What We're Reading: Lessons for Toyota, Deconstructing Apple, China Auto Sales in Perspective
By Michelle Krebs March 19, 2010The staff at Edmunds is a diverse group with hundreds of different perspectives on the auto industry and the world at large. Here's a look at what we're reading and thinking about this week...
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande
Everyone has known about checklists but this book takes it to a new level. The author backs up his points with evidence from working in the medical industry.
Edmunds staffer says: This book is an entertaining account of a simple tool for getting things done. If checklists save lives, they can also help you get things done in your life. -- Phil Reed, Sr. Consumer Advice Editor, Edmunds.com
I am not afraid of my Toyota Prius by Theodore H. Frank (Washington Examiner)
"As a junior defense lawyer in the mid-90s, I litigated a number of bogus sudden acceleration cases that were brought against General Motors. So the recent kerfuffle over alleged mysterious electronic problems with the Prius and other Toyotas has certainly caught my attention beyond just throwing my floor mat in the trunk."
Edmunds staffer says: I liked this story because it was written by a long-time Prius driver who also happened to be a trial lawyer. Between those two experiences he has a unique perspective on the factors driving the media hype around Toyota's alleged unintended acceleration problem. Furthermore, he asked the hard questions that too many media outlets and automakers are afraid to ask. -- Karl Brauer, Edmunds.com Editor in Chief
Marketing & Advertising
In Toyota Mess, Lesson for Japan by Martin Fackler (The New York Times)
"When Toyota's president, Akio Toyoda, apologized for the recalls that have marred Toyota's reputation, he talked not just about his company's fate, but also his nation's."
Edmunds staffer says: Toyota's focus on Kaizen and Just in time was supposed to be a means to an end -- to build better consumer products. Organizations forget this. We have this risk with respect to our own quest for efficiency and even innovation. It is easier said than done with all the various pressures -- initiatives and revenue objectives -- that are pressing in the near term. We need to constantly remind each other, when we cave to those pressures (which are quite real and are easy to dismiss if you aren't the one responsible for a given initiative or objective), that unless we remember the end customer at all times, we are sunk. -- Seth Berkowitz, Chief Operating Officer at Edmunds.com
Death Of The Impression/Rise Of The Data Economy by Michael D. Andrew (MediaPost)
"Recently there has been buzz around the rise of advertising exchanges, which bring media inventory into a liquid, dynamic environment driven by automation and technology. The exchanges come in many flavors, but they all move in the direction of allowing wide swaths of media impressions to be bought in a computerized manner. Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo are all in the game, with ever-increasing amounts of inventory becoming available in this environment."
Technology & Innovation
Deconstructing Apple by Gary Hamel (The Wall Street Journal)
"There are many in the blogosphere who are betting against the iPad. Much of the skepticism seems to be a visceral reaction to Apple's recent triumphs. Apparently it is easier to tolerate jaunty immodesty when a company is a struggling also-ran and not a high-tech juggernaut. Yet despite the alleged shortcomings of the iPad (no camera, no Java, no Flash, no stylus), you'd have to be at least a tiny bit stupid to bet against Apple."
Dealers
Violence Spurs Calls To Rein in the Repo Man (NPR Weekend Edition)
"If you don't make your payments on your car, someone can be hired to repossess it. They might tow it from your driveway or a parking lot. But sometimes repo men go further, breaking into people's garages or homes. Fights can break out. People get hurt, and some have even been killed, prompting some groups to call for greater regulation."
Politics and the Economy
Lehman file rocks Wall Street By Francesco Guerrera, Henny Sender, and Patrick Jenkins (Financial Times)
A 2,200-page report concludes "that there is credible evidence against Mr. Fuld and others for breach of their fiduciary duties and against E&Y for professional malpractice..."
Edmunds staffer says: Interesting on not just regulators but also Ernst & Young's role... just when we thought corporate America had learned a lesson after Enron and the enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Translate this to the automotive industry -- manufacturers and NHTSA... what will we learn? -- Sylvia Marino, Executive Director, Community Operations, Edmunds.com
See also: Repo 105: Lehman's 'Accounting Gimmick' Explained by Jacob Goldstein (NPR Planet Money), Examining Lehman's Creative Accounting (NPR All Things Considered), Report Details What Led To Lehman's Collapse (NPR Morning Edition)
Parliamentarian in Role as Health Bill Referee by Sheryl Gay Stolberg (The New York Times)
"Today, Mr. [Alan] Frumin puts his procedural acumen to use as the parliamentarian of the United States Senate. Most of the time, it is a quiet, under-the-radar kind of job. Not these days."
Edmunds staffer says: A fine piece about the one man who will decide if there's validity - and applicability - to the arcane Congressional parliamentary procedures the Democrats are plotting to invoke to block a Republican filibuster of the health-care bill. I challenge you to find a newspaper political story without George Will's byline that combines mentions of the Senate parliamentarian and Bartleby the Scrivner in the same piece. And at the end, the description of the reconciliation strategy and how it was sculpted by Senator Robert Byrd (West Virginia!) is pretty good stuff, too. - Bill Visnic, Sr. Editor, Edmunds AutoObserver.com
International
World auto crown lacks full luster By Tim Dunne (China Daily)
"By now, just about everyone has heard that China eclipsed the United States as the largest vehicle market in the world in 2009... The milestone is notable, but it needs to be put into perspective."
Edmunds staffer says: China is certainly an important market for the auto industry, and a key economic driver in the world economy. Hype often overshadows the reality that China is a developing nation. It's fascinating to watch China take form, but comparisons to the U.S. auto market should be carefully made. -- David Greene, Industry Analyst at Edmunds.com
China hits at currency 'protectionism' by Geoff Dyer (Financial Times)
"Wen Jiabao, Chinese premier, has warned other countries that pressing China on currency policy amounts to protectionism and insists that the renminbi was not undervalued."
What are you reading? Tell us at reading@edmunds.com. Include the article link and a note about why you feel it's a good read. We may publish your commentary in next week's column.
LEAVE A COMMENT
Excellent post! Always good to see the sources of information and perspective that help shape YOUR own perspectives, so I can calibrate. Many thanks, do this again! If I were to nominate something for reading, too, it would be the new book out on Yugo by Jason Vuic. Instructive, well-researched, and hilarious.
Long-time Edmunds.com fan; first-time poster.
I was searching your site for articles about the Toyota debacle…and the fraudulent claims. Thanks to Karl Brauer posted that gem, “I Am Not Afraid of My Toyota Prius.” It gives me more ammunition when I talk to GMC-drivers who fear the Toyota in the rear view.
I was disappointed by another post from China Daily. I think the staffer misses the point the rest of the news orgs were making. It’s myopic to translate RMB to dollars and insist, “China isn’t the biggest automotive market.” The real story is the market grew 50% during a period of worldwide economic recession, hence the annex of the “largest automotive market” title to their growing list of economic gasconades.
Also, the term “developing country” only applies to China when you consider the World Bank (oh, and China’s own) standards—they’re a lower middle income economy, undervalued currency notwithstanding. Their GDP (purchasing power) is number 3 in the world. You know what other countries are considered a lower middle income economy/”developing country”? Albania (GDP: #118), Kiribati (GDP: #208), Kosovo (GDP: #156), El Salvador (GDP: #93)—the list goes on. “Developing country” has not applied to China, whose purchasing power is second only to the US, in some time. By the way, they’re the US’ largest creditor.
Considering the source, China Daily, there is an extent to which one should analyze such a story from critical dimensions. This is from the state’s mouthpiece and it only buttresses the state’s claim to an undervalued currency.
What’s more inane, the staffer posts a story about the fracas over the undervalued RMB that points to protectionism. While appreciating the yuan will assist US exports, it’s no secret that China purposely undervalues its currency in order to maintain its trade advantage, which is why it is the cause of more than US’ concern. I suggest the staffer should do a little more time reading around the subject rather than posting anything that sounds good.
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