Liberalguy

A Japanese car company and an American car company 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 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 supe rintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering
manager.
They also implemented a new performance system that would give the one
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 equ ipment. 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.

Here's something else to think about: The American car company's have
spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US,
claiming they can't make money paying American wages. The Japanese car
company has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen
plants inside the US.

The last quarter's results: The Japanese company makes 4 billion in
profits while the American company racked up 9 billion in losses.

The Americans are still scratching their heads.

IF THIS WEREN'T SO TRUE IT MIGHT BE FUNNY!!!


H/T Lilas