Its called Operations Research, Operations Manangement or Industrial Engineering, and yes, it IS a science.

Its that time of the (insert period of time here) again, where we pick a single sentance spoken by some executive, believe wholeheartedly in the context in which it was presented in the article 3 degrees of sepearation from the sentance spoken, and rant about it.

The article linked in this article is talking about an article in which a few particles of speech were spoken by one Co-Chief Operating Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). I really love this statement he makes because it goes a long way to explaining the problems Sony is having.

Aparently to become a "Co-Chief Operating Officer" (Thats the Co-COO for those of you not paying attention.) at Sony Computer Entertainment America, who's primary function is "strategic, tactical, and short-term OM, which means he or she is responsible for the design, operation, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver the firm's products/services", you don't have to have any idea what OM is.

I shit you not, this is what he said,

Speaking to the San Jose Mercury News this week co-chief operating
officerofSCEA, Jack Tretton, confirmed that there was "tens of thousands'' fewer
PS3sin-store than originally expected for the launch. Tretton blamed the
shortfallon logistical problems and Blu-Ray manufacturing issues, stating, "This
is not aperfect science manufacturing this device."

For those of you that aren't me (which I feel is a large percentage of you), and don't have a degree in Industrial Engineering (a slightly smaller percentage), to truly feel the brunt of this statement, you need to know that there IS a perfect science to manufacture that device, its a branch of industrial engineering known as operations management. It involves a lot of statistics, systems design, and about 60 credits to really understand. It helps if you LOVE statistics, dream about case studies, and absolutely adore telling people what they're doing wrong.

The sad thing, is that if you read my original article on Sony, you'll see mention of the fact that Sony once helped lead the Japanese Quality Revolution, where the very principles of operations management were changed for the better.

WTF happened Sony?

You must have decided to forget the science that made you a leading brand in the first place, and replace your senior management with morons. You've stopped caring about your products, grown out of touch with your customers and only care about the buisness of making money. Its sad to watch you fall.