ustxtxb_obs_1980_12_26_50_00028-00000_000.pdf

Advertisement THE MYTHS ANI THE MYTH Japanese workers are super-productive. THE REALITY Robert Cole, director, Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan, and author of “Work, Mobility and Participation, A Comparative Study of American and Japanese Industry” was quoted in the Journal of Commerce of November 3 in these words: “All this stuff about these wonderful Japanese workers and those terrible American workers is a lot of nonsense . . . with respect to doing a good job, a decent job, I find no difference.” THE MYTH Japan is far ahead of the United States in technology, especially in the manufacture of automobiles. THE REALITY Mr. Coie, who has worked in a Japanese auto parts plant, said this myth has been given wide circulation by news reports that a new Nissan plant in Zama, Japan is so highly automated that it turns out 1,300 Datsuns daily with 67 assembly line workers on each shift. Mr. Cole said he knows the plant which employs 2,000 hourly workers on the first shift, an equal number on the second and 1,000 white collar and technical workers. “I think,” Mr. Cole was quoted as saying, “some observer looked at something like the bodyweld shop which has a lot of roboticks and few workers and somehow the idea got around that the whole plant had only 67 workers on each shift. This is the kind of thing that conveys the notion of the invincibility of the Japanese, that they’re light years head of us in technology.” THE MYTH Japanese products, especially cars, are high quality, while U.S. products, especially cars, are shoddy. THE REALITY As Mr. Cole has pointed out, Japanese industry has stressed quality. But so is American industry the right response for these times. And U.S. Department of Transportation tests have shown that Japanese cars lag in highway safety. The Institute for Highway Safety, a private organization, has just reported serious design defects in gasoline tanks of the Toyota Corona and Corolla, defects that could lead to explosion in collisions. No modern nation, including the United States, can survive without trade. But trade must be balanced and fair. Dumping, support of export industry by foreign governments, foreign tax policies and other unfair trade policies have undermined basic U.S. industry, including steel and autos, as well as shoes and garments. A Public Service Message From the American Income Life Insurance Con 28 DECEMBER 26, 1980