Sloan's professional style (2)

Editor's note: "The Spectator" is a memoir of management master Drucker, a record of his knowledge and life journey. This book, though not his "most important" book, is his personal favorite.

Drucker was invited by General Motors to conduct research into the company. This research experience had a huge impact on his management thinking and laid a solid foundation for his master status. This is the second of our three-part series on that experience, "Sloan's Professionalism," for three days in a row. Readers can not only understand the behavior style of the main senior managers of General Motors in that period, as well as various explorations and efforts in management practice, but also grasp the source and context of Drucker's important management ideas.

Speaking of Nicholas Dreystadt, he and Coyle have almost nothing in common. A few months after I finished my research project on GM, Coyle retired, and Drestadt took over as general manager of Chevrolet. However, when I met Drestat, he was still in charge of Cadillac, a position he had been in for more than 30 years. Coyle is ruthless, Drestadt is warm; Coyle is never sincere, but Drestadt is funny; Coyle keeps people at a distance, Drestadt is He is a character that everyone loves; in addition, Coyle treats people completely without any emotion, but Drestadt is very concerned about people, not only caring for his subordinates, but also respecting them as flesh and blood individuals.

Coyle always wears a tight blue twill khaki suit with black police shoes, while Drestadt wears an old woolen jacket with The pipe embers burned hole after hole. Drestadt's secretary always kept a few pairs of shoes in her own locker in case Drestadt came to work with two more mismatched shoes.

Drestadt left his hometown from southern Germany to the United States at the age of 13. At that time, he turned out to be the youngest apprentice in the Bao Shi team. He still speaks English with a strong German Zwaben accent. He is happiest than teaching workers to fix tools in the factory, or helping foreman solve problems on the production line. This sloppy, uneducated "black hand" is widely recognized as the most capable young executive of GM. He single-handedly created the most high-profile and most profitable department for GM. It is almost certain that 10 years later , GM's chairman is none other than him. However, Tian was jealous of Yingcai. In 1946, half a year after he took over Chevrolet, he died of throat cancer. He was only 48 years old when he died, and he still looked as strong as a cow.

Drestadt was Cadillac's service manager when the country was facing the brunt of the Great Depression, and at the time it seemed that he was only working in mid-level management. Despite the poor conditions, Chevrolet is doing okay. The mid-priced General Motors at the time—Buick, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac—had to merge into one division a few years later, because the volume of business was insufficient, and there was no need for three general managers to run them. The high-priced Cadillac can't be sold, and it's about to be disintegrated. The only question is - to give up this department entirely, or just keep a name and become a nominal department? Members of GM's executive committee tended to give up, as did Sloan and Brown.

At this time, Drestadt, an uninvited guest no one has ever seen, burst into the conference room and begged everyone to give him 10 minutes to come up with a plan that could turn Cadillac into a profit in a year and a half. s plan. Drestadt emphasized that Cadillac was a "status symbol," and the marketing strategy worked. When he was in charge of the Cadillac service network in the United States, he learned one thing - Cadillac is the favorite car of the rich black people, many new and large Cadillacs are bought by black people, including black artists, black people Boxers, black physicians, and black real estate agents, among others.

However, the company's policy is not to sell Cadillacs to black people, and the sales target is mainly "white men of power", but the rich black people covet Cadillac so much that they are even willing to pay a lot of money to ask a white man to help They buy. Drestadt investigates this unusual phenomenon and finds that the Cadillac is indeed the only symbol of success that rich black people can buy -- they can't get into good housing estates, luxury resorts, or other worldly success The external representation of , but can sit in this car. Therefore, at the bottom of the economic downturn, Drestadt used the development of the black market to bring Cadillac back to life. Finally, in 1934, certain results were achieved, and the Cadillac division was able to break even.

He went on to make Cadillac a cash cow for General Motors. After the Great Recession, Cadillacs have sold quite a lot, and at high prices, but with little profit. Yes, this is an expensive model, and the manufacturing process is even more extravagant. They are all handcrafted, and only one can be produced at a time, so labor costs are high. It just doesn't make sense in Drestadt's view that mass production doesn't make a high-quality car. "Quality is a matter of design, tools, inspection and service," he said. "The pursuit of quality does not necessarily mean giving up efficiency."

Within three years, the Cadillac was GM's most profitable vehicle, and it remains market growth rate. Drestadt spends more money on design, tools, quality management and service, but never spends a penny more on production than a lower-priced Chevrolet. He said to me one day, "You have to use great wisdom to make your work easier." It was 10 years after Drestadt's death that his first employer discovered the same manufacturing formula in his hometown of Zwaben, Germany , this employer probably hasn't heard of Drestadt. Baoshi Automobile was originally just a small car factory, specializing in hand-crafting expensive cars, and there was not much profit. Until the mid-1950s, it turned to mass production. Through design, tools, quality management, and services, Combined with mass-production technology, the Pros eventually became a lucrative vehicle—the same strategy that Drestadt used in the 1930s to make Cadillac one of the best in the U.S. auto industry.

The most distinctive thing about Drestadt is his attitude towards people. He will correct you and say, "Don't refer to people in general, okay? Please say Mr. and Ms.". According to the union agreement, the probation period for new employees is 90 days. If there are no mistakes or shortcomings, they can become permanent permanent employees. . In the mid-1940s, Cadillac had become a huge enterprise of its own, with at least 8,000 employees. However, any foreman who wants to dismiss a new employee must obtain permission from Drestadt.

The foreman said to him again and again, "Mr. Drestadt, what this man is doing is really not up to our production standards."

"How is he using tools? How is your relationship with your colleagues and you?" Drestat asked.

"It's alright. But he just can't get the job done."

Drestadt then said, "We're not just hiring someone for 90 days, we're using him for 30 years. In 30 years, if this person can love himself, pay attention to tools, and respect his colleagues, he will definitely be able to meet the requirements of the job."

At the same time, Drestadt will also fight against the union in order to fire some old employees. Although these employees were senior, they became lazy and sloppy, or were rude and rude to colleagues, so they were repaired by Drestadt. When such a thing happens, even a director with a hot personality would not dare to say a word. Drestadt seems to be forever with GM's personnel department because they only offer training sessions to new recruits, and once they're on track, they don't train them anymore. "That's when these employees start to learn," Drestat said. "How can we stop it?" So he kept arguing with the union and the personnel department for what today is called "job expansion," "shifting shifts," he said. "And "continue to learn" argue. At GM, there is no general manager who is willing to transfer the most capable and promising young people to the personnel department where there is no development like him.

He said: "Jim Roche is a great guy and has a chance to be the president of GM. At that point, he has to understand how to get along with the people in the company, not just read a book. .” Therefore, under Drestat, Rocky became Cadillac’s personnel manager, and 20 years later he became GM’s president.

While I was doing research on GM, Drestadt, despite the objections of the higher-ups, took on the most terrifying defense task—the task of creating a new, highly accurate, and The first use of electronic equipment bombsights. Everyone knows that this type of work requires highly skilled mechanics. At that time, even ordinary workers could not be found in Detroit, let alone skilled mechanics. Drestat said: "We have to do it. If Cadillac can't do it, who can?" However, in Detroit, the only people who can act as laborers are the old black prostitutes_ Female. Drestadt hired 2,000 of these women in one go, panicking everyone. He also said, "Bring their bustards as well, after all, they have two brushes in managing women."

These prostitutes are almost illiterate, and no one can read the lengthy work manual. "We didn't have time to teach them to read and write, and besides, they couldn't learn," Drestat said. So he went to the workbench and made a dozen bombsights himself. Once he knew how to do it, he had someone film the manufacturing process on camera. He used the projector to play each picture separately, and added a series of lights to indicate: the red light indicated the part that had been done, the green light showed the upcoming work, and the yellow light told the women workers what to pay attention to before taking the next step. matter. This is standard procedure on many production lines today, and it was invented by Drestadt.

Within a few weeks, these unskilled illiterates have been able to deliver a satisfactory finished product in an astonishingly high volume than the skilled artisans of the past. Cadillac's "red light district" is therefore "well-known far and near", which is not only well-known in GM, but also caused a sensation in the whole of Detroit, and also caused a lot of unsightly gossip. But Drestadt was quick to refute: "These women are my colleagues and the people you work with. They perform well and respect their work. Whatever their past, they are entitled to the same as we do now. Respect from others.” The union demanded that he promise to invite replacement workers to walk as soon as they are available. At that time, the leaders of the auto manufacturing unions, especially the unions in various places, were mostly Caucasian men from the South who belonged to the fundamentalist Christian sect, and discriminated against Caucasian women, not to mention black prostitutes.

Drestadt was well aware that most of the prostitutes would have to pack up when the soldiers were disarmed and returned to their fields after the war and asked to return to their original jobs. However, he still tried to mediate with the union, hoping to save at least a few jobs for those women. He said: “For the first time in their lives, these poor women are being paid fairly, have a good working environment and are able to enjoy their human rights. They have never found their dignity and loved themselves like this. It is our duty to save them from The fate of being ostracized and despised again."

When the war finally came to an end, many of these women committed suicide when they had to be swept out of the house. Drestadt sat in his office, holding his head in his hands, tears almost coming out of his eyes. He said, "God, forgive me. I failed these poor women."

Everyone at GM was very polite to me, happy to see me, answered any questions, and was very cooperative. With Brown's support, that's not bad. But only one of the top executives was really interested in my research, and he was the only one who took the advice I made and actually put it into action to change common policies and ways of doing things. He was Charles E. Wilson, the company's chairman and top operating officer. After my research, when he succeeded Sloan as the top executive, he still kept in touch with me. (Sloan was still president under Wilson, though.) Later, when Wilson was secretary of defense in President Eisenhower's cabinet, I still had occasional contact.

I didn't meet Wilson until I was fully engaged in research. When he first entered GM, he happened to be on sick leave. As the company's top sales executive, he has been in charge of producing defense weapons since the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. For more than two years, he never took a day off, and he rarely left the office or factory, even after get off work at night. By Christmas 1943, the contracts signed by GM and the military had been fulfilled, production schedules were often ahead of schedule, and military supplies were handed over three times more than Washington expected. It was at this point that Wilson collapsed with a "circulatory episode", probably a stroke combined with total physical exhaustion, and never fully recovered. When he was a cabinet minister under President Eisenhower, cartoonists used to joke about the hole under his shoe. These holes have a special function - after a serious illness, his feet have been suffering from blood circulation problems, which can no longer be cured, so he had to make holes in the soles of his shoes. The sequelae include severe headaches and speech disorders. When he is tired, his speech becomes slurred.

Wilson's doctor told him to take at least six months off, but he took his leave to work after three months. The first thing he did when he came back was to talk to me: "How are you doing?" At that time, around the end of March, I was going to make drastic changes to my research plan, but hadn't told GM anything. --personal. I'm going to emphasize the generic "unfinished business" of organization and labor relations etc. where one works. Wilson's eyes lit up when he heard this.

"I've been doing nothing for the past 3 months, and I'm thinking about the future of GM," he said. "I've come to the same conclusion. The founders of GM, the previous generation, the greatest achievement was to be great Businesses design structures and formulate organizational principles, and the next generation is tasked with fostering civic and community awareness. Sloan's generation was Federalist, so to speak, and we will be Jeffersonian, which is democratism What are your main conclusions so far?” I put forward two points: one is to develop a set of methods for employees to guarantee wages on the premise of maintaining personal freedom and the flexibility of labor costs; Developed what I would later call "factory community autonomy," which is to hand over management responsibilities to employees, teams, and groups of employees who shape the structure of individual jobs, the performance of major jobs, and the community management matters, such as shift schedules, vacation arrangements, overtime methods, workplace safety, and especially the employee's own welfare.

The performance of the staff during the war was refreshing to me. Each work group takes responsibility and organizes itself as a unit to work on, such as a general aircraft engine factory or a complex weapons production department, such as artillery shell manufacturing and calibrating equipment. At that time, there were few industrial engineers and professional supervisors, so these barely trained workers had to take responsibility for themselves and become spontaneous teams. There are many examples of their productivity and performance. Therefore, I feel deeply that I hope that when peace returns, this achievement can be preserved.

Of all my research on management and the "anatomy of the industrial order", I think the most important, and the most creative, is factory community autonomy and empowerment of employees. However, the management class is wary, fearing that "power will fall by the wayside", so they do not agree. The trade unions at that time were even more standard "opposition for objection's sake": if there is no obvious and specific "boss" as the object of objection, what is the point of the existence of a union? However, the performance of GM's employee autonomy during World War II was better than the "big breakthrough" touted today, such as the "innovation" of some Swedish car companies trying to replace the production line. That's still not as good as the standard production line model that has been in place in the United States for 30 years, let alone the 40-year-old factory-work team that IBM, an apparently lax company, has implemented for 40 years.

In addition, during the Second World War, under the self-governance of employees, the management and the union did not lose any authority or privilege, and their status was as stable as before. It was my naive expectation that this "factory community self-governance" proposal would be the most convincing point of the conclusion of my general research project. But of the general management hierarchy, only Wilson takes it seriously. Today, the United States has made great strides in seeking wage security and factory community autonomy for employees, and perhaps I should thank Wilson for adopting my "outlier" opinion.

He told me, "We at GM really wanted to come up with a way to secure wages for our employees back in 1935," (Sloan also published these early studies in "My Days at GM" plan.) "However, it had to be abandoned later. Even a company like GM is still in danger of going out of business. How can a meaningful guarantee be given?" Supplementary Unemployment Benefits (SUB) was released, and most manufacturing workers in the United States can receive unemployment benefits unless they lose their jobs due to chronic bad conditions.

Probably in early 1947, as soon as Wilson had drawn up the overall plan, I asked him, "How are you going to put it into practice?"

He replied, "The plan will never be put into practice. I In the end had to succumb to union pressure."

I thought I got it, so I said, "You mean GM management doesn't agree with the plan unless they have to?"

" Wrong. My colleagues gave me full responsibility for the union. The last strike proved me right, and they have trusted me ever since. The problem is with the union, and their leaders won't approve of it. Unless the management 'resists' or 'opposes' this plan, the trade union will fight for it and fight against the management in order to protect the market."

"Have you ever joined a trade union?" He then asked me . I shook my head.

"I was a member and leader of a union. I am the son of a union leader myself. My father, a craftsman from Wales, England, made tools for a living and gathered his colleagues in Pittsburgh to form A local union. We all believe in socialism, and Eugene Debs is my hero, and still is today. In the 1912 election, I almost got kicked out of school for cheering for him. Because I was a dangerous extremist. When I graduated from college, I couldn't find a job as an engineer, so I had to work as a molder, and later became an executive member of the moldmaking union. Now I am still a member of the union." In his disorganized, On a desk full of papers, there was a framed union membership card, and he pointed to the card and told me about the past. When he became Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon in the future, the only thing he brought from GM, other than a family photo, was this membership card.

He said: "For trade unions, the benefits that they have worked so hard to win are worthless. Every trade union recognizes it, and what the management brings to the door is tantamount to the weasel greeting the rooster for the New Year. , uneasy and good-hearted, it will definitely be harmful to the union and its members. Of course, I will not be discouraged, and will continue to sow my ideas. I know many people in the auto union, and I will try my best to influence them. For this plan, we must first pretend Reluctantly and reluctantly to make concessions, so that they will feel that they have achieved a meaningful thing. The time will come.” (In 1955, the time finally came when the UAW announced an additional The implementation of the Unemployment Allowance Act was a "big win" for the union. Wilson was already at the Pentagon at the time. He called me and said, "Drucker, the research you did at GM 10 years ago is finally here today. It's blooming!")

"Based on what you know about unions, why can't the relationship between GM and unions be improved?" Now, as in the past, the auto industry across the United States is all complaining about its relationship with unions "bad".

"Our relationship with the union is indeed led by me. It turns out that I did the right thing, which is good for both the company and the union. Both parties are satisfied with this relationship." He looked at me suspiciously , so explain it.

"The test of a relationship is not to listen to what's good, but to see the results. GM has fewer strike days than other auto companies in the US or other unionized countries, union leaders said. There is also very little turnover. Also, everyone is happy and gets what each other wants: good discipline, high productivity, high pay, and a very stable job. Unions can be said to be a political organization, and they must have opponents, long and short, A company is an economic organization that needs production and discipline. At GM, we achieve a win-win situation, but we get what we need, and we also maintain a good relationship with the labor union." , Wilson was not entirely satisfied.

"There's one more serious problem that I haven't found a solution to," he said. "I really don't know how to bring the leaders of the union to work. For example, many years as a director of the American Auto Union. Walter Reuther is arguably the most capable man in corporate America. He should be GM's next top executive, not me. In fact, if he had been born a few years earlier, GM was on the verge of bankruptcy in 1927 If you advance to GM in the past, it is possible to advance to the management level. Unfortunately, after that, the channel for mechanic to be promoted to the supervisory level has been completely cut off. Otherwise, he would be the chairman of GM today. Now, due to the convention of the union, That's the end of his development. If this problem can't be solved, there will be no figure like Ruther in the unions of the United States in 20 years. Talented young people go to college and become accountants of great value in the future. Or the talent in charge; the ones who inherit the union are only second-rate ones.” Unfortunately, this prophecy has come true today.

Wilson was particularly interested in my ideas about employee work and plant community.

"Mr. Drucker, do you mean that we have succeeded in making the working class more productive, getting them well paid, and being able to become middle class. Just as we made them producers, now we must To make them more civic. That's worth studying." Once the war was over, Wilson was engaged in a large research project to find out what GM employees really felt was important.

"You've already helped me find some answers," he said. "I think your opinion is remarkable. I've also learned something to find out for yourself, not to think you're smart."

At first, he wanted to conduct a large-scale employee opinion survey, but only 5% of the questionnaires could be returned. He said: "This is not enough." So he and his subordinates came up with a way - to hold an essay competition, with the topic "Why I like my work", prepared many small prizes, and invited outsiders When the judges (I am one of them, the other is George Taylor, the former chairman of the pre-war labor council). The contest proved Wilson's and my assumptions correct; it also confirmed the findings of "industrial psychology" studies such as Michigan's Rensis Likert and Frederick Herzberg's discussion of work. These studies show that the extrinsic rewards of work, such as pay or promotion, are what Herzberg calls "hygiene factors." If there is dissatisfaction, it will lead to reduced work motivation and incentives for job loss; on the contrary, satisfaction with these factors is not necessarily particularly important for employees, and even only motivates a few. Achievement, contribution and responsibility - these are the most important motivations and incentives.

From this competition, it can also be seen that employees want to be satisfied with their work, and the most unbearable thing for them is to be deprived of the right to work, no matter what kind of work. They are also willing to respect the company, management and superiors; in addition, they believe that loyalty to the union and loyalty to the company go hand in hand. (However, Wilson strongly disputed this point I made). They hope that they are members of the union and the company. They have different needs for the union and the company because of their different purposes, and they want to respect the union and the company at the same time.

Wilson considers the "My Work" essay contest the culmination of his GM career. From a certain point of view, it is. 2/3 of GM's employees participated in the grand event, and the number of participants was as high as 200,000. However, this unprecedented success is the killer of the game. Although every reviewer tried their best to read tens of thousands of copies, and there were many people behind the scenes who helped to organize and create a book, these 200,000 articles were still indigestible. Seeing the success of this call for papers, the trade union was even more shocked and violently criticized, not allowing further research, and threatened to ask for a salary adjustment, otherwise they would go on strike.

I don't know where those hundreds of thousands of articles ended up. Wilson was dismayed by GM's having to shelve these articles, forgetting that it is the richest source of research on employee attitudes and job values. Still, he didn't give up, persuading Sloan to create a vice president for labor relations. Later, I heard that Wilson suggested that I should take up the position. A few years later, Wilson took a post in Washington, and the establishment of the vice-president's position fell through amid opposition from the union.

Sloan's professional style (2)

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