Arnold
CibbuanoWorking for Honda is a good way to keep your job
December 15th 2008 06:18
While all this talk about the big three is scaring auto workers all over America, Reddit points out that Honda has never had an unprofitable year, nor has ever had to lay off employees for financial reasons.
Well, the Reddit link points to Forbes, which has one big, bright reason why Honda is doing well:
Engineers Rule.
Whereas American companies are quickly to keep technical workers out of the executive offices, promoting managers and nebulous 'business' types, Honda keeps its engineers tight, promoting tinkering and investigation:
"The trick: "You need to give people the freedom to spend and the freedom to make mistakes," says Takeo Fukui, Honda's 61-year-old president. "If management oversight is too strong, then it's difficult to innovate."
Longtime auto analyst John Casesa, who now runs a consulting company, says, "There's not a company on earth that better understands the culture of engineering.""
It's a sexy idea, especially for engineers, who have been typically relegated to working long hours and getting no glamour, while prawn cocktails and parties at fashionable nightclubs are the order of the day for the business suits.
"The strategy has worked thus far. Honda has never had an unprofitable year. It has never had to lay off employees. In the fiscal year that ended in March, profit grew 12%, to $5.1 billion, on $84 billion in sales. In the U.S., which accounts for 43% of Honda's sales, vehicle sales are up 7% through July, even as the industry slipped 5%."
Excellent - it's my hope that, with this current financial crisis, we'll see a return to days when innovation and technical know-how were the skills that were valued. Open that up! Mess around with the wires! So you get a little shock - so what!?
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