The how of scoring

Zero-sum battles, head on, have something primeval about them. Something with the power to affix the attention of crowds, a sort of gladiatorial charge, a synaptic crackle of suspense that makes for a perfect distraction device. The rather less frenzy-prone, by this book, Score!, are equally desirous of victory, but also have their brains whirring away on what the goal is, how it is actually scored, and even whether the "how" can reset the "what" of scoring to the benefit of all contestants.

It's not half as complex as it sounds. Written by Chrysler's former president, Thomas Stallkamp, this book's sub-sub-title, Moving from Conflict to Collaboration explains the broad idea. The cover visual, an olive branch in a boxing glove, gives it a jab of vividity.

In literal terms, Stallkamp tells the story of contrasting styles of supply chain management during the 1990s among the car-makers of Detroit. Ford and General Motors (GM), as he tells it, were content with their command-and-control hierarchies and the "feudal" power they could exert over rear-end suppliers""the very basis of "adversarial commerce". Typified by the style of GM's Ignatio Lopez, this involved bullying suppliers into charging less. Chrysler, in contrast, came up with its Supplier Cost Reduction Effort (SCORE) in 1991, which involved working closely with suppliers to save money. "Instead of mandating reductions or price decreases, Chrysler offered to work with the supply base to implement submitted ideas that streamlined the business or eliminated redundant efforts and costs." The same goal, a different "how to score". Win-win.

The savings rose year after year, and in 1998, SCORE saved Chrysler $1.5 billion. But then came the merger with Daimler Benz, and the idea was dumped. Most of Stallkamp's book is an extended plea to reinstate a programme he argues has all the operational benefits (efficiency of shared information and mutual trust) of Toyota's keiretsu network without any of the handicaps (the equity maze). Suppliers, for example, get incentivised to give the company ideas instead of playing the old trick of grabbing contracts on artifically low quotations only to inflate bills later on.

While the auto industry bears the brunt of the author's exertions, it is the entire "operating system" of industrial production that he takes on as he goes along""particularly the not-invented-here syndrome that resists all fresh inputs, exposes industry to a future of doom, and perpetuates inequities unsustainable in the age of information.

Ah, information. The author makes no mention of Jac Nasser's attempts to revolutionise Ford, but he makes it plain that the way to "break out of the cycle we find ourselves in presently" is to bust the information monopolies that wireframe command-and-control systems of management, and institute instead a system of data sharing that eases genuine collaboration across traditional barriers. The objective? Strategic transparency"" not motivated by wishy-washy idealism but by hardnosed returns.

Stallkamp's tone tends to sound somewhat alarmist at times vis-a-vis the status quo, but to his credit he does temper his argument with a sober analysis of the risks entailed. It's a sense of industrial realism the author isn't about to discard yet. If he himself seems reluctant to cast off his own labyrinth of data (did you know bentonite clay goes into infants' safety diapers as well as cars' safety valves?), there must be a reason.

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SCORE!
A BETTER WAY TO DO BUSINESS: MOVING FROM CONFLICT TO COLLABORATION

Thomas T Stallkamp
Wharton School Publishing/ Pearson Power
Price: Rs 499; Pages: xxiii + 228