This article in Popular Mechanics on why the Saturn died was short, but interesting. I wonder if Harvard Business Review will do a study?
What Went Wrong With Saturn?: Analysis. GM pulls the plug on Saturn, ending nearly 20 tumultuous years with this bold, creative automotive experiment.I had hoped that Roger Penske would pull this off and save Saturn, but in the end there wasn't enough interest to make it happen. Here is the story in a local Tennessee newspaper.
Regards — Cliff
PS: Hat tip to the Instapundit
2 comments:
The history of the business world in America is littered with the dying, dead, and decaying bodies of corporations who bled their market segment for all its worth and then abandoned the masses for newer and more lucrative ground. The hallmark battle cry of business is, and always has been, maximize profits at any cost. If there is a hint of the moral element, you can be sure that it is a product of the marketing department and not an indication of altruism.
Having said that, the capitalist race is what made America great, and to abandon it or constrain it further than the current administration has done will be the undoing of America.
Reform themselves?? Into what? I think we don't want the answer.
BTW, the business schools are the birthing place for maintaining the status quo, but always in different costume.
Neal
I agree with you re the Business Schools. One of the things that made me nervous about Governor George Bush was that he was a graduate of Harvard Business School. I was just hoping that, like General U S Grant, he was a bad student.
And, I agree that the capitalist approach is the proper one and that we should let companies like GM and Chrysler go under if they can't find a winning solution. We should not be reinforcing failure. That said, I am for graceful degradation.
Regards — Cliff
Post a Comment