Fiction Writing in Business

I see there is a book: Business Writing in the Digital Age available at Amazon.com.

It appears there is also a small cottage industry of writing fiction for business. A reader sent me a particularly good example of fiction writing in business, link here.

Here are some of snippets from that story, with regard to GM's explanation of why they are not adding a second shift to build more Volts:

• The company said Friday it has found ways to make one shift more efficient, so it can produce the same number of cars as two shifts. [Comment: I wonder if the union agreed to doubling output on one shift.]
• GM said the change had nothing to do with Volt sales, which have been slower than expected. The company said demand for the car still is strong and it's sticking with plans to build 60,000 next year. [They sold about 4,000 this year.]
• "This decision will significantly reduce costs, and has no impact on the plant's ability to make 60,000 Volts and Amperas," Lee said in a statement. "This approach is just a more efficient way to make the same number of vehicles."
• GM engineers figured out a way to clear several bottlenecks that were slowing down the Volt plant and increase its assembly-line speed, the company said. For example, they were able to speed up the body shop, where the frame and other parts are welded together, by automating more tasks.
• "Dealers are still clamoring for them," he said.

When I read the opening paragraph of the story in which GM said it found ways to make one shift more efficient, my cynical mind immediately thought: yes, hire non-union workers.

But I honestly was not going to print that. It sounded mean-spirited.

But then I re-read the post for typos and read closely the second to last data-point, and GM is doing just that. To improve efficiency, GM is hiring non-union workers, i.e., automating more tasks by outsourcing to robots.

I cannot make this stuff up. Great fiction writing, all the same.