仕事を抱え込んでしまって困った山田さんが、「なにを作るかよりも、いかに新しい作り方をするかです」と言ったって、説得力がない。

This means; Yamada who dived into a new job and got in trouble said "its less
what your make, but in what new way you make it", which was very unconvincing.

Is that right? im confused by the question followed by desu.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T12:21:55.670
53845
2017-10-19T04:29:51.957
16132
question
grammar
What does question followed by です mean?
It's not a question. While one of the main functions of か is to mark a direct
question, it has other functions too. In this case to _indicate_ a question or
hypothetical instance, in other words an either/or situation. So, either the
question of what you make (なにを作るか）or the question of the new way you make it
(いかに新しい作り方をするか) is up for discussion in the quote.

食べるか話すかどちらにしなさい。"Just do one thing, eat or talk"  
In this case, it's like saying "decide on the question of eating or talking".
"Decide on whether you're going to eat or talk". The function of か here is the
same as in your example, namely to indicate an either/or situation. Especially
when you see two clauses both ending with か it is very often a way to compare
these two clauses in some way.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-16T14:09:32.240
53846
2017-10-16T14:09:32.240
25875
53845
answer
> 「 **なに** を作{つく}る **か** よりも、 **いかに** 新{あたら}しい作り方{かた}をする **か** です」

The part preceding the final 「です」 above is **_not_** a question even though it
contains "elements" of a question -- 「なに」、「いかに」 and 「か」.

> 「Interrogative word + verb phrase + **か** 」

in this context, as it often does, functions as a **noun phrase** just as in
"I don't know **_what to eat_**." in English.

Moving on to my next point..

> 「A + より（も） + B + です/だ/である」

means:

> "B is more important than A.", "B is more desirable than A.", etc.

Notice that there is no word needed in the expression that directly means
"important", "desirable", etc.

Thus, the whole sentence means:

> If Yamada, who himself is in deep trouble with too much work on hand, said
> "It is more desirable to think about new (and more efficient) ways to
> produce than to (just) think about what to produce.", it would not be
> convincing.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-19T03:14:28.133
53902
2017-10-19T04:29:51.957
2017-10-19T04:29:51.957
9831
53845
answer