Re: Automotive Manufacturing Industry: Japanese vs American corporate cultures

Jane wrote:
> On Nov 18, 1:30 am, Aidan <awe...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> With all the talk of bail-outs for American owned auto companies, I got
>> to wondering about the foreign owned car production corps, and how
>> they're being affected by all this.  Then I stumbled upon this article...
>>
>> http://edgehopper.com/what-toyota-knows-that-gm-doesnt/
>>
>> I think that this kind of corporate culture is the way of the future.
>> Where employees are not simply viewed as an operating expense, but as
>> assets of the company - as people, not commodities.... and when I say
>> the future, I'm not restricting the concept to the automotive industry -
>> I hope that this will be how all large companies are run one day.
>>
>> The "note 2" at the bottom of the article also conjured a question I've
>> often asked myself:  why are finance guys and marketers seemingly valued
>> so highly compared to engineers and other technical positions?  It seems
>> counter intuitive to consider the people who actually design and develop
>> products as less valuable than those who simply hawk it to potential
>> customers...  I mean, without the R&D department, the marketers and
>> money jugglers would have nothing to work with.  On the other hand, the
>> engineers and architects can happily do their work in the absence of the
>> marketing and finance departments (they may not have a lot of money to
>> work with due to lack of sales and such, but the point stands).  I see
>> this situation as a symptom of the greater ailing of the American
>> system... where money is valued over all else - products which provide
>> actual value be damned.
>>
>> I think the message in all this is clear: America's brand of capitalism
>> has failed us all.  The values that drove it have been proven to be
>> corrupt and untenable in the long term.  As a new paradigm emerges, we
>> as participants in this global society need to make sure that it is not
>> as easily gamed or corruptible as the current system is.
> 
> I didn't read the article,

I hope you can, because what I wrote was inspired by it

> as I have had 'Japanese corporate culture'
> shoved down my throat at work for at least 20 years.  I can tell you
> that it doesn't exactly gel with the North American mindset.

Which auto-manufacturer did/do you work for?  I can't remember if you've 
mentioned that before...

>  However,
> does the article also mention that Japan keeps the value of the Yen
> artificially low to protect their industry? 

If that is the case (do you have a link by chance?), the fact remains 
that Toyota has not laid off a single employee as a result of the 
financial crisis, where the "big 3" have given thousands the sack 
(according to the article)

> That the government has
> always propped the companies up financially as necessary (including
> rescuing Nissan)?  That it is one of the most protectionist markets in
> the world?  Easy to win when you have that kind of 'culture', lol!

Well, the culture I'm referring to is one where employees are not 
treated as a commodity.  Myself, I find Toyota to make supremely 
reliable cars.  I'd like to think that it has something to do with the 
way they run things... and really, they sound very ethical in regards to 
  how they work with their employees.  In addition to that, they stand 
to benefit greatly by creating conditions conducive to keeping their 
employees loyal to the company.