Disclaimer: I got this today in my email. This joke, who was written by an american, mocks american corporations NOT american people. I thought it was funny but also depicts a sad reality.
Canoe Racing
Japanese company (Toyota) and an American company (General Motors)
decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced
long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race.
On the big day, the Japanese team won by a mile. The Americans, very
discouraged and depressed, decided to investigate the reason for the
crushing defeat. A management team made up of senior management was
formed to investigate and recommend appropriate action. Their conclusion
was the Japanese team had 8 people rowing and 1 person steering, while
the American team had 8 people steering and 1 person rowing.
So American management hired a consulting firm and paid them a large
amount of money for a second opinion. They advised that too many people
were steering the boat, while not enough people were rowing. To prevent
another loss to the Japanese, the American's rowing team's management
structure was totally reorganized to 4 steering supervisors, 3 area
steering superintendents and 1 assistant superintendent steering
manager. They also implemented a new performance system that would give
the 1 person rowing the boat greater incentive to work harder. It was
called the "Rowing Quality First Program," with meetings, dinners and
free pens for the rower.
There was discussion of getting new paddles, canoes and other equipment,
extra vacation days for practices and bonuses. The next year the
Japanese won by two miles. Humiliated, the American management laid off
the rower for poor performance, halted development of a new canoe, sold
the paddles, and canceled all capital investments for new equipment. The
money saved was distributed to the Senior Executives as bonuses and the
next year's racing team was outsourced to India.
