John Novak Quotations

Miller isn't afraid to make tough decisions. You will see some action here in the next couple of months. This is measured in months, not years at this point.

On first glance, they looked fairly positive especially given the tough industry conditions. Building controls continues to do well and autos faces considerable challenges but managed to hold up its end.

I believe they still have a long way to go, but it is encouraging that they continue to talk.

If, indeed, Wachovia did pull out, that would certainly cause some people concern. It reduces the number of potential bidders and people assume that reduces the likelihood of a deal.

Going forward, we assume Algoma will continue to be opportunistic in making additional share buybacks and special distributions.

I would think you'd be able to run an auto company's North American division out of there, ... Considering they already have the manufacturing operations there, that would make sense.

It appears they made some progress on their restructuring efforts. It's far too early to call the efforts a success, but they do seem to have some positive momentum.

I think what you'll see with York on board is a greater sense of urgency to drive changes and accelerate restructuring actions.

It is not surprising how they arrived at this mess because they had so many issues going on, but the market isn't going to like that they didn't follow through on what they said. This is another element of uncertainty.

It is a small, but positive sign. They still have a ways to go. Reaching a win-win is going to be extremely difficult.

It is a natural next step in the process. (Collins & Aikman) has made some ill-timed investments over the years and it should help those players left in the fabrics industry.

It doesn't mean that a resolution is at hand, but it certainly means they put some numbers on paper, and they have to have some degree of confidence that it is going to be in this neighborhood.

There is just considerable and growing uncertainty surrounding GM and Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote , Profile , Research ), and that ripples through the industry.

The deal still leaves a lot of questions, and is less than what people were looking for. We would have liked to have seen a comprehensive deal at Delphi. The fact is, there is still the overhang of a potential strike out there.

We think ultimately they will cut the dividend. It won't be because York is requesting it, but rather it's a way that they can send a message to the UAW employees that ultimately the management and shareholders are sharing in their pain.

There is a lot of restructuring to do and it remains to be seen whether their actions will pan out.

There will probably be more changes, and they will be quicker. You'll probably see a more aggressive restructuring plan.

The steps they are talking about seem to make sense, given the state of the supplier industry and their customers. Plant closures and headcount reductions are something they have to do if they are going to reorganize.

(Auto makers) recognize how many of the Top 50 suppliers are in bankruptcy.

A strike would be a cataclysmic event. If there was a widespread strike, this is a worst-case scenario, GM probably has 10 or maybe 15 weeks of cash.

It's a bad day for the entire sector. There's a realignment of earnings expectations across the sector. Some expectations were too high.

It's an interesting and potentially far-reaching deal, but we don't know what the ultimate economic consequences will be yet. If they can convince a significant number of people to take these offers, it would be money well spent.

It looks like they are making progress on their restructuring plan. It is far too early to call this a success, but they are moving in the right direction.

It looks like it was a solid quarter. They continue to benefit from strong demand for emissions controls products.

It's hard to imagine what the upside catalyst is, what specifically is going to change things and lead GM to a turnaround. The list of negatives is so long, and you look at the positives and there's just not enough there to have any confidence at all. ... It probably will get worse before it gets better, so it's possible that GM will be a buy again someday, but that day's a long way off.

Everyone involved here is going to need to make some sort of sacrifice, but a strike is in no one?s interest.

Everyone anticipates a tough year in 2006 across the board. Companies that have a diverse customer base and produce value-added technology-based components will continue to do better than the others.

It's an area that could support a corporate headquarters of that size. You're talking about a business that gets considerable support from its global operations. I think Nashville is large enough where you could attract the talent.

It will send a message to the UAW that shareholders are also sharing in the pain, and the union members are not the only ones being asked to make concessions.

They did everything they could to present a good financial picture. In some cases, they bent the rules to do it.

They were running out of overtime money. They need to go back to the RTM and get more money.

These suppliers who are dealing with 20% or 30% or 40% increases in raw materials, you can't expect them to absorb that pain indefinitely.

I'm not sure anybody can really determine what the economic impact will be at this point.

In many ways, this deal raises more questions than it answers at this point. They haven't provided any details of what they're offering, so it's tough to calculate the economic impact this could have without putting any numbers around this.

I'm not surprised by the bidding. But you're now getting to the point of the company being fully valued. I guess the question I would ask if I was a Thyssen shareholder is, Is this a good use of the money?

With Lean Six Sigma, the tools are the easy part, changing organizational culture is the hard part.

Don't let the fear of statistics keep you from launching a continual improvement program. The statistics hurdle is easily overcome, going out of business is not.

When it comes to continual improvement programs, the biggest mistake is a failure to launch, the biggest hurdle is culture.

A robust internal auditing program shows its presence both at the beginning and end of continual improvement projects. In the beginning, internal audits identify opportunities for improvement, at the end, internal audits provide a mechanism for monitoring the implemented improvement in order to sustain its benefits for the long term.

If you get invited to be part of a team, don't look at it as a burden to get out of, but rather an opportunity to inspire, invigorate, and bring life to the team.

Restless thoughts are a kind of mental 'static' which must be silenced if we are to hear the whispers of our inner self.

One of yoga's great gifts to making is the discovery of the link that exists between energy, breath, and mind. As you change one, you also change the other two. If you excite one, the other two become excited and, conversely, if you calm one, the other two respond by becoming calm also.

You want continual improvement? Then I challenge every employee in an organization to discard the status quo and ask themselves everyday, How can I improve my job?, then find a way to make it happen.

The industry's old economics aren't working, and Wilbur brings a fresh perspective to the problem. He's buying many of these assets on the cheap. Everyone is expecting big structural changes.

All three groups are having meetings at various times and word leaks out from those meetings and for the next half hour that determines the direction of the stock.

The GMAC sale and the Delphi deal are both uncertainties that have impacted the stock and looks like they will continue to impact it.

The company ultimately needs to shrink. The question is, can they do that in or outside of court.