[I always thought corporations' biggest psychological problem was management's greed; now I find out it's management's Attention Deficit Disorder.]
December 2, 2005 Lofty Promise of Saturn Plant Runs Into G.M.'s Fiscal Reality By JEREMY W. PETERS and MICHELINE MAYNARD SPRING HILL, Tenn., Nov. 29 - This was the factory that was going to revive the American automobile industry, proving that Detroit could build quality cars and win back buyers who had defected to the Japanese. Opened when auto companies were closing plants and cutting hundreds of thousands of jobs, General Motors' Saturn plant here was a rare opportunity for the company and its workers to literally leave the industry's old ways behind and embrace some of the lessons that Japan was teaching, with an American twist. Now, Saturn is in danger of falling victim to the fate this plant was intended to avoid. The plant, the only one exclusively devoted to building Saturn vehicles, is among 12 factories that G.M. plans to shut or partly close, eliminating 30,000 jobs in North America as it tries to recover from one of the worst slumps in its history. ... The Saturn plant, like other efforts at G.M. to battle foreign competition, became a victim of the company's short attention span. At a critical time when the plant needed to grow, G.M instead poured money into sport utility vehicles and pickups, hoping to outwit the Japanese - only to see them invade those markets, too. And workers here are paying the price. "Workers have got to be asking themselves, What do we have to do?" said Gary N. Chaison, a professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "The social contract was that if we build a quality product, we're going to have jobs, our kids are going to have jobs, and the plant will still be in town," Professor Chaison said. "Now, that idea is gone." ... <http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/02/business/02saturn.html?hp&ex=1133586000&en=dc12d22af4c9d20f&ei=5094&partner=homepage> Carl
