When the numbers make sense, but the decision doesn\u2019t<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are many managers who only focus on numbers like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow much did we sell?\u201d
\u201cHow much profit did we make?\u201d
\u201cDid we cut costs enough?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You also often see managers who say,
\u201cWe\u2019re making a profit, but somehow we don\u2019t have any cash.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was a manager who went even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He shut down a subsidiary just because it was losing money\u2014
even though that company produced key components for the parent company\u2019s products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The parent company decided to focus on its best-selling products
and reduced production of other items.
As a result, the subsidiary\u2014which made core parts for those products\u2014
saw its production fall below the break-even point
and started losing money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The manager reportedly told the subsidiary\u2019s executives,
\u201cLosing money is unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, in this industry, best-selling products tend to change every five to eight years.
It is common practice to keep skilled workers and maintain production lines,
even for products that are temporarily out of favor,
until the next cycle comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two years later, just as expected, the market shifted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Later, I heard that this parent company had been acquired a few years earlier,
and a new president had been sent in.
Apparently, he had only worked in retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
People often say, \u201cDon\u2019t just look at P&L\u2014look at the balance sheet and cash flow too.\u201d
But skilled workers are not something you can see in any of those numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A manager who does not understand the industry,
and does not understand the people on the ground,
is nothing less than a disaster.
\u5b9f\u52d9\u7d4c\u9a13\u306b\u57fa\u3065\u304f\u53c2\u8003\u60c5\u5831\uff08\u5185\u5bb9\u306e\u6b63\u78ba\u6027\u306f\u4fdd\u8a3c\u3055\u308c\u307e\u305b\u3093\uff09 \/ Reference Information Based on Practical Experience<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":1004,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","article_type":[17,46],"class_list":["post-1969","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","article_type-bb-club","article_type-bb-club-lecture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eclsm.co.jp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/article\/1969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eclsm.co.jp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eclsm.co.jp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eclsm.co.jp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eclsm.co.jp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eclsm.co.jp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eclsm.co.jp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eclsm.co.jp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Farticle_type&post=1969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}