Do large corporations really work?

[expat]

That is completely against what you were saying yesterday

http://forums.contractoruk.com/774793-post22.html

No it isn't. IKEA shelving does the job in the study: Ercol would be better but IKEA is good enough. Junk food does not do the job, it is not good enough.

That's the difference.

That relates exactly to what I'm saying here: it might be tempting to go for the best all the time, but it it not always necessary. However, sometimes it is.

[gingerjedi]

Things get worse for the big company if you consider what the 150 people are now doing. Presumably before they were eating onsite. So lunch takes about 30 mins. Now they will have to go to the local town to eat, meaning a longer lunch break and more down time.

On the plus side they could now be getting a bit of exercise and eating wholesome food at Jennie’s pantry which boosts the local economy.

2-0 to the consumer. (Sodexo og)

[Mich the Tester]

No it isn't. IKEA shelving does the job in the study: Ercol would be better but IKEA is good enough. Junk food does not do the job, it is not good enough.

That's the difference.

That relates exactly to what I'm saying here: it might be tempting to go for the best all the time, but it it not always necessary. However, sometimes it is.

You’re discussing two extremes here. ‘Good’ stuff doesn’t necessarily have to mean Ercol; a good local carpenter could put something together at a sensible price.

[thelace]

I've got a friend who worked for a large publically quoted Building Maintenance firm... This firm has many divisions/branches, mainly located in the South and Midlands, one branch in Geordieland that looks after everything North of Birmingham to the tip of Scotland.

At the beginning of 2008, they got some new Senior Management and Diroectors at head office. They decided to "corporatise" (it should be a word) the business and developed verical silos, business infrastructure and that sort of thing.

They also decided that so they could concentrate on their core customers (and thereby provide them with a fantastic service), they would trim cut their customer base by half (losing about 800 paying customers) leaving only blue chip and local authority customers (How bl00dy arrogant of them but that's a different story).

Anyhow, the Geordie boss said "fook that for a game of soldiers" and carried on regardless.

The Newcastle branch is currently the only one making a profit and a big one at that, it has to, it's supporting the rest of the business.

They managed to maintain their high level of customer service by doing what the customer wanted, in the time frame that they wanted and charging a reasonable rate for the job!

It all sounds so simple really....

[Mich the Tester]

They managed to maintain their high level of customer service by doing what the customer wanted, in the time frame that they wanted and charging a reasonable rate for the job!

It all sounds so simple really....

Well that principle's kept our family fed and housed for the last 5 or 6 generations and we're not all rocket scientists, so it can't be all that difficult.

[expat]

You’re discussing two extremes here. ‘Good’ stuff doesn’t necessarily have to mean Ercol; a good local carpenter could put something together at a sensible price.

That is quite true, and I didn't mean to hijack the discussion anyway; I do agree with you. And I do think that's what I'll do in my next house, if it's one I plan to stay in for a while (which would be nice).

'course I keep moving around so much that I never know a good local this or that; and not all are good. In fact some are proper agent material. I mention that irrelevance because it might not be. Not knowing local craftsmen, I mean. When you don't, you are liable simply to be charged craftsman prices by a mediocre handyman, but when you do know someone really good, it's a pleasure to use them. We have just had the Ercol dining chairs re-upholstered, and for all that it cost more than some cars I have bought, it was and is a pleasure.

[minestrone]

No it isn't. IKEA shelving does the job in the study: Ercol would be better but IKEA is good enough. Junk food does not do the job, it is not good enough.

That's the difference.

That relates exactly to what I'm saying here: it might be tempting to go for the best all the time, but it it not always necessary. However, sometimes it is.

You were being snobbish about my range of eating, you seem to allow yourself IKEA though.

My point always was that what you think of as junk and what you think of as quality are actually the same. You missed, or never understood, that point.

[expat]

You were being snobbish about my range of eating, you seem to allow yourself IKEA though.

My point always was that what you think of as junk and what you think of as quality are actually the same. You missed, or never understood, that point.

Yes maybe, but you missed mine: it is not through snobbery but through appreciation of the importance of quality that I make the difference. It's not a case of "allowing myself" IKEA: it is good enough, for that purpose. I will also eat fast food that is good enough.

[Mich the Tester]

That is quite true, and I didn't mean to hijack the discussion anyway; I do agree with you. And I do think that's what I'll do in my next house, if it's one I plan to stay in for a while (which would be nice).

'course I keep moving around so much that I never know a good local this or that; and not all are good. In fact some are proper agent material. I mention that irrelevance because it might not be. Not knowing local craftsmen, I mean. When you don't, you are liable simply to be charged craftsman prices by a mediocre handyman, but when you do know someone really good, it's a pleasure to use them. We have just had the Ercol dining chairs re-upholstered, and for all that it cost more than some cars I have bought, it was and is a pleasure.

Be careful of the difference between a ‘joiner’ and a ‘carpenter’. Modern ‘joiners’ used prefab bit of wood delivered in bulk to their depot and then just stick or screw them together. A real carpenter knows the whole process from tree to table; he’ll select the wood from a trusted timber merchant (maybe even has his own timber yard) and knows whether it’s been properly dried and how it will age just by looking at it and feeling it. That’s why, in your example, an Ercol chair or table doesn’t need beermats propping it up or extra glue in the joins even after 30 years of daily use. My parents have some Ercol; it’s not my taste, but it’s a fantastic example of craftsmanship. No ‘joiner’ and certainly no third world outsourcing factory could make anything approaching that.

[Not So Wise]

Large Corps don't really work because what's "important" is generally reversed from small companies

Large Corp Priority list (in order)

• Individual - Promotion/pay rises
• Department - Budget/politics
• Region (If large enough) - politics
• Product
• Company

And that list is pretty fixed, it's vary rare for something lower in the list to put ahead of something higher for "the good of the company"

Small Company list is virtually reversed

• Product
• Company
• Department
• Individual

And unlike the Corp list this one can be pretty fluid


Only reason large corps exist is because they start out as small companies, do well and get enough market share to maintain their profit margins when everything goes down hill due to the transition from small company to Corporation and the accountants take over

Bank's fiasco though was slightly different though, while the normal Corp priority list went into force, the accountant's either shut up or got fired

Funny who knew, accountants actually do some good