Danny, this type of thing is happening all over the company and in all different areas. And I think I know what is happening.
Lets take PAS. Someone decided that we needed to find a better way to dispatch our drivers, so they came up with the PAS system idea, which is a GREAT idea. It would allow us to know the night before what packages will be on car the next morning so we could make changes to the loads before the packages even hit the center. It would also allow us flexibility on the preload side. No longer would it take months for a preloader to learn load patterns. Every package would have a label and tell the loader exactly where it should go. Heck, even I could handle that and I am idiot! So, once this system is in place, UPS package operations would be BETTER.
Okay, now it needs to be presented to the organization. Since we have gone public, the only way a project of this magnitude could get a green light is if it will save the company a ton of money. That is all Wall street wants to know. The days of taking on projects just to make us a better company are long gone. So now, cost saving need to be presented. Someone comes up with a statement that with this new system, we can put more packages on our drivers and because the loads are going to be so balanced, they can do more in less time. That equates to $1 billion (or whatever they said it would be) in cost savings. The higher ups are sold and the project moves forward. Once it is implemented, the savings are not as great as presented. But can the blame be put on whoever came up with the initial cost savings? Absolutely not! So now those number crunchers can point at the drivers and say See? My projections were right! The drivers have just gotten more complacent! Its not my fault! If they would put in the effort, then they would not be over dispatched!
Same thing happens on the BD side of the house: Someone comes up with a new initiative, convinces the powers that be that it can increase our market share by 2 3 points, and then they sign off on it. No body notices that this initiative is going to add 5 10 hours of work (yes, you read that right) to an AEs week and there are no plans to lessen that workload to allow the AEs to absorb this new work. When the numbers start rolling in and the initiative is not bringing in the new business that was projected, the reason is that the sales force is lazy or inept and not doing what they are supposed to in order to make the initiative a success.
This happens time and time again. Scary Scary.