:
WHAT AN EYE OPENER!!!
—–
According to Forbes:
Labor cost per hour, wages and benefits for hourly workers.
Ford: $70.51 ($141,020 per year)
GM: $73.26 ($146,520 per year)
Chrysler: $75.86 ($151,720 per year)
Toyota, Honda, Nissan (in U.S.): $48.00 ($96,000 per year)
According to AAUP and IES, the average annual compensation for a college professor in 2006 was $92,973 (average salary nationally of $73,207 + 27% benefits).
Bottom Line: The average UAW worker with a high school degree earns 57.6% more compensation than the average university professor with a Ph.D., and 52.6% more than the average worker at Toyota, Honda or Nissan.
Many industry analysts say the Detroit Three, must be on par with Toyota and Honda to survive. This year’s contract, they say, must be “transformational” in reducing pension and health care costs.
What would “transformational” mean? One way to think about “transformational” would mean that UAW workers, most with a high school diploma, would have to accept compensation equal to that of the average university professor with a PhD.
Then there’s the “Job Bank”
When a D3 (Detroit 3 carmaker) lays an employee off, that employee continues to receive all benefits – medical, retirement, etc., etc., PLUS an hourly wage of $31/hour.
Here’s a typical story….
Ken Pool is making good money. On weekdays, he shows up at 7 a.m. at Ford Motor Co.’s Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne, signs in, and then starts working — on a crossword puzzle. Pool hates the monotony, but the pay is good: more than $31 an hour, plus benefits.
“We just go in and play crossword puzzles, watch videos that someone brings in or read the newspaper,” he says. “Otherwise, I just sit.”
Pool is one of more than 12,000 American autoworkers who, instead of installing windshields or bending sheet metal, spend their days counting the hours in a jobs bank set up by Detroit automakers as demanded by the United Auto Workers Union – UAW – as part of an extraordinary job security agreement.
Now the D3 wants Joe Taxpayer to pick up this tab in a $25 Billion bailout package – soon to be increased to $45 Billion if Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton have their way.
The “Big 3″ want this money – not to build better autos. No. They want it to pay the tab for Medical and Retirement benefits for RETIRED auto workers. Not ONE PENNY would be used to make them more competitive, or to improve the quality of their cars.
We ALL have problems paying for our Medical Insurance – but the Democrat leaders in Congress now want us to pay the Medical Insurance premiums of folks who have RETIRED from Ford, GM and Chrysler.
Not a good deal for us.
How about Chapter 11 – and getting rid of these ridiculous union contracts?
The interesting point of this exercise is to illustrate how both management and workers are to blame for the current debacle. Its not unlike the hosuing crunch. No one told the home buyers to buy these large expensive homes which they could not afford at some point. Yet the homeowners int rouble blame everyone but themslves . Look in the mirror.
Its similar in the auto industry. Mangement begs for money so we can have more of the same. As management downsized their companies to almost shells - they rewarded themselves big time for a “job well done”.
Workers on the other hand have never offered pay cuts to any degree. Instead of being grateful for high pay and benefits for a job that many say they were being vastly overpaid for and are anything but gratefull for being on the good end of stick. Many are resentful and actually blame the company ” and the fat cats” and will tell you that the guy ( they cannot even remember the name of Mr. Moore) was right abotu those “fat cats above”.
Its not unlike the bumper stick on cars ” If you are complaining about the armer or farmers don’t do this with your mouth full”.
Look in mirror boys. With tariff levels you were protected in the past. Welcome to life. You abused the American consumer long enough.
http://www.jerkbossesihaveknown.com
Jerk Bosses I have Known
http://www.jerkbossesihaveknown.com
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10
And Yet Another Example of "Management in Action"
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And Yet another example of goobly-gook or “alphabet soup” from the mouths of alleged managers.
“We know”- translation – you don’t – or better yet we have the perks and you don’t
Perks of management can often be best described as luxuries given to management that the firm cannot rationalize – “Its a perk of management”
Fine I guess it the business / organization / company was prospering.
Yet its not – its as if more management is needed to parcel out and control the limited resources now available
All the while shepherding resources to retain the “Perks of Management”
Another clear example of management by Dilbert :
While most people don’t distinguish between goals and objectives in every day conversation, I find that performance management practitioners sometimes use the word goal when they really mean target. This potential confusion between objectives and targets explains why I usually recommend against using the term goal when establishing a standard performance management terminology.
From my point of view, objectives, KPIs, and targets are related, but distinct, items:
An objective describes what you want to accomplish.
A key performance indicator (KPI) monitors progress towards a specific objective.
A target is the value of a KPI a defined moment in time.
As always, a simple example is useful. Imagine a runner who has entered a marathon with the objective to win the race. On the surface, accomplishing that objective is binary – the runner either does or doesn’t win the race. However, to better understand the runner’s performance, we can create the KPI ‘position at the end of the race’ and set the target to be 1. We judge the runner’s performance by creating a grading system that compares the actual value to the target:
1 = success
2-20 = pretty good
>20 = not acceptable
In other words, anything but a top 20 finish would be viewed as poor performance. We could even map these categories to the classic green/yellow/red stoplight metaphor.
The system is very adaptable. As this runner improves over time, we can change the grading system for future races so that only a top 10 finish would be considered good performance. Another, less accomplished runner, could share the same objective and KPI but create a different target and grading system as follows:
< 25 = success
25-100 = pretty good
>100 = not acceptable
By changing the KPI ‘position at the end of the race’ to just ‘position’, we can even monitor progress during the race . Effectively we have switched from a lagging to a leading indicator of performance.
If you’re a runner, you may have recognized a potential complication. A runner who is a strong finisher may not expect to be in the top few positions during the first half of the race but wait to the last few miles for a closing kick. In fact, any particular race may have a disproportionate number of fast starters (so-called rabbits) that don’t pose a serious threat.
To handle this situation, we can introduce a second KPI that monitors performance for the same objective: ‘average time per mile’. Average time per mile can be measured at various points during the race to benchmark performance. Depending on your skill level, the multiple targets could be 5:00 at mile 4, 5:35 at mile 10, and 5:20 at mile 20. An appropriate grading system might be < 2 seconds difference = success, 2-5 secs difference = pretty good, >5 secs difference = not acceptable. Average time per mile also allows you to compare performance between races and between runners with similar capabilities.
We all want to win the race. But we can do a better job of improving performance if we focus on targets to allow us to reach our objectives.
source : http://alignment.wordpress.com/2008/10/05/target-vs-goal/
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9
Management Accountability in the Current Economic Climate – Planning Ahead
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It is more than a well known fact to mankind that the business cycle is just that a cycle. When I an employee asks for help – a new employee who should be receiving “training” from experienced staff ( management) they may well be told “and my job is to manage”. Yet ask those same authorities what “management ” entails other than being a badge of honor , acclaim or reward what management truly involves and you will be met with more than one blank stare and the phrase ( or mantra) “I am the manager”. “I am the boss” etc etc etc.
So too is it with the current business cycle. If times are rough for sales then the refrain to staff ( who are receiving negligible pay packets) is “stay the course”. That is of course even if the ship is sinking fast.
Yet when it comes to the current business downtown the bosses are throwing the staff off the top deck of the ship as fast as they can. Downsizing , layoffs, firings are all standard and indeed the norm.
What happened to the concepts of planning ahead and of being “proactive”. Should not this been taken into account with forward looking planning. Was it now now obvious to all that 1) perilous times were coming 2) business is a cycle.
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Yet you may of heard the phrase from the mouth’s of idiot managers “Our job is to think” or “Our job is too look ahead /manage”. If these people were negligent should not they be the one’s held responsible and whose heads should be on the chopping block ? Was management involved with bond trading at Lehman Brothers reprimanded in any way or held vaguely responsible ? At the best they received large bonuses and were promoted . At the worst they were made sacrificial lambs , fired and are now in position of authority , trust and management safely at some other firm where they are in positions to advise and “manage”. More of the same.
its all very similar to the executives or General Motors going to demand money from the US congress with no business plan whatsoever prepared. But then again would you of expected different ?
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