[Talewinds]

I welcome any ideas, examples, or wisdom from the brain trust here regarding a short thesis and presentation I have to crank out here in the next week or so, I know, nothing like waiting until the last minute....
My subject is fairly straight forward but other than a few somewhat related books I'm having trouble digging up references or thinking of examples. My opinion is that companies, American ones in particular, have forgotten how to do things well, or have disregarded the merits of doing things right in favor of just getting schit done. It's as simple as that.
That attitude seems pervasive in the business world these days. At least my experiences over the last decade indicate to me that often times meeting a deadline trumps following the right process, meeting goals, or doing things better. Making sales, regardless of the cost supersedes producing a product you'd be proud to put your name on.
An example of this is the oft-used statement that General Motors is in the business of making money, not cars. (We saw how that's turned out)

Another example that I'm currently exploring is the current Toyota debacle, which, in a nutshell seems to me to be summed up as; Toyota's quest for quality is paramount, and quality problems must be dealt with.... unless those problems will spell a loss of profits, or the potential to be toppled from the top auto producer spot, then we should just sweep the problems under the rug.

Please feel free to point to other examples of companies choosing to eschew the philosophy of doing things well in favor of just getting things done.
I could be completely off base on all of this, but I'd like to hear the opinions of others whether they support my theories or go contrary to them.


Thanks in advance for your input.