on 2/2/03 10:01 AM, George M. Anderson at george@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Here's a little ironic commentary on the unemployment blues I just came
> across.
>
> Joe Smith started his day early having set his (MADE IN JAPAN) alarm clock
> for 6 a.m. While his (MADE IN CHINA) coffeepot was perking his (COLUMBIAN)
> coffee, he shaved with his (MADE IN HONG KONG) electric razor. He put on a
> (MADE IN SRI LANKA) dress shirt, (MADE IN SINGAPORE) designer jeans and
> (MADE IN KOREA) tennis shoes. After cooking his breakfast in his new (MADE
> IN INDIA) electric skillet, he sat down with his (MADE IN MEXICO) PDA to
> plan his day. After setting his (MADE IN TAIWAN) watch to his (MADE IN
> CHINA) radio he got into his (MADE IN GERMANY) car, riding on (MADE IN
> ITALY) tires and continued his thus far fruitless search for a good paying
> AMERICAN job. At the end of yet another discouraging day, Joe decided to try
> to relax for a while. He put on his (MADE IN BRAZIL) sandals, poured himself
> a glass of (FRENCH) wine, turned on his (MADE IN INDONESIA) TV, watched the
> news delivered by the (CANADIAN) anchorman and then wondered why he can't
> find a good paying job in.....AMERICA..... >
>
>
Well, the interesting thing is the company I worked (briefly...) for is a
global company, with a European, North American, and Asian divisions. The
corporate headquarters is in the UK, and the stock and financials are all in
UKP. I guess it doesn't matter where the HQ is located, or what kind of
money the count in, if there are not enough sales -here- the layoffs will be
-here- and maybe elsewhere as well, I don't know. I'm not a big proponent of
'buy American', and growing up in Michgan discussing the auto industry with
my uncles who all work for GM got pretty interesting... but I think global
competition has made American car companies better competitors, and I -know-
it has made American cars better than they used to be!
I think a real problem is that when business gets slow nowdays the *first*
reaction of executive management is to cut people. That used to be seen as a
failure of leadership, you let 'your people' down, it was a last-ditch
thing... now I think the executive leadership(?) doesn't want to let Wall
St. and the stock price down by seeming to preserve people at the expense of
profits. We have somehow gotten away from the 'old-time' corporate morality
as exemplified by Hewlett-Packard back the it was run by leaders(!) with
those last names. If you work for a large corporation nowdays you are
basically as expendable as a copier or a fax machine; if profits or sales
drop too much you will be 'unplugged' just as easily by upper management.
Employees are seen as just another cost center.
I think middle management ranks are just as much in jeopardy as 'individual
contributors' nowdays, but it seems like above a certain level there are
'golden parachutes' and a certain 'take care of each other' attitude with
the corporate boards such that accountability and penalty for poor
leadership, lack of vision, and mediocre leadership performance is very
weak. For example Michael Capellas worked to merge Compaq and HP, then takes
a $14million buyout to 'go away' so Carly can run the company. Meanwhile,
the merged companies are laying off thousands of hardworking people to try
to make it profitable... Could not some of those people being laid off
instead have contributed new ideas, new products, new services and built new
markets if directed by a leadership with vision and inspiration, instead of
Wall St. machinations and stock options grants first in their minds? Carly
stands to profit in the tens of millions from engineering this merger.
Capellas walked away from 18,000+ layoffs and landed a sweet deal at
Worldcom... who will he merge that company with for his next $15million?
I don't blame my boss, but I do blame the executives who couldn't steer the
'corporate ship' towards more sustainable markets.
--
Jim Brokaw
OM-'s of all sorts, and no OM-oney...
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