Toyota and Panasonic are getting mean - pressuring employees to buy their products.



(Re: Panasonic, see http://www.marketwatch.com../news/story/panasonic-dire..cts-mangers-buy-its/story...aspx?guid={E58559A2-14DF-4..963-9359-71F2438770E7}&dis..t=msr_2)



Employee sales are almost always a small percentage of overall sales.



Employees alone can't and won't solve for Toyota or Panasonic’s current problems which are dictated by the economy (exogenous factors), not limitations of the companies' respective product portfolios.



Panasonic wants its 10,000 managers to buy $2,200 worth of extra Panasonic product by July of this year. That’s pathetic. It’s mean, too.



If every manager were to spend an extra $2,200, $22-million in
incremental sales is realized. Considering Panasonic's operating margin
of 5.7%, Panasonic would realize an extra $1.3 million in operating
income.



In 2008, Panasonic generated $4.59B in operating income for the full year. An improvement of $1.3-million is an incremental .03% - in other words, near zero.



Messages for Panasonic: First off, stop bullying your managers! You need your top managers now more than ever. Second, be honest; an extra $22-mil in sales will have no tangible, noticeable effect on your holistic financial performance.