Some years later, Ford asked me if we operated Open Book Costing with Nissan, Honda, Toyota and Rover? The answer was yes across the board.
“Will you operate Open Book Costing with us?” they asked. I replied, “No.”“Why not?”, “You’re not ready”. Ford operates with a piece of 4”x2” timber, 3ft long hidden behind your back. When they see fit, they wield it hard, right on the back of our neck! It hurts. That’s the Ford way. “You will use Open Book Costing to make your stick bigger and heavier. You are not ready!”
The Ford buyer smiled. He understood.