I wouldnt say that. I recall back in the 80s and early 90s when they had the "ideas in action" program and fewer supervisors the place ran pretty well. Having sparse management and an effecient operation is a sign of a well run organization.
Things were run well at the very top, and that worked its way down to the floor. Everyone actually did share in the success of the company, our wages were 50% higher in real terms and we did get profit sharing. Sure there were some problems and the pay was still lower than it used to be but a little bit of OT would make up the difference, now you would need OT every day.
I dont blame the lower level managers as much as I would those at the very top. Lets face it, for the most part back then they had a motivated workforce to work with, all they had to do was tell them what needed to get done and the guys would get it done. Management from the top however broke the deal, they cut wages, and even restricted the ability for lower level managers to make deals by making the workplace a prison like enviornment. HR took over the show. Laptop rooms are no substitute for a good wage and some OT. Instead of just paying us a fair wage they feel they can threaten us into being more productive, instead of finding a way to get it done people find excuses why it cant get done, (after all we need that OT) so they hire more supervision , make more threats and the guys find more excuses. The guys at the top just dont get it. They cant figure out why their formulas and stategies and synergies and all their other fancy moves arent translating into profits despite doing everything they were taught to do. Why the science they believe in is not providing the expected reaction to their actions. Their theories tell them that when they are dealing with trogs that compensation and output are not related, a pat on the head and a smile are all thats needed, even though for them personally thats not the case. Unfortunately for us their propaganda has influeneced many of our own who subscribe to the same theory, even though they are considered to be one of the trogs!
