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> Which raises a point I forgot to address in my previous point: There's a
> pernicious and very harmful myth that companies can or should be treated
as
> individuals, just as if they were human. They aren't. A company is not a
> monolithic entity of some sort that acts as if it has a brain--it isn't,
and
> it doesn't. A company is an assembly of people who mostly act in a
concerted
> fashion to achieve some kind of collective goal, and it's that assembly of
> people we must consider.
It's an extremely harmful and pernicious myth -- and not just regarding
companies. There's a tendency to view all sorts of collectives -- unions,
governments, associations, etc. -- as if they were individuals. "The United
States views with alarm..." "Denver is concerned..." "Microsoft regrets..."
"The IAOPWXYZ, Local 79, insists..."
One of the problems with this myth is that it obscures whose interests are
being served. There's a whole branch of economics called public choice
theory that deals with this (the pioneer of it, James Buchanan, got a Nobel
prize for his work). When someone in Washington announces that some action
or rule is "in the interests of the United States Government," what they're
really saying is it's in the interests of some specific person or persons at
some agency or department -- and we'd all be a lot better off keeping that
in mind. :-)
As to loyalty: Everyone's first loyalty is to themselves and their families.
Doesn't matter if you're an owner (stockholder) or employee (from president
to janitor, they're all employees). Then comes a commitment to honesty and
fair dealing -- wise and far-sighted people recognize that such a commitment
is not only morally just, but in their long-term best interests, and thus
serves their first loyalty.
Given the news stories of the past year or so, I can understand some of the
bitterness and hostility about "the Man." But take a deep breath and relax.
More often than not, just desserts do govern -- just because of all the
competitive pressures at play.
For instance, those "muckety-mucks" you read about who got huge sums even
though the company's been doing badly -- more often than not, they got stock
options. A chance to buy 5 million shares of MegaCorp at $40/share looked
like a sweet deal when it was trading at $85. But if their (mis)management
caused the share price to fall to $12, then (a) the options they now hold
are _worthless_, and (b) if they exercised options last year (buying shares
at $40) and still own some of those shares, ouch!
Yeah, sometimes the crooks get away with it -- whether it's some corporate
scoundrel or the guy who kicked in your door and stole your VCR.
Incompetence isn't always punished, either. And last week's lottery winner
is often some undeserving yahoo who'll squander it all in a year or two.
That's life, get over it.
Utopia is not an option. :-)
Richard
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Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Voyant Technologies, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT voyanttechDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT freeDASHmarketDOTnet
303-777-0436
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