Global Business Perspectives

A friend of mine sent me this email today:

A Modern Parable.

A Japanese company and an American 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 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 out-sourced to India.

The End.

Something else to think about: an American manufacturer spent the last thirty years moving all its factories out of the US, claiming they can’t make money paying American wages. A Japanese Manufacturer has spent the last thirty years building more than a dozen plants inside the US .

The last quarter’s results: The Japanese manufacturer made 4 billion in profits while the American Manfacturer racked up 9 billion in losses.

Are the Americans still scratching their heads?

I think there is something to be said about the investments foreign companies are making here in the U.S. We have talent, resources and a spirit that is unique. I think that we can certainly use outsourcing to help us but maybe too many companies are looking elsewhere and not seeing the advantages that the U.S. has. These are the things that make you go hmmm.