Making the move...

[Lynn Fredricks]

> I agree with what you say, Mark, but I think it isn't the 
> whole picture. In the early 80s, a guy at a Japanese steel 
> company explained to me how his time was being taken up with 
> visiting Americans determined to learn the secrets of 
> Japanese TQC.  He felt they were wasting their time. Not 
> because they were incapable of learning, but because there 
> was nothing to learn. He said that Westerners will debate and 
> evaluate various methods until they decide on the best 
> approach. Japanese corporations, on the other hand, will take 
> any method, good or bad, and make it work. Having 
> subsequently worked with a number of large Japanese 
> corporations, I think his comments were very shrewd. In other 
> words, it's not that Japanese methods transferred to the west 
> are doomed to failure, but rather that any method adopted by 
> Japanese corporations is doomed to success. (But that was in 
> the 80s, and plenty has changed since then.)

That's true - I don't think the mentality has changed since that time,
though economic shifts did have its social impact. Failure really isn't an
option - they make it work. But it is possible to use Japanese methods and
have strong, cohesive, quality minded teams, even with a few Americans
walking on the tatami mats with muddy shoes ;-) It is just extremely hard to
achieve.

Best regards,


Lynn Fredricks
Worldwide Business Operations
Runtime Revolution, Ltd