What causes workers to distrust management?

In the 1986 comedy film Gung Ho starring Michael Keaton, the story revolves around the takeover of an ailing American car plant by a Japanese company with a fictional named Assan Motors Corp. When the factory closed its doors, leaving hundreds of jobless people, its former foreman Hunt Stevenson (played by Keaton) went to Tokyo to convince Assan to reopen the plant.

Assan agreed but took advantage of desperate workers by demanding unreasonable conditions in exchange for the plant’s reopening. The workers were not allowed to form a union, received low salaries, and were required to fulfill almost impossible standards of quality and productivity.

Making the work relationship complex was the demand of Assan managers that everyone does early morning calisthenics and bathe naked together in a river near the factory. Despite this attempt to change culture, the American workers reciprocated with their poor attitude towards quality and productivity.

To solve the problems, Hunt promised major changes to Assan and offered to make 15,000 cars in one month, a benchmark for the best Japanese auto plant. If that happens, the workers will be given pay raises and more jobs will be created to accommodate other jobless people in town. If the proposal falls short, even by one car, everyone gets nothing.

Assan management representatives agreed.

When Hunt told the new production quota to the workers, they balked at the idea of making so many cars in so short a time. Receiving pressure from the crowd, Hunt resorted to lying that if they made 13,000 units, they would get a partial raise. After close to one month of working long hours, they got nearly 13,000 while Hunt continued pleading for them to fulfill the full 15,000 target until the truth was discovered, resulting in the workers walking off their jobs.

In the end, however, both the workers and their Japanese management set aside their differences. Despite the workers falling short of their 15,000 target, Assan representatives were impressed by the dynamism and team spirit of the workers. Finally, Assan decided to keep the factory open and gave full pay raises to everyone with reasonable work requirements.

The workers reciprocated by being more cooperative with the Japanese.

Distrust

It’s easy to produce and sell a movie that thrives on fiction, especially when its lead actor is like Michael Keaton who also played Batman in different film versions. It’s like selling wonder drugs that promise to help you lose weight, regrow your hair, and enlarge your manhood, or sexual performance.

Unsuspecting people buy such concoctions regularly like as if they can win the lotto, never mind that the odds of winning are equivalent to one chance in 34,787,610. So, why do people continue to patronize those wonder drugs and buy lotto tickets? For one, they have the money. Two, they want to be cured of an illness or desperation. And three, they’re taking a chance for its positive side effects.

Take metformin as an example. Doctors prescribe it to control the amount of sugar in our blood. But did you know that some early studies on metformin suggest that it has anti-aging properties? No, don’t rush yet to buy metformin even if you don’t have diabetes. Ask your doctors about it. Or at least, do your internet research.

Whatever it is, don’t be reckless. Trust, but verify. Make it a rule of thumb when dealing with people. A case in point. If a management consultant claims he’s an expert on something, be brave to challenge them. I did it several times with the last one claiming to possess my “expertise.”

I asked him if he was interested in being my substitute consultant for a long-time Japanese client who prefers to deal only with consultants with decades of experience working with Japanese managers. I was forced to pass the job to another consultant because of another important project abroad.

The consultant said yes. I asked for his curriculum vitae which took five days for him to produce. When I asked him to clarify certain discrepancies in his CV and an exaggeration in his website, he balked right away with a question – “Don’t you trust me?” But it’s not me. It’s my Japanese client who trusts me to do the vetting process.

Why would I recommend someone who’s lying about his credentials?

Labor productivity solutions

Speaking of the American and Japanese styles of management, in your opinion, which is the best approach for productivity improvement? Here’s an example. A car manufacturer wants to improve its productivity by at least 20 percent starting in January. For easy computation, the givens are: They produce 100 cars a month with 10 workers.

Compare and contrast the style of American and Japanese solutions. Before doing that, let me explain what I want you to do. Technically, bananas and oranges are both fruits. Now compare and contrast the characteristics of each fruit. When both fruits are ready to eat, bananas show their yellow color while oranges show their orange color.

On labor productivity improvement, an American manager would simply terminate the employment of its workers to eight from 10 workers resulting in an instant 20 percent productivity improvement. On the other hand, a Japanese manager would secure 20 percent improvement without dismissing people.

Which is better? The answer is crystal clear.

Rey Elbo is a quality and productivity improvement enthusiast. For a free consultation, contact him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, or email [email protected] or via https://reyelbo.com