Akib Khan

ENGR 3170
Dr. Che
Chapter 8, 9, 10, 11

What was Miyakes thought of the Americans?

Miyake did not have much positive thoughts about the America. He
thought it was a strange occupying power. America was a capitalist country,
but it allowed Japan to form labor unions which was quite radical. He did not
have positive thoughts about General MacArthur either. MacArthur was a
conservative man, but he went around in Japan to create left wing unions. He
thought America was playing a critical political trick in Japan.

What was Miyakes thought process about unions?

Miyake was a young man who fought for Japan in World War II as a fighter
jet pilot. After the war, he started working at Nissan. He wanted to go into a
large company and get into a management role. When he joined Nissan, he
was totally against the union. When the union had challenged Nissans right
to fire 1760 workers, he was very loudly backing the companys right. He
was an outspoken critic of Masuda.

Who was Ichiro Shioji?

Ichiro Shioji was a Nissan employee who was probably the most important
person in the history if Nissan. He was born and raised in a middle class
family and he wanted to become an engineer. However because of the war,
his plan changed a little but he eventually get to get some engineering

education. He was always full of controversy and after he joined Nissan, he

was totally against the radical union and he was very loud about it. It was
him who actually made Miyakes union strong enough to fight against
Masuda. It was with Shiojis help, the management was able to defeat
Masuda.

What was the difference between Japanese workers and the Western
workers ideology?

In Japan, work was considered as a ceremony where to the Westerners, it

was just a job to earn food and money for personal and/or family life.
According to the Japanese writer Ichiro Kawasaki, To the Western workers,
the job is an instrument for the enrichment and satisfaction of the real part
of his life, which exists outside the place of his work. For the Japanese
worker, life and job are so closely interwoven that it cannot be said where
one ends and the other begins.

How was Tanakas early life?

Tanaka was born in a tiny farm outside of Tokyo. He was from a village of
about five hundred people. His father was a farmer and was very poor. His
principal pleasure in life was school and he was the brightest student in his
village. But because of his family hardship, his father indentured him to a
family in neighboring village where his job was to carry coal from local
merchant to the families in the village. He worked there for five years. After

that he went to Yokohama and worked for a delivery service. After that he
saw an ad for jobs at Nissan. He applied there and he got accepted.

What happened to Masuda after the union was destroyed?

After the Union was destroyed, Masuda did not work anywhere for a while.
Later he borrowed money from his mother-in-law and started an auto-bodystamping shop as a small supplier. But because of his struggle with his
workers, the company went bankrupt. His friends tried to help him, but he
refused. By early sixties, he started living a lonely life outside of his house.
No one heard from him after than until 1964, when a small manufacturing
company called Masudas family to tell that he had died. During that time, he
was working as some kind of manager for that company.

How was Henry Ford II raised?

Henry Ford II was raised as an industrial prince. He was not denied of

anything while growing up and basically had everything a child can think of.
He was terribly spoiled not only by power but by an extraordinary standard of
living and by people whose sole purpose was to please him.

How was Henry Fords (II) attitude when he took over the company?

When Henry Ford II took over the company, he needed a lot of help. He
got Ernst Breech to come over to Ford from GM to run the company. Although
it was Fords company, Breech was actually running the business. Slowly
Ford beginning to gain confidence and started having an aggressive policy.

He then tried to get rid of Breech. He had more of a firing policy then hiring
policy.

How was Henry Fords (II) seen by his common worker?

To the common worker, Ford was seen as independent and free, who
could tell the other big guys off. Even at the height of tension between the
management and the workers, he would still be hailed if he would walked
down the Ford line. He would always say things that the workers would like to
hear and that made him very popular.

What was Whiz Kids and what were they trying to do?

Whiz Kids were a group of US government official people. They had their
own group inside the Pentagon. Their goal was to sell themselves as a group
to companies who need help. At first they tried to start their own company,
but they did not have the money to start it. For a while they were interested
in Alleghany, a seriously troubled holding company. However through one of
the member of the group, they found Ford. The message they sent to Henry
Ford II was Terrific young managerial team ready to modernize and save
your company.

What was the Whiz Kids managerial style?

The Whiz Kids got hired by Henry Ford II. However, the Whiz Kids were not
car men. They were not interested in mechanical devices or manufacturing
at all. It was all alien to them. They were the forerunner in American

businesses. Their knowledge and approach was more theoretical than

practical. They were very stubborn and had a very strong attitude that within
the company they were feared and resented right from the start.

What happened under McNamaras management?

Under McNamaras management, for the first time in twenty five years,
the Ford Company knew how it was doing. It knew how much it is spending
and how much is coming in and it could readily tell where the fault was. He
was the forerunner of a revolution.