Posted by Tim on Tuesday, October 11, 2005 at 1:20AM :
In Reply to: Re: chances that General Motors will file for bankruptcy are 30% posted by Kevin in Ohio on Tuesday, October 11, 2005 at 0:02AM :
I once did some work at GM when there was a small strike. A manager smugly told me: They strike and we'll get everything they get without having to do the dirty work.
I've heard the same entitlement arguments from friends who worked for the Federal government. Workers felt GM was too big
to go under, as if Eisenhower were still
president. The GM empire is almost like a country of it's own. The philosophy of
safety in numbers lives at GM.
Ford is supposed to be adopting a Toyota style supplier relationship which is said
to be less adversarial with the goal being
a long term team effort. That would be
like Iraq becoming comfortable with Democracy, it is not a long term cultural shift until all parties really understand what they face, what we face.
I came to realize that there is no safety
in numbers when most of New Orleans went under water. Being stuck with thousands
of others is absolutely no advantage.
Safety in bigness is a myth.