A Small, Hidden Tragedy

The global news has been anything but good this past month. With the true human tragedy in Mumbai, India, the financial woes of the Big Three US automakers seems strangely juxtaposed on the list of recent tragedies. Yes, the decline of these companies affects millions of people, but somehow the tragedy of business failures pales against the loss of lives and the For several years I've been discussing the general inability of US automakers to compete in a global economy and today, the CEOs of these company laid out the billions of dollars that they need in government financing to be able to survive.

Hidden in the USA Today article is an assessment of the GM brand, Saturn:

And Saturn, the quirky brand launched in 1990 to win sales from Asian rivals, could be on its last legs. Henderson says the company will meet with its retail network to discuss options, which could include a shutdown, such as GM did to Oldsmobile a few years ago, or selling it.

"We have to do something with the Saturn brand, because frankly, it has not been successful," [General Motors (GM) CFO Frederick "Fritz"] Henderson says.

During Saturn's early years it was lauded in business journals and academic case studies on how a conservative American car company, like GM, could emulate the best efforts of Toyota, Nissan, and Honda. The workers at the Saturn plant in Smyrna, Tennessee, were examples of how employee empowerment could yield benchmark levels of quality and productivity.

Unfortunately, over the years, the culture at Saturn eroded and became more and more like the rest of GM's other brands.

So what looked like a great step forward in American industrial evolution may now end up as footnote in American automotive history.

Not Their Fault!!!???

I have no idea how people can either lie or be so deluded that they can't see the obvious. Among the sources reporting the UAW's view on the crisis in the US auto industry, USA Today has this alarming quote from United Auto Workers president, Ron Gettelfinger:

"We're here not because of what the auto industry has done," he said. "We're here because of what has happened to the economy."

I'm not blaming the UAW for what's happened to the Big Three, but they have certainly contributed to what the industry has done to itself -- not what some nefarious, external action has done to it. If the financial crisis was to blame, auto makers worldwide would need government bailouts or be in similar dire straits because the economy is global.

For instance, on October 29, 2008, The New York Times reported that, "During the third quarter, G.M. sold 1.28 million vehicles outside of the United States, accounting for 61 percent of its total sales compared with 56 percent a year ago." So if you believe that the financial crisis (domestic or global) is to blame, why is it that only US auto manufacturers are in such bad shape?

The thinking, tactics, and strategies that have gotten the Big Three into such bad shape are not peculiar to the auto industry. US businesses in general need to re-think how they creating value in a global economy.

Speaking of Global Warming

I wonder how the current Southern California firestorm affects global warming?

I wonder if the weather conditions that led to the current Southern California firestorm are a product of global warming?

By noon today is was 90ºF with less than 10% humidity with wind gusts over 25 MPH -- prime brush fire weather. Of course you need an ignition source to start the fire. I heard that a smaller fire today on Palos Verdes peninsula was started when a power pole transformer exploded. It definitely doesn't take much though. Someone thoughtlessly throwing a cigarette out of their car window will do the trick for starting a brush fire that will burn thousands of acres and dozens of homes.

Why Commute by Bike?

There are a lot of ways that all of us can help save the planet. Here is one.