THE WELCH COMPANY
440 Davis Court #1602
San Francisco, CA 94111-2496
415 781 5700
S U M M A R Y
DIARY: February 20, 1996 06:20 AM Tuesday;
Rod Welch
Received call from Vic at Ford on using Communication Metrics.
1...Summary/Objective
2...Vic said he is too busy to do the Asilomar event in July. This seems
3...Ford Responds
4...Ford Reports No Role for Communication Metrics at This Time
.....þ..Welch offers a solution of automating the Deming management
..............
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CONTACTS
SUBJECTS
SDS Marketing, Sales, Contacts
Ford Motor (S&C Ford); Locate Decision Maker
Deming Management Cycle, Reengineer by
0905 - ..
0906 - Summary/Objective
0907 -
090701 - Follow up ref SDS 13 0000, ref SDS 10 0000.
090702 -
090703 -
090704 -
090705 -
0908 -
0909 -
0910 - Progress 313 446 8068 322 3000 (general)
0911 -
091101 - Vic Leo left message yesterday that he has received information from
091102 - me. He did not indicate if he received the materials from Ed
091103 - Pritchard as well as my letter, ref DIP 4. I assume he got my letter
091104 - because it submits the Asilomar agenda, which was the primary focus of
091105 - his message.
091106 -
091107 - Vic said he is too busy to do the Asilomar event in July. This seems
091108 - to conflict with the proposition in my letter that Ford has found the
091109 - secret to apply continual learning at Ford. He did not say anything
091110 - about applying Communication Metrics at Ford.
091111 -
091112 -
091113 - ..
091114 - Ford Responds
091115 -
091116 - This afternoon we received ref DRT 1 from Ed that transmits the
091117 - materials he received from Charles Mori, which is my letter to S&C
091118 - Ford on 951106, ref DIP 1, submitted at ref SDS 4 0866, and Ed submits
091119 - to Vic, my letter to Ed, ref DIP 2, submitted on 960122. ref SDS 9
091120 -
091121 - [See continuing need at S&C for support, ref SDS 14 line 85.]
091122 -
091123 - ..
091124 - Ford Reports No Role for Communication Metrics at This Time
091125 -
091126 - Ed says in his note to Vic that Ford does not see a role for Welch
091127 - services with dealerships at this time. ref DRT 1 9765
091128 -
091129 - Ed does not set out the reasons given for using Communication Metrics.
091130 - which he indicated on 960122 could help Ford, ref SDS 9 0989, and his
091131 - boss concurred on 960212. ref SDS 13 0001
091132 -
091133 - An example might be...
091134 -
091135 - Ford dealership (S&C in San Francisco) has shown continuing
091136 - difficulty communicating internally, with customers and with
091137 - vendors resulting in defective reports to customers on scope of
091138 - work performed, remaining work needed and compliance with
091139 - warranty provisions. Communication to correct prior errors,
091140 - actually results in compounding mistakes.
091141 -
091142 - [On 960305 another example. ref SDS 14 9966]
091143 -
091144 - Ford does not now have a means to correct these defects and
091145 - there is no program under way or being considered to correct
091146 - them.
091147 -
091148 - These defects result from industry practice to use conversation
091149 - to expedite the work. S&C work is probably one of the better
091150 - dealerships in managing its work to meet customer requirements.
091151 - Reliance on conversation is standard throughout Ford, including
091152 - executive work practices. This is consistent wtih practice at
091153 - Ford competitors, vendors and customers, and business and
091154 - government in general, since it evolved from an era when
091155 - information flowed more slowly than today and in the period
091156 - ahead.
091157 -
091158 - Ford's defective communications have previously been included
091159 - as part of cost of the vehicle, including maintenance costs
091160 - which have been accepted by customers.
091161 -
091162 - Welch points out the growing volume of business communications
091163 - will require greater vigilence in order to offset the increased
091164 - risk of mistakes from reliance on conversation. Under a
091165 - Malthusian scenario the system will crash from lack of support
091166 - called out in ISO criteria as "traceability to original
091167 - sources." Another way to grasp what is occurring is that
091168 - faster communication degrades "understanding." Misunderstanding
091169 - causes mistakes and lost opportunity that reduces earnings. The
091170 - experience at S&C is an example of an emerging breakdown in
091171 - business communications which warrants early attention under
091172 - Risk Management practice.
091173 -
091174 - Welch offers a solution of autom the Deming management
091175 - cycle that inherently creates the traceability which Welch
091176 - claims is needed to improve business communications. Ford is
091177 - an adherent of Demings ideas. Welch says neither Ford nor any-
091178 - one else can implement Demings ideas without automating the
091179 - management cycle and integrating it with time and information
091180 - management which his tools provide.
091181 -
091182 - Welch calls use of his software to support management
091183 - "Communication Metrics" because it captures, tests and aligns
091184 - understandings to ensure accuracy and consistency, plus it
091185 - discloses nuance that is otherwise overlooked in daily
091186 - management. This leverages the ability to think, remember and
091187 - communicate. These are the activities that produce wealth in
091188 - advanced societies, and so by definition will improve earnings.
091189 -
091190 -
091191 - If any of the above statements are incorrect, that would be grounds
091192 - for avoiding the process of investigating Communication Metrics. If
091193 - Ed had set out in substantial part the above explanation, he would
091194 - have demonstrated "understanding" of why Welch is bothering Ford with
091195 - claims of improved earnings by using Communication Metrics. To
091196 - support a finding that Communication Metrics has no role for Ford
091197 - dealerships, he could then argue:
091198 -
091199 - Welch reports the record incorrectly. The errors and failures
091200 - he reports did not occur and/or are not sufficiently widespread
091201 - to justify taking steps to improve communications at Ford.
091202 -
091203 - The rationale of the New World Order... paper is incorrect; at
091204 - Ford the "Information Highway" of more meetings, calls, faxes
091205 - and email are an assett, enabling fewer people to do more work
091206 - in less time and with greater accuracy.
091207 -
091208 - Ford tried automating Deming's management cycle and was
091209 - unsuccessful, and/or it did not improve earnings.
091210 -
091211 - Ford's earnings cannot be improved by empowering executives and
091212 - managers to reduce mistakes and discover lost opportunities.
091213 -
091214 - Ford cannot afford the cost of improving earnings.
091215 -
091216 - There is not enough time to investigate ways to improve
091217 - earnings through better management.
091218 -
091219 - Ford has no process, individual or group for evaluating
091220 - opportunities to improve management.
091221 -
091222 - Ford has under consideration better and less costly ways to
091223 - improve earnings than by lifting the capacity of its people to
091224 - think, remember and communicate.
091225 -
091226 - If any one of the above statements were true, that would be grounds
091227 - for concluding there is "no role for Communication Metrics at Ford."
091228 -
091229 - At this point, however, the record has no evidence of any such
091230 - findings to support a conclusion that Communication Metrics has no
091231 - role at Ford.
091232 -
091233 -
091234 -
0913 -
0914 -
0915 - 0644 called Vic
0916 -
091601 - Left message asking if he knows of anyone from his contacts in
091602 - acadamia or industry who might be able to make the presentation we
091603 - have in mind.
091604 -
091605 -
0917 -