I found this little story in "ArcaMax Jokes" this morning, and unfortunately,I did not find it very funny. I found it more true than humerous. Please give it a read, and tell me what you think .
Corporate Boat Race
American automobile company and a Japanese auto company decided to have a competitive boat race on the Detroit River. Both teamspracticed hard and long to reach their peak performance. On the big day, they were as ready as they could be. The Japanese team won by amile.
Afterwards, the American team became discouraged by the loss and their morale sagged. Corporate management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found. A Continuous Measurable Improvement Team of "Executives" was set up to investigate the problem and to recommend appropriate corrective action. Their conclusion: The problem was that the Japanese team had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering,whereas the American team had 1 person rowing and 8 people steering.
The American Corporate Steering Committee immediately hired a consulting firm to do a study on the management structure. After some time and billions of dollars, the consulting firm concluded that "toomany people were steering and not enough rowing." To prevent losing to the Japanese again next year, the management structure was changed to"4 Steering Managers, 3 Area Steering Managers, and 1 Staff Steering Manager" and a new performance system for the person rowing the boat to give more incentive to work harder and become a six sigma performer. "We must give him empowerment and enrichment." That ought to do it.
The next year the Japanese team won by two miles. The American Corporation laid off the rower for poor performance, sold all of the paddles, cancelled all capital investments for new equipment, halted development of a new canoe, awarded high performance awards to the consulting firm, and distributed the money saved as bonuses to thesenior executives.
For the past 24 years, I have worked as a Medicare/Medicaid billing specialist, completing all necessary documentation to secure payment to nursing homes from these agencies for services rendered. For 21 of those years, I was employed by a private, non-profit company. The last three, with large corporations. I see this story in my experiences with corporate America.
Nursing homes(the only area of which I am qualified to speak of) owned by private corporations do everything in their power to cut costs, EXCEPT provide what is needed, like more staff, better food and supplies. When there is a problem, the corporate offices send down a team of specialists to determine the problem. These are highly paid executives of the company, usually 4 or 5, sent to flush out the problems.
For a personal example...
About a year ago, give or take a month, my direct supervisor, the Director of Nursing, as well as her assistant,quit. The company was lax in filling the position, meaning that the rest of us had to assume extra duties in the interim. The interim it turns out, lasted six months. Mind you, during this time, overtime was forbidden, as the company refused to pay extra for the additional work.
After six month of this, I was called into the office by a team of coprorate honchos and asked why my personal work was behind. I explained that my own job's time constraints were not as rigid as some of the duties I was now performing, such as procuring treatment for the ill, and staffing issues. I informed them that I would be more than happy to catch up, but I was not willing to do it gratis. In my opinion, doing more than one job, over a course of months should be compensated, and I was doing my share, and then some.
Here I was, sitting in a room of four corporate nurses, being told I was in hot water for my personal work being behind, while I was performing duties that had to be done, for the sake of the patients. I was even accused of doing my personal writing(Gathering) on company time, which I have never done. I invited every one to check the time stamps on my Gather posts to validate my claim. I also explained that should I ever become a published author, I did not want the company to have any type of claim on my words, which they could have, if I had written on the company dime.
If one, just one, of those corporate big-wigs had come to the facility to WORK, versus trying to determine the cause via charts and reports and accusations, the work would have been done.
Is this the norm in America today?
The above story is used with permission from ArcaMax.
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Comments: 57
Thanks, I figured as much.
In Japan, people really take pride in their work - which is why all Japanese cars function better. They are made better.
However, things have improved with US cars but that has not helped the sales, because Japanese, and now Hyundai, are still better made with better parts and precision engineering.
Edward Deming, the engineering guru spoke to US automkaers back in the 50s. They did not listen. He went to Japan, where they listened and build a statue commemorating him.
I interviewed him, at his very advanced age, in 1987. He said this:
Managers must listen. They are still not listening.
One of the problems with US corporate structure (and which flies in the face of what Japan has done) is that
the people who make the decisions are NOT the people with the greatest knowledge.
Meaning, people on the factory plant floor, such as the plant manager, should be the Vice President of Manufacturing and the one who makes all the decisions for the plant floor. Instead, in the US, it is STILL some MBA type who knows dick all.
So yes, that story is sadly true.
Thanks for your input. I had a feeling it wasn't just me.
To understand please read my novel "Invisible Hand" which I have published here on Gather and at http://www.unc.edu/~mason/hand.html if you don't like the Gather ads.
Since it is on Gather, you can read the comments others have made on the chapters before investing the time to read the novel. I have removed none of the comments.
Thank you, I'll get right to it, and I'm glad you concur.
LOL. Don't GET me started!
Wilka
I have worked in the public sector for the last two decades. On our side of the fence - things are bizarre.
I was loaned out to put in a system at a major university, (the people who know me, know what institution I am speaking of). Anyway, nothing could be done without forming a committee of people who never implemented anything in their lives.
The "process" got so bad, I recommended splitting up into an "advisory committee" and an "implementation committee". This worked. We got the system put in place and I returned to my usual duties.
Two years later, I got a memo from the "advisory committee" asking for my monthly report on the progress of the implementation. They were shocked to learn the system was in place. I was shocked to learn that the committee had tripled in size since I left.
Thank you. What I find disturbing, is that the non-profit, stand alone company I worked for never had these issues. If something was broken, it got fixed. No one ever considered creating a committee to determine what was broken, who broke it, why it was broken, and six months later, how to fix it.
Amen, brother...your preachin' to the choir!!!!!!
The thing is, while we in the US claim to be egalitarian, we are not, and those who can will reach those upper levels and earn more money for less work -- the rest aspire to such cushy jobs. Few remain who prefer an honest (hard) day's work for a fair wage. Some actually wish for the winning lottery ticket or some obscene court settlement.
Somewhere along the way, we lost appreciation for the satisfaction of a job well done. This plays into the scenario of the "joke" you shared here, in that it never occurs to anyone to a) talk to the team of rowers or b) consider rowing the boat themselves.
Well, I won't say I'm above wishing for that winning ticket, but I am a hard worker, and a team player, I just, in this case, wanted to be compensated or at least recognized for the extra job i was doing. I have no problem getting dirty, or performing a task that is not a part of my job description, in fact, its those extra things that keep it interesting.
BTW....my sister in Mn. is an Optitian.
And like my dad always says, most of those companies have too many chiefs and not enough indians. I know that's probably not politically correct but you get the idea.
I have worked for coporations throughout my lifetime and came to the conclusion early on that they are in it for the money and don't give a hoot about employees. I've had a similar experience to yours. Only no one was ever hired to take the place of the people that left. We went from 14 people in our department to 5. Our workload was ridiculous. I was putting in 12 hour days and getting paid for 8. I was (along with the others in the department) being the loyal employees. When bonuses came around we figured what was normal to all 14 would now be split evenly between the remaining 5. NOPE! They gave us our normal bonuses and not so much as a thank you for keeping that department running smoothly. I gave my notice that day as well as 2 others and never looked back. I'll never do it again. EVER!!!!!
The company I mention above, gave notice last April that they were closing, as the building was bought by a neighborhood university. They promised severance packages to all who stayed till the end. 2 weeks prior to the close date, they offered a 2 week buyout to any employee who would leave early, barring dept. heads, of which I was one. I turned down two jobs, to stay loyal to the company. On the last day of employment, I was told that they had spent too much on the buyout, and there would be no severance. Needless to say, I was livid...not just for me, who only had 2 years with them, but for the Social Worker, 10 years, and Activity Director, 17 years....nada..nothing...not a thank you, kiss my ass...nothing.
The sad thing is, there isn't a thing you can do about it. For one thing they have the big lawyers behind them. Who can go up against that? I work for a wonderful company now that is small. The bosses are spectacular. The hours are perfect. And I'm appreciated.
I'm trying to get off of disability and they are giving me a much needed chance to do that. And they not only gave me a larger bonus than I would have ever gotten at the other company, they also bought me a GPS for my car. Woo-Hoo!! The difference between corporate and private businesses is astounding.
Loyalty means nothing nowadays...too bad you and others got burned.
I was let go by a rather large company 2 months before I became "vested"...coincidence? I don't think so...
The CEO of Countrywide Financial is expected to get a $115 million dollar severance package after Bank of America completes the buyout of Countrywide; all this after said CEO performed some magic tricks that netted him $150 million while glossing over the fact that Countrywide was failing disastrously.
Too think I (and thus we) could have become one of America's rich and powerful, if only I hadn't adhered to some of society's moral teachings on fairness.
Someone should do a study and find out just how many upper management folks stand on the back of each individual worker.
I think you meant stand on the knife in the back of each individual worker. And yet, we have a candidate that would cure the problems with our government that help this sick system survive, and grow, and we vote for the corporate sponsored candidate, and I think you all know of whom I speak. John Edwards wants to abolish the lobbyists and special interest PACs that bribe and influence our representatives and help these idiots thrive, but he is marginalized, while the front runner accepts massive donations from PACs and the lobbyists of the Pharm industry, the Insurance industry, the military industrial complex, and.....well, you should get the drift by now. I wonder at our ultra sheeplehood.
All too often, the senior members of an organization are given all of the perks. When things go wrong the worker members are fired or disciplined. It isn't effective but the rowers are often vilified while the steerers get a pass. (Is there such a word as "steerers?")
Great post Donna!!!
Yet, somehow, the myth of "business efficiency" continues unchallenged to this day.
Luckily your brother was on the top of the ladder, and had the good sense to get out while the gettin' was good.
Thanks for the words of support. I find that this thing happens more frequently than my naive little mind ever knew. I have to say one thing, the non-profit I worked for for 21 years was infinitely better to their employees than the large, North Coast 99 company where I spent the past 2 years. One would think, a large multi national corporation could afford a pittance to its loyal employees, especially those who have been there 10 plus years. I guess that is the point. They could, but chose not to.
I'm sorry about your own experience. And I thought Wally World was bad by cutting full time staff to part time at day 89, to avoid giving them benefits...that really sucks...loudly!
by the way....did you used to be Gozer?
I couldn't agree more.
Bill,
Thats a good idea...think we could garner a grant to study it?
Edwards is on my short list of candidates. I admire his stance on the middle class.
TK,
We have a choice?
Austin,
No kidding...I once had a "consultant" ask to borrow a tracking form I had developed, and her firm copyrighted it as their own...so to use it, I had to pay THEM.
In my business, managers are not eligible for unions, unless it is in a hospital setting.
Rory,
I know it is universal, but long term care is where my personal experience lies, so that is what I draw from.
Joe,
Should you ever need a nursing home for your Mother, you know I will help you find one in your area. In a nutshell....non-profit, faith based homes beat a corporate home any day of the week. (No, I am not touting any religion, but they do provide more well rounded, compassionate care than those with profit on the forefront.)
You're absolutely right. Just like "Bedside Manner 101" for doctors.
In both cases it was short term cash flow policies from the board and incentives by the fed to "outsource" that doomed the companies.
hmmm, could be.
Jimmy,
i have no ral experience except in the nursing arena. The home where I worked 21 years merged with another home, and I chose not to go to the new place, which in retrospect was a wise move, as within 6 months, they had fired all the employees from my place for one reason or another. These were folks who had 20+ years with the company. The other place closed after 2 years, as it was bought by a college, to use the building for freshman dorms. Had I known at the start that a sale was pending, I would have never taken the position.
Wouldn't it be funny if a recession happened and only those who actually worked for a living could earn a living ?
In a perfect world....sigh
Cindy,
I had to do that at my last job..all the MDS nurses did...they never published the findings, but the overall concensus was that we were too busy attending meetings and doing others' duties to perform our own...nothing changed from that study.
I know they do, thats why I keep plugging along. I never meant to insinuate that ALL corporations act s such, but more than I would hope.
I plead guilty as charged and I thank you for adding some reason to that debate. When I'm wrong, I prefer to own up to it. I also thanked you on that thread. I'm truly sorry. I left my earlier comments up, however, because it can be confusing for people to read an apology and have no idea why the person is apologizing. So I thought the comments should stay, for clarity if nothing else. Again, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions.
Thank you. I appreciate your honesty.
Angela,
i hear Denmark is nice....
Every half empty glass is half full to someone else.
Yep.
Pat,
I'll get right on that...got 10 mill I can borrow?
Shannon,
Ah, remember when "the American way" used to be a good thing?