Okay, one last potato post. . . .

How a Honda employee bakes a potato:

*Buy a high quality, fresh potato

* Preheat new, high-quality oven to 350 F

* Insert Idaho potato

* Go do something productive for 45 minutes

* Check for doneness, then remove perfectly baked potato from oven and serve

How a Ford employee bakes a potato:

* Have buyer do a market study to find the cheapest supplier of
potatoes

* Demand that supplier get potatoes from China or Korea in order to reduce price

* Buyer decides to purchase old potatoes as a cost savings measure. Buyer demands that there is a 10% price reduction due to eyes growing on potatoes.

* Ford employee cleans eyes off potato (45 minutes) plus 15 minute break time

* Send potato (Now starting to mold) to supplier

* Instruct an Idaho potato supplier to preheat the oven to 350 F

* Demand that the supplier show you how he turned the dial to reach 350 F, and have him come up with documentation from the oven manufacturer proving that it was calibrated properly

* Review documentation, then have supplier check the temperature using a sophisticated temperature probe

* Demand that supplier show documentation of at least 20% minority owned components were supplied in the manufacture of the stove.

* Direct supplier to insert potato and set timer for 45 minutes

* Realize that Ford did not ship potato to supplier yet

* Send potato to supplier (15 minutes)

* Demand that potato be done within the original timing plan, even though 15 minutes was wasted already

* Since supplier is now late, demand that supplier turn off oven and go to meeting to discuss how timing can be improved

* Supplier refuses, threatening to stop shipment of potato. Ford
finally gives in.

* Supplier heads back to start over and turns oven on again.

* Have supplier open oven to prove potato has been installed correctly, and request a free study proving that 45 minutes is the ideal time to bake a potato of this size

* Check potato for doneness after 10 minutes

* Check potato for doneness after 11 minutes

* Check potato for doneness after 12 minutes

* Become impatient with supplier. Why is this simple potato taking so long to bake??? Demand status reports every five minutes.

* Check potato for doneness after 15 minutes...

* After 35 minutes, conclude that potato is nearing completion.
Congratulate supplier, then update your boss on all the great work
you've done, despite having to work with such an uncooperative
supplier.

* Remove potato from oven after 40 minutes of baking, as a cost save without loss of function or quality versus the original 45 minute baking time.

* Serve potato

*Customer receives potato, complains about quality of potato

* Ford responds that these are the best potatoes available

* Customer complains to Govt. Govt forces Ford to recall moldy potato

*Ford instructs supplier that they will not pay for potato failure, and they are canceling supplier's contract and awarding business to new supplier

* Wonder aloud what on earth those Japanese folks are doing over there to make such good, low-cost baked potatoes that people seem to like better than Ford potatoes.