In the mid-1980's Pontiac came out with a new sporty car called the Fiero and I was smitten (OK, my first car was a Pinto, so give me a break!) My Fiero, a GT model, was give-me-a-ticket-red. The little car was, well, little! They were two-seaters and had a trunk that forced owners to be very creative in packing bags. Each of the bucket seats included stereo speakers built in to headrest, kinda like external headphones. The Fiero was totally impractical for most trips, but it was a blast to drive. Someone relieved me of it from my own backyard in 1988. Police later found it burned somewhere in West Birmingham. I hope they at least burned their fingers torching it. It came to mind today, of course, because the Pontiac brand is being torched by GM, one in a string of steps the automaker is taking in its quest to become, if not a moneymaker, at least not such a loser.
Two comments:
ReplyDelete1 - I used to drive my parent's old white Pontiac station wagon. On the instrument panel was an Indian head indicator for the bright lights. It was, of course, red. I didn't like it when GM caved to the "politically correct" crowd and eliminated that trusty logo. It was homage to something natural and native... American automobile manufacturing. I didn't understand it then, and don't understand it now.
2 - (I'm going to sound like a broken record on this one - there's your euphemism for the day.) The Scriptures indicate that "the love of money is the root of all evil." To wit, if one loves something so much, one will do anything to get more of the object of their affection. Since by nature, money is inanimate, it cannot love in return. Thus, one whom loves money has misplaced affections. Knowing, however, that such an one will do anything to get more of the object of their affection, they will hurt anyone to get that thing.
Being reminded of that fundamental principle, I have witnessed the deterioration of American enterprise precisely because of that inordinate "love" more properly termed AVARICE, or unbridled greed.
One of the "Seven Deadly Sins," greed has never been highly spoken of in any culture at any time.
For the greatest part, when upper level management in any organization takes such a short-sighted view of their operations that they neither have sufficient reserves and forget the people whom made them great (not the executives, but the line workers), they are doomed to failure.
So it is with GM.
Remember JIT? It is the inventory system called "Just In Time," which means that future needs were NOT anticipated, and parts and materials were ordered only as needed. It's truly stupid, and is analogous to buying only one or two eggs, a pint of milk, one roll of toilet paper, one aspirin, one slice of bread, etc. from the grocery store... every day, because you only eat one or two eggs daily, only take one aspirin at a time, only use a few sheets from one roll of toilet paper, drink one glass of milk, etc. - instead of buying a dozen eggs, a gallon of milk, a container of half-dozen toilet paper rolls, loaf of bread, and bottle of aspirin.
And then, there's Wall Street... where greed and fear commingle (or is it copulate?) - which headline this evening was "Fear gripped Wall Street transportation stocks amidst the growing worry of swine flu."
See? I responded to one of your earlier entries that WS operates on FEAR.
People and organizations whom operate on fear are also doomed to failure and early death.
BTW, if you still want a Fiero, there's an operation not too far from here and that's all they do!