Posted on 11/21/2005 5:34:36 AM PST by 12B
Breaking on Bloomberg and Reuters. GM will cut 30,000 jobs in massive restructuring. More....
Your points are well taken. The problem I have is that even an executive is human. He has the very same 24 hours in any given day and I find it ludicrous and, again, I'll be redundant, sinful, when the top dogs make a salary that is many millions x what the worker makes. When you show me the human that can work an infinite number of hours and has an infinite brain, then I'll believe there is a humanbeing worth some of these salaries/bonuses/perks.
Maybe there is an occasional super-hero exec out there but I'm speaking in general. I guess one of the people I think was a big jerk was Jack Nasser and how he screwed up Ford and then took his Golden Parachute. Also, he then got hired into Polaroid and got a big, fat bonus there but 30+ year employees got screwed our of their pensions! You can believe that corporations are still a good thing and see the sin in a lot of what goes on. One doesn't have to toss the baby out with the bath water you know.
Thanks for your comments.
I have totally no use whatsoever for Lee Iacocca, but he was the last exec from this country that knew how to run a automaking company.
And just today, Motor Trend Magazine named the 2006 Honda Civic as "Car of the Year."
Well, I just can't keep my mouth shut on this one.
...I love American cars, any brand, I don't care. I've had many cars (and M/C's), both domestic and foreign. There's nothing wrong with foreign cars, but nothing is like an American car in personality, style, and feel.
The problem is corporate greed. GM makes more money by it's global partnerships than they do here. GM owns a large share of Toyota, and Toyota, likewise owns a large share of GM. They operate a man.facility in Northern Calif, formerly a GM plant-called NUMMI (New United Motor Manufacturing).
So who's interest is GM serving? It's shareholders? Not really. They are SELF serving.
And they aren't alone. Chrysler did the same thing, trying to out GM, GM. Look at where it got them.
Somewhere in the mid to late 70's, American automakers gave up. They were convinced they couldn't compete with foriegn brands, especially the Japanese. What a cop out.
They thought, and still do, quantity is the way to re-build their business, so they crank out huge numbers of cars. Then they said hey look, we're still the 1 in sales! Yeah, of junk cars. Meanwhile, Honda, Toyota, and toher foreign brands ate their lunch, and still are.
We've lost our identity. We've lost our heritage. Go to Stuttgart to Diamler's hq. Know what you see on the rotunda showroom floor? One of the 2 of Richard petty's last # 43 cars that he won Daytona in. In your face America!
The other is at the Smithsonian.
So, Detroit builds 'em cheaper each year, cookie cutter cars to enable them to have more models. Quality is a foriegn word now.
Now, their misplaced ideals and efforts have come full circle and are biting them in the butt. They had to give cars away for how long now? Now, they can't even give them away. So, what's left? Downsize. No more Buicks, Oldsmobiles, and what's next?
Think the shareholders are happy now? Who's end did they really serve?
Everybody blames the unions. I think the unions are greedy and self serving, too. BUT, the automakers have let the unions have control, it's called appeasement. Give them money, and make the problem go away. Give a crying baby a bottle, and they'll stop crying...for awhile.
Whats' the answer? Simple. Get control (a subject all it's own). Get back to the basics of running your business. There are 3 paramount functions of creating and maintaining a successful business.
1. [u]Quality[/u]-
You need to have an outstanding product. One which is unique, one of a kind and special. This is termed a "niche". I can cite many examples in just the auto world where manufacturers have set themselves apart from the others with a feature or two.
2. [u]Service[/u]-You need to attend to your customers with world class service. Honesty and genuine concern for the way your customers use the product. One where you do not hype your product so much, the reality is depressing.
Nothing builds brand loyalty better than good old American service.
3. [u]Value[/u]-Give the customer what you promised, and a little bit more, nothing less. Price your products according to reality, not perception. Stand behind your product, don't run from it.
Closing plants and firing employees is not the answer to long term profitability, it's the sign of desperation. Closing plants and firing employees is not a "turnaround" plan, it's the plan of weak minds. These are not success strategies, they're "cut and run" strategies.
OK, I got that off my chest, now it's back to work. LOL
:O)
P
Sure he was, as long as he could get a government bailout.
:O)
P
LOL I totally forgot about that. I've said for years if they'd come out with cars that looked like the 65 mustang or the 68 roadrunner, or the 67 gto, they'd sell every one they could make. Ford came pretty close with the new mustang, and there's a waiting list a mile long. You're dead on about the quality & service-that's part of the package-but styling was always where america had it over other countries in years past-and that, more than anything else, is what sells cars.
What were they supposed to do? Quit? People should try using the Moccasin Lifestyle Plan around here: "Before I judge a man, let me first walk a mile in his moccasins."
Unless you are a former union member who bucked the system...and won...I don't want to hear the gloating and whining.
Do you think a system that awards a job opening to the lesser skilled worker, based primarily upon seniority, then race and sex, provides the best workers, or motivates lower seniority workers?
My comment was from my father's point of view - I have no idea what went on in the plant(but he did NOT work for GM - it was another American auto company - AMC). In all the years he worked at the factory, I don't remember many complaints regarding management. Thinking back, these are the things that I remember him complaining of most: the taxes he had to pay on all the overtime he worked, of certain "slacking" co-workers who were "protected", and the union dues he had to pay, in order to protect those who slacked. They slept while my Dad worked - and he was 30+ years older than they.
Again, regarding the broad brush - the vanatage point of this particular picture is from my father's eye - a union worker. I'm sure their are other viewpoints - I'm simply relating my father's experience and opinion.
Hey, I'm a government drone, and those UAW guys make WAY more than I do, even after 20 years. Much better benefits, too. My health coverage (which I pay towards) is good, but vision and dental (managed by the union) are practically nonexistent. And if I want health coverage after I retire, I gotta pay for it (although I can cash in unused sick leave towards the premiums.)
NY State is actually having trouble recruiting truck drivers, mechanics, nurses, civil engineers, HVAC techs, programmers, etc. (especially Downstate) because the state doesn't pay as much as the private sector.
Say that to a liberal politician and enjoy the response you get.....
We are all workers dear heart.
The exec and the guy on the line both work.
"I know why God says it is easier for a camel to pass through an eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven."
There was a postern gate in the walls of Old Jerusalem known as "The Eye of the Needle." While this gate was sized for a man to pass through, if you arrived after the city gates were closed for the night you could still bring your camel into the city. Problem was, you had to unload the camel and he had to creep through on his knees.
So, Jesus was saying that a rich man could enter the kingdom of heaven as easily as a camel could pass through The Eye of the Needle - shorn of all his worldly possessions, and humbled (on his knees.)
(At that's how this CMA Biker Preacher I heard told the story.)
"union conservatives" 5,310 hits
"union liberals" 1,260 hits
"union thugs" 1,690,000 hits
I watched the unions kill the British automotive industry in the UK, and they're doing the same thing here in the US. All unions have been allowed to become too big and powerful and are not doing what they were first intended to do.
How very thoughtful of GM!!! And please tell me, which nation are they GIVING American jobs to?
I heard this answer years ago as well and it was later refuted to me by a somewhat scholarly friend. My current understanding is that there was no such gate identified as such and that Jesus' words truly were in respect to a sewing needle and a camel.
Oh and by the way - God Bless you CMA friend! Happy Thanksgiving!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.