[BC] Re: The nub of the issue

[Rich Wood]

------ At 09:04 PM 3/31/2008, Vernon Kuehn wrote: -------

>My our fangs are showing on this topic.  We are all angry at 
>someone, somewhere, and we want to lynch someone so we have decided 
>that BEANCOUNTER is the title for everyone who is evil.

I'm happy to say I've worked with a lot of great accounting people. 
In many cases they tried to help me figure a way to make something 
happen. I think what we're angry at is the CEO who brownnoses Wall 
Street without regard for the operating health of the company.

These are often people who are so disconnected with their employees 
and listeners that the focus is on enriching a precious few at the 
very top. We're seeing that in the privatization schemes in place 
today. Those at the top will make huge fortunes while the companies 
slash employees to pay the new mortgage. It's hard to believe that, 
in days long past, one of the reasons for a corporation was to provide jobs.

As great a pioneer as he was, there's a story about William Paley 
wanting to build a restaurant in the new Black Rock so his 
secretaries could get a good $8 lunch. At the time $8 was a fortune. 
He wasn't paying any of them enough to afford his restaurant. He 
lived in the stratosphere. With that disconnect I'm amazed he had the 
programming gut he had.

The order to cut usually comes from the top and the accounting people 
have to find ways to do it. Each department is told to "cut 10%" At 
the old Infinity there was an order that sales were to increase by 8% 
a year. It was impossible then and beyond comprehension today. The 
order came from Mel Karmazin, not a beancounter.

I think we've expanded the term beancounter to include anyone who 
cuts so deep that the creative soul of the company walks out the door 
with the hundreds of people fired.

Unfortunately, it's only just begun.

Rich