American business managers have begun blaming themselves-more than government, labor, or Japan-for the country`s deteriorating industrial competitiveness, according to a Harvard Business Review survey.
”We were surprised by the survey`s results,” said Alan Webber, the publication`s managing editor. ”Many managers now realize that their own shortsightedness has led to declining competitiveness.”
Webber and other management watchers agreed that U.S. executives aren`t as likely as they once were to lay the blame on ”unfair advantages” of Japanese exporters, an unsympathetic federal government or demanding and underproductive workers.
Eighty-nine percent of the survey`s respondents blamed managers for the declining quality and decreasing sales of American goods. The study was drawn from interviews with 4,000 of the publication`s readers, many of whom are corporate managers.
”Many of the managers who wrote in said they had not paid enough attention to world market opportunities,” Webber said. ”They said they had been content just to sell to the U.S. market. But new global competition is making them realize that this is not enough.”
Surprisingly, many survey participants were strongly critical of their own products, with quite a few describing their goods as not being of the highest quality, Webber said.
A large number of those surveyed also said that managers weren`t paying enough attention to research, development and technology.
”The feeling was that the American manager needs to do a better job of investing in new technology and bringing it into the market more quickly,”
Webber said.
Many respondents criticized management for taking short-range views of corporate interests.
”Improper emphasis on sales and short-term profit has resulted in ignoring quality and product development,” wrote one. ”Consumers may not be truly rational, but over time they do seek the best products at the best prices, and increasingly, these products have not been U.S.-made.”
Webber said that although many respondents criticized the government, they blamed it less than they blamed industry for its own woes. Only a minority looked to government to help solve the quality problem.
But 59 percent said they held government partially responsible. About 42 percent of respondents said a government-led national economic strategy will help solve the quality problem, but 45 percent opposed government action. David Nadler is a management consultant with New York`s Delta Consulting Group, who has worked with Corning Glass Works, Xerox Corp. and other companies to create programs to restore industrial quality. He said he noticed a change in the attitude of managers toward Japan, whose industrial strength many previously envied without having scrutinized it.
”Managers have been watching the Japanese continue to be effective despite trade limitations, increased labor costs and currency exchange problems,” he said. ”Now they realize that the core of Japan`s success is good business strategy and management.”
Despite their more self-critical attitude, U.S. managers have more to learn about working with labor to improve quality, according to Nadler.
”The good news is that American managers are realizing that the issue is behavioral, that is, they are learning to look at how workers act toward products, services and customers,” he said.
”The bad news is that senior managers still don`t realize that they basically get what they ask for,” he said. ”They don`t see that by rewarding quantity over quality, their actions motivate workers to produce lower-quality goods.”
