Responses to:
Burning Question: If you were CEO of one of The Big Three auto manufacturers, what would you do to turn things around?

Get rid of the unions. They make the cars too expensive.

- R Barrett

Tell engineering to work on a family car that would get 40 to 50 miles on a gallon of gas, and to start looking at alternative and practical fuel sources.

- Michael Malecki

American car manufacturers must make a car like the Toyota Camry (best-selling car in America) in order to survive. This American car has to meet or beat the quality (perceived or real) of the Japanese Camry and must offer at least as many features (preferably more) at about the same price. The American car manufacturers are not paying enough attention to details as much as Toyota does …

- Joe Wiesner

Get out of the survival mode and start becoming an innovater.

- melvin spicer

The Big 3's historical strength was in high-volume manufacturing. In splintering their lines to create more models to try to serve smaller niche market segments, they have moved away from their strengths. It is suggested that they consolidate lines and make the best "large," "mid-size," "compact," etc. cars they can, but only 1 model in each category.

- MEB

Value your employees, and give them a say in building better vehicles.

- Bernie Albrecht

Drop the oversize and overpriced models. Keep a few sporty models, but focus on the mid-size designs with powerplants in the 3L-and-under class. Strive for 40-50 highway MPG, but not by going to minature vehicles. Toy with the exotic powerplants in the lab ... you certainly can't afford to support such a rapidly advancing item with a 5-year waranty. Work toward a small, clean diesel (read safety) and leave the exotic fuels for the space program …

- John

Has anyone considered that there are actually too many cars, too many models, too many inane commercials that hawk the same silly deal over and over again throughout the night. To watch commercials on TV, one would think that if cars do not sell, the whole economy will fall apart. In the long run, models, styling, all come round. The buying public is incredibly fickle. The shape that is hot this year will be meaningless the next …

- R Matthew Songer

Increase miles per gallon by 30%, and less dependent on crude oil. Basic options should be tailored for the less-expensive cars, and the high-end cars should hace the higher-end options. Zero-percent financing for the first three years. Cut back on color offerings, and cut back on models offered … The Work-Fleet cars should have only what is needed for the majority of drivers, i.e., large trunk, good gas mileage, cut back on options, keep only what is necessary ---- we are forgetting it's just transporation!!!!

- Ed & Joyce Wilkens

And to other recent articles...

… The best way to hold a meeting is to have it only with the employees who NEED to be there. Then, only cover subjects that are on the Meeting Facilitators' written agenda. Keep it simple, keep it short. Studies have shown that the average employee goofs off nearly 20% of each hour on the job. Don't give them a reason to increase those percentages. The most important thing to remember when planning a meeting (and some ARE very important and needed) is to keep it short and simple (like this comment).

- Michael Mondia, President, WIT Enterprises, on 'Let's Have More Meetings! Who Wants to Be Productive, Anyhow?'

… American Industry needs more men of action than those of words.

- Thomas Kandathil, on 'Let's Have More Meetings! Who Wants to Be Productive, Anyhow?'

What an interesting way to get into space. I first became aware of this theory about 35 years ago, probably in a science-fiction story. There is a fundamental flaw in the statement about reducing the cost of space flight: the owner(s) of the space elevator will need to be compensated, and I bet the going rate will be just a bit under what the cost is for earth-launch to orbit. Otherwise, why build the elevator? …

- Dick Stutzman, on Why Take a Rocket Ship?

Not to be a wet blanket on this subject, but has anyone other than Kim Stanley Robinson (author of the Mars Trilogy of Red Mars, Blue Mars, and Green Mars) thought of what could happen if there was a problem with the space elevator, and it happened to fall? The results could be quite catastrophic …

- Tom Williams, on Why Take a Rocket Ship?

… We're not just some guys with PowerPoint slides and grandiose ideas from the hick part of Seattle. Well, Bremerton isn't fashionable, and we do have grandiose ideas. We also are a small but serious organization -- we've given this matter a fair bit of thought. KSR was writing for entertainment -- his Martian elevator is impractical at best in the real world. Too massive and prone to failure. The SE we propose to build is a great deal less massive than that. The material is (must be) feather-light per hundreds of meters -- a bit could fall on your head and you'd not notice. Below the break the ribbon will come down. Above it will drift up and east. A lot depends on where the break is, of course. But it can't wrap around the world -- it's not that strong. Ribbon comes in, impact the atmosphere and breaks up…

- Brian, LiftPort Group, on Why Take a Rocket Ship?

Reply to Brian:
Glad you came back to answer the questions I put forward. I'm an engineer, myself, and work for the government. And I'm well aware of how much those major projects have moved progress forward in their days.
Actually, I'm one of those folks who'd LOVE to go out there. I grew up with the Space Program and greatly miss the excitement of such things as Projects Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. It seems ludicrous that we haven't been back to the Moon in over 30 years …

- Tom Williams, on Why Take a Rocket Ship?

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