Anyone who knows me knows that I’ve been one of Honda’s biggest fans—and most loyal customers—for almost 30 years. There are a lot of reasons for that, but I won’t go into them here because this isn’t about Honda as much as it is about what is or might be happening to my prime supplier of four-wheel transportation and why this matters to PDD and its clients.
From time to time, I look at images of Hondas and Acuras, current and in the offing, on the Internet (I’m not in the market. I’m just curious.). This morning, as I mused about what is and what might be, I stumbled across an article by Dave Mable in Car and Driver in May 2012 entitled Why Honda is In Even More Trouble Than You Think [Deep Thoughts].
I’d been wondering whether I was the only Honda owner (actually, it’s an Acura EL) who thought Honda’s styling was, well, blah. So I started reading Mable’s article. In the fifth paragraph, he referenced author Jim Collins who, among other things, contributes to the Harvard Business Review and other business journals. In the article, Mable uses “the five stages of demise in the world of modern business” Collins wrote about in his book How the Mighty Fall to describe what happened to General Motors and what Mable believes is happening to Honda. For the record, the United States Department of the Treasury has begun to sell off the remaining shares of its stake in GM. It bought the shares as part of its bailout of “Government Motors”.
On a related matter, Bloomberg Businessweek (May 6 – May 12, 2013) appeared in my mailbox yesterday. On the cover, in large print, is this question: “What do you call 176,000 lawyers lying at the bottom of the ocean?” The answer, in very large print, is on Page 52.
Why no answer here?
To entice you to do what PDD people do a lot: read things you might not ordinarily read. I didn’t go looking for these two stories as such. They just happened to be there. Or, if you prefer, they came looking for me. If you follow the trail I’ve just left for you, you’ll (a) learn something about Honda that could possibly influence your decision to approach them looking for work or in response to an offer of employment; (b) learn something about GM that could possibly influence your decision to approach them looking for work or in response to an offer of employment; (c) learn about Jim Collins, what he thinks about, and how you can apply that when looking at companies you might be thinking about approaching looking for work. (Hint: read the excerpt from the article he wrote for Businessweek in 2009.)
This is how we begin the process that nets us the deep intelligence we use as the basis for discussions with our clients about how to select and leverage postsecondary education, what to look for in evaluating the risk associated with working in Industry A for Company B instead of Industry C for Company D, and whether or when it might be time for you to be looking for greener pastures. You’ll also find it in how we advise our clients about formulating and executing job search and negotiation strategy.
To find out more, write to Neil Morris at info@personalduediligence.ca or call 905.273.9880.
PS: If you like cars, here’s something Acura’s been thinking about.
Personal Due Diligence 