Pearl Harbor hurt our pride and damaged our fleet. Above all else it, woke us up. Our reaction was to pull together as a national team and use all of our resources to meet the challenges presented by that situation.
The pride we felt as we worked together to overcome adversity has since been unparalleled. The jubilation we experienced, in victory, was exhilarating beyond belief. I remember, as a six year old boy, riding up and down Main Street in Oakland City Indiana celebrating with my Dad. He made our Model "A" Ford backfire until the muffler blew off of the car. The whole country was celebrating.
The foreign products invasion has hurt our pride and damaged our industrial base. This trauma is also waking us up. We knew how to fight a physical war. We had to invent some new technologies to accommodate our ability to expedite the victory, but we knew going in how to win. We were not prepared to fight, much less win the industrial invasion. Initially, we did not even recognize the implements of this battle.
We have always believed we could win any battle if we could evaluate the situation and map a strategy. We have had to do our R & D while suffering casualty after casualty (steel, electronics, and etc.). Our national cultural history has often made if difficult for us to understand other cultures.
We have always admired the rugged individual who could stand on his own two feet and did not have to rely on others. A few generations ago we were a rural country where people had to fend for themselves. Independence was the only way to survive.
The new competition is different. Studies of comparative cultures, governments, and economies always mention the "national family" when describing the Japanese. The national family base facilitates a "win/win" philosophy. For the individual to win, the country must win. For the Country to win, the individual must win. For the individual to win, the company must win. Losing at any level is not acceptable.
American emphasis on the individual supports individual strategies and accomplishments. Winning in this environment means someone has to lose. The results is an adversarial society. We know that we can band together, as we did in World War II, and accomplish anything. In business and careers, we would rather not make personal sacrifice to benefit the team. We prefer to be adversarial. Evidence of the difference is found in the fact that, on a per capita basis, the U.S. has 20 lawyers to one in Japan. American culture has studied the competition and seems to be choosing to continue our adversarial emphasis , as a country.
The North American automotive manufacturing companies, however, have chosen to do whatever it takes to survive and win. The ways we work and the results we are achieving are setting an example for the country as to how this economic war can be won. Our companies, unions, and suppliers are working closely together to diminish the adversarial environment that formerly dominated our industry. We are also emphasizing satisfaction for the previously neglected customers. This effort is working well. The tide is turning in the outflow of markets and jobs. Our companies are prospering, our workers are sharing in the fruits of their labors more fully, our quality matches anyone, and there is great pride in winning. We are not ready to blow the mufflers off of our cars yet. But, we are confident that as we continue to work together, that day will come.©