You Make it, You Buy It

[Jon Katz]

I'm not sure what to make of this one. According to an Agence France-Presse report:

"Electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd. has asked some 100,000 employees in Japan to buy its appliances to boost the company's flagging performance."


Similarly, some 2,200 Toyota managers in Japan have teamed up to purchase Toyota vehicles in an effort to boost company sales. In 2005, Sanyo also asked its domestic employees to buy company-made products after a tough quarter.

I'm not aware of any U.S. companies that have made similar requests, which leads me to wonder if this is something unique to the Japanese business culture.

When I first heard about this, I thought the moves were almost like cheating -- have some employees buy the products they made to inflate sales numbers and make the company appear healthier than it actually is.

I thought: "What if the executives shaved a few hundred thousand dollars off their huge salaries. Wouldn't that have a similar impact on the bottom line?"

Why would Toyota, for example, need to boost its sales with an internal purchasing scheme? I mean, we're talking about the so-called model of efficient manufacturing and quality. Has the race for No. 1 become that critical?

On the other hand, I wondered if Toyota and other Japanese business models foster a level of employee empowerment that drives workers to make more sacrifices than they would in many U.S. workplaces.

For instance, Toyota says it didn't force these midlevel managers to buy cars -- that it was entirely their own decision.

How would the average U.S. worker react if they were asked to "take one for the team?"

[rbrooku]

It isn't much of a sacrifice to "take one for the team" if that means consuming a high quality product. If it helps you keep your job to pay for it, it seems a no brainer. The difference in culture is the Japanese collective consensus whereas American workers are Lone Rangers who would not think to organize into voluntary collective action.