Re: Automotive Manufacturing Industry: Japanese vs American corporate cultures

Aidan <aidan@gmail.com> wrote in
news:4922bd34$0$7571$5a62ac22@per-qv1-newsreader-01.iinet.net.au: 

> 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?),

It's true. They routinely flood the markets with yen to keep it's
value down. They have the strongest currency in the world. If they
let it float naturally, they could never sell any of their stuff
in foreign markets.


> 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's part of the Japanese culture.. you get employed for life.


> 
>> 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.

'Protectionist' is probably not the best way to describe Japan.
They're extremely tough competitors, and they're a country of
savers.. so much so that they've got at least a couple $Trillion
in foreign reserves right now, even though they've been at near
zero growth for the past 20 years.

Everything the USA is going through right now (the housing collapse,
the asset deflation) is what Japan experienced in the 1990's. There
are a few subtle differences. They weren't the world's reserve
currency when their collapse happened, and they had a larger
economy (the USA) they could sort of 'feed off' in the form of
a credit carry trade. There is no one else the USA can lean on
right now, and we can't blow any larger asset bubbles to
counteract this deflation, since there are no larger assets
than real estate.


>  I'd like to think that it has something to do with the
> way they run things...

It is. I've heard they do group calisthenics during their lunch
breaks at many Japanese companies.


> 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.
>