Getting My MBA at 48

Profit, How much is to much?

This morning on my way to Reno, NV I picked up the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. In the WSJ there was an article describing how management is going to do things differently at Starbucks, Armed with a stopwatch to cut times partners make coffee and do other jobs in the stores.

This is all in an attempt to save money and make more profit and of course more efficient. As the article calls it getting more lean, sounds crazy to me.

Want more profit, get me out of the fu fu drink line.

Set up a machine so that can walk up NOT in the fu fu drink line somewhere else, put my money in get my Hot cup of black coffee and be on my way. No muss no fuss.

Because if you don’t you Mr Starbucks you will miss out, I usually will pass by opting not to wait when I see that line. I know in that line they are all in there ordering coffee using 50 plus words to describe to the barrister what they want in the coffee.

I am probably not the only one who will walk on by. Avoid my nice cup of joe and reason with myself that I really didn’t need to spend the money. Because at my weakest point that moment they had me, that Starbucks line save me from buying what I really did not need to begin with.

It been a nice day here Reno, and a good time to work on homework

Reading Chapter 1 of Strategic Management I was amazed to read what I have been thinking for awhile in it opening statement and I quote;

” GM is having difficulty achieving the levels of success desired by people who have a stake in the firm’s performance” (Hitt, Hoskisson, Ireland, 2007, pg 4)

Seems that is what has been getting this country and it economy into trouble. Levels of success desired by people.

CEO’s, corporations, and workers are letting ourselves be drive by someone else’s greed. To make more, drive more, and cut more bottom line of the accountants ledger is all that matters. To do the task master bidding.

Not the Customer, and not the Employees, just the Shareholders. Don’t the CEO’s and Corporation get it! that those shareholders have no loyalty to said company. Their only loyalty is to the Almighty Green Back, how much money can they make today, this hour, this minute.

It is a greed wheel that has been pushed hard in the 21st century.

What has happened to good honest work, making a quality product you were proud of and making money at it.

Marketing has taught us we need to have all the toys, and the drive to make the money to pay for those toys has hit everyone. With the internet came day traders, out went investors… in a few years I believe it will go to hourly traders to minute traders as computing power gets stronger. The need to race, to get the edge and cash in, will even become greater.

Greed is the fuel of the investor/day trader and with no loyalties the death of many a company that think in old school management terms(were to big for them to hurt us)  and don’t seek creative and new ways of management and doing business.

Tags: big business, business week, gm, online university, starbucks, success, wealth