Homer Sarasohn interview, 1988-07-02, part 3

Myron Tribus interviews Homer Sarasohn in Arizona. Sarasohn begins by talking about the history and background of industries such as the Ford Motor Company. Sarasohn says that he joined Booz Allen Hamilton when he returned to the United States from Japan. He then talks about business practices and says that a person has to answer with a truthful, heartfelt sentiment, and have a real reason to stay in business. Sarasohn says that the Japanese did not have a word for development and that he introduced them to the word “accountability.” He shares that Bunzaemon Inoue was a sincere and conscientious Sumitomo executive who went on a world tour with Sarasohn’s textbook to see how the concepts were being implemented. Sarasohn lists management objectives and says that the job of a leader is to exemplify the strengths he or she sees in his or her subordinates. He shares that he still visits Japan and visits people from companies such as Nippon Electric Company. Sarasohn believes that there is an adversarial relationship between company management and employees, and that there are very few exceptions. Because of this, there is a lack of trust and differing objectives. He reports that General Douglas MacArthur issued an edict that allowed the Communist Party of Japan to openly exist, but when the edict was reversed, the union movement quieted down. Sarasohn mentions organizations that serve as Japanese management resources and lists the updates he would like to see in management education. He says that W. Edwards Deming was the right person in Japan, and that Sarasohn did not get to know Joseph M. Juran until the 1950s. Sarasohn says that after he worked for Booz Allen Hamilton, he worked as a staff director of engineering at IBM, and did consulting work in general management and consulting systems. He believes that IBM’s reputation is built on excellent customer service and that customers respond to IBM because they know they can trust IBM. Sarasohn discusses quality and says that while quality costs money, in the long run, it is cheaper to build quality into the product, than to service the problems afterward. Sarasohn goes on to describe photographs from his time in Japan. The video begins with the interview in progress.