Personal Development for Smart People Forums

Personal Development for Smart PeopleTM Forums


Go Back   Personal Development for Smart People Forums > Personal Development > Character & Contribution
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Character & Contribution Values, integrity, finding your purpose, living your purpose, serving the greater good, making a difference, changing the world, charity, polarity, lightworkers, darkworkers


Welcome to the Personal Development for Smart People Forums, the place for lively, intelligent discussion of all personal growth issues -- physical, mental, financial, social, emotional, spiritual, and more.

You're currently viewing as a guest, which gives you limited read-only access. By joining our free community, you'll be able to post your own messages, access many members-only features, see the new messages posted since your last visit, and of course remove this header message. Registration is fast, simple, and free, so please join today.

If you arrived here from a search engine, you may want to explore the main site first, which includes hundreds of deep and insightful articles on a variety of personal development topics.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #31 (permalink)  
Old 06-11-2007, 10:28 PM
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Quebec, Canada
Posts: 3,813
Shamou is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ree View Post
Now, please know that in the good old USA,
It's old alright... but is it still good...??? j/k

.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #32 (permalink)  
Old 06-12-2007, 12:40 AM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Posts: 219
Iksander is on a distinguished road
Default

Eh, just toss in some Viagra, that'll fix it.

It's what India is for - cheaper than your employees and cheaper than the new technology!

In the long run though, technology is probably the better investment because it is more predictable than a human laborer; and Indian labor costs (plus the cost of out-sourcing the operation) will slowly rise as India develops.

(then we can lobby our government into bombing another place into the stone age so we have a ridiculously cheap work force to utilize all over again!)
__________________
"Speak your mind, even if your voice trembles."
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #33 (permalink)  
Old 06-12-2007, 05:36 AM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 789
Erki is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by silicon toad2000 View Post
and hope you can drop the price enough to gain the market share needed to sell all the production?
Erm... looks like no MBA for me either...
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #34 (permalink)  
Old 06-12-2007, 11:05 AM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 419
silicon toad2000 is on a distinguished road
Default

perhaps an alternative scenario

A presentation is due the next day being prepared by yourself and co-worker.
You are working late putting the finishing touches on it.
You realise your colleague has has not taken some specific costs into account when making the forecast, or a syntax error in the code of some new software or (insert relevant career limiting screw up here).
Your colleague is your biggest threat for a promotion.
Everyone concerned will know that it would be your colleagues mistake and would be no fault of yours.
You have the skills to fix the error.

do you fix it before the presentation and say nothing or let the screw up happen and let the co-worker take the heat.

ok now think about these
1)your colleague has a history of these mistakes and you're sick of cleaning up after them
2)you know your colleague to be much more talented than yourself
3)your co-worker is sleeping with your bosses partner
4) your colleague is the bosses wife's niece/nephew
5) your colleague has their own fledgling business which you know will take off shortly
6) your colleague is a friend you met at toastmasters and was instrumental in your employment at the company.

Is ethical behaviour subjective?
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #35 (permalink)  
Old 06-16-2007, 10:30 PM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 209
Jenny is on a distinguished road
Default

[quote=Shamou;79538]Here is a hypothetical scenario:

You work for a privately owned company and discover a way that the same amount of production can be done with half the manpower. You talk about this to the owner and he tells you that if you implement your technology… he will make you a full partner… which means a huge financial reward for you.

However, if you do it, you know that half of your friends and co-workers will lose their job and that since most of these people have been there for over twenty years…

What do you do…??? Forge ahead and reap the reward… or squelch your project… and save your friends and co-workers… (No other option is available)

[quote]

Interesting hypothetical scenario you have here Shamou.

First, I would of course move ahead with the new technology after inspecting the books and negotiating carefully just what powers and liabilities I would be taking on as full partner. Oh, and if I didn't like what I saw I'd see if I could sell the idea elsewhere.

Second, there are never just two options in life, especially in business. I'd consider myself a pretty poor businesswoman if an either/or solution such as this was the best I or my staff could come up with! In the short term (provided the technology turnaround needed to happen quickly I'd cut all staff to 20 hrs with same pay and benefits secure for a predetermined time period) while simultaneously conducting reviews of all employees and laying off those are not productive. During this time I’d be figuring out how to get the remaining employees engaged in a profitable enterprise with the assumption they’d be highly motivated to help management figure out just what the said profitable enterprise would be…

PS. I know this can be done successfully because I’ve done it before. And while I might not fit in at Harvard I do fit in in life...

[quote=JohnPlace;79608]If your company can get the same amount of work done with half the people, you owe it to your stockholders to make cuts.

However, there is flip side here. Human beings are usually a company's most important and most expensive resource. The cost of replacement is very high. And the cost of low morale among those who avoid the lay-off could also be quite high. QUOTE]

If it is a privately held company there are no stockholders to worry about. The main financial worry would be if you have enough cash on hand to see you through the transition.

JohnPlace I completely agree on people being the most important and most expensive resource. Also, they are people…

I have no idea why my quotes didn't work. Blah!
__________________
www.jenny-and-erin.com
~ join two friends on a tongue-in-cheek quest for understanding...

Last edited by Jenny : 06-16-2007 at 10:35 PM. Reason: Note about quotes
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #36 (permalink)  
Old 06-16-2007, 10:48 PM
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Quebec, Canada
Posts: 3,813
Shamou is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenny View Post
PS. I know this can be done successfully because I’ve done it before. And while I might not fit in at Harvard I do fit in in life...
Jenny... this thread was not designed to find out how smart or how nice people are ... but to find out if they have the "eye of the tiger"... or that touch of greed that is almost a prerequisite to stardom in the business world... or to put it into Donald Trump's words, "Nothing personal... it's just business..."

.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #37 (permalink)  
Old 06-16-2007, 10:55 PM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Minnesota, USA
Posts: 209
Jenny is on a distinguished road
Default

Shamou,
Not to be disagreeable but that's how I replied. When you say "having the eye of the tiger" certainly you don't mean that only someone who follows the "rules" you've outlined exactly would have it? I meant it when I said I don't believe there are only two options ever in life and especially in business.

I put my own experience because I felt a general condescension towards the other repliers who said they cared about the people not just the money.

Look at a someone such as Warren Buffett and compare him to Donald Trump. There is more than one way to chase success and in your words to "have the eye of the tiger".
__________________
www.jenny-and-erin.com
~ join two friends on a tongue-in-cheek quest for understanding...

Last edited by Jenny : 06-17-2007 at 02:33 AM. Reason: changed misspelling
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #38 (permalink)  
Old 06-16-2007, 11:09 PM
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Quebec, Canada
Posts: 3,813
Shamou is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenny View Post
Shamou,
Look at a someone such as Warren Buffett and compare him to Donald Trump. There is more than one way to chase success and in your words to "have the eye of the tiger".
I know absolutely nothing about Warren Buffett... so, I cannot comment... and, I can tell you that I'm only half as successful (financially that is) as I could have been, because I also care about people...

However, what I have been able to learn from the so-called "success" that I read about... or met in person was that in business as in professional sports, you play to win if you want to win...

.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #39 (permalink)  
Old 06-17-2007, 12:45 AM
Banned
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 734
Uplift is on a distinguished road
Default Barking up the wrong tree!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shamou View Post
I know absolutely nothing about Warren Buffett... so, I cannot comment... and, I can tell you that I'm only half as successful (financially that is) as I could have been, because I also care about people...

However, what I have been able to learn from the so-called "success" that I read about... or met in person was that in business as in professional sports, you play to win if you want to win...

.
Aspiring to better financial success, and getting the 'eye of the tiger'... know nothing about Warren Buffet? Time to learn some new tricks
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #40 (permalink)  
Old 06-17-2007, 01:21 AM
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Quebec, Canada
Posts: 3,813
Shamou is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Uplift View Post
Aspiring to better financial success, and getting the 'eye of the tiger'... know nothing about Warren Buffet? Time to learn some new tricks
The "aspiring" part of better financial success is now over for me... as far as I'm concerned it's payback time for all that I was given... now, I want others to get their share of the good things in life...

And as far as Warren Buffet is concerned... I did read up a little on the guy and I find him as boring as rain on a Monday morning... sorry... he does not turn me on...

I paid my dues... I got the rewards... now it's fun time...

.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #41 (permalink)  
Old 06-17-2007, 02:09 AM
Banned
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 734
Uplift is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shamou View Post
The "aspiring" part of better financial success is now over for me... as far as I'm concerned it's payback time for all that I was given... now, I want others to get their share of the good things in life...

And as far as Warren Buffet is concerned... I did read up a little on the guy and I find him as boring as rain on a Monday morning... sorry... he does not turn me on...

I paid my dues... I got the rewards... now it's fun time...

.
Whether Warren Buffett turns you on or not is irrelevent to the fact that he is the ultimate, the pinnacle, the stardom, of financial success. The fact that he is vastly more financially successfull than yourself, or the others whom you quote and offer up as guides to the ultimate, the stardom of financial success, and 'eye of the tiger', is glaring. You made the following statements:

'Jenny... this thread was not designed to find out how smart or how nice people are ... but to find out if they have the "eye of the tiger"... or that touch of greed that is almost a prerequisite to stardom in the business world... or to put it into Donald Trump's words, "Nothing personal... it's just business...'

and:

'However, what I have been able to learn from the so-called "success" that I read about... or met in person was that in business as in professional sports, you play to win if you want to win...'

The original question was,

'How far would you go to succeed financially… ???'

Obviously you have found your own, and Trump's etc limits and answer. Why should they be taken as the ultimate guide to others? Others have their limits. As you demonstrate, and state, each individual's personal choice is the most important factor for measuring financial success, not the amount of money earned. Your argument highlights that people's happiness counts, not money, in determining the ultimate financial success. Otherwise you would overcome your boredom and indifference, get 'the eye of the tiger' and do what it takes to emulate the pinnacle, Warren Buffet.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #42 (permalink)  
Old 06-17-2007, 05:00 AM
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Quebec, Canada
Posts: 3,813
Shamou is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Uplift View Post
Otherwise you would overcome your boredom and indifference, get 'the eye of the tiger' and do what it takes to emulate the pinnacle, Warren Buffet.
Rest assured that I am far from being bored or indifferent... I have stated before that I see it as my mission to contribute in any way that I can in sharing some of the knowledge and experience that I have accumulated through the years... that stuff really turn me on and keep me from being bored...

As far as Buffet is concerned... I am very glad that you can see him as a role model and mentor... and I hope that he can inspire you to get whatever it is that you want out of life...

May the power stay with you...

.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #43 (permalink)  
Old 06-17-2007, 07:30 AM
Banned
 
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 734
Uplift is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shamou View Post
As far as Buffet is concerned... I am very glad that you can see him as a role model and mentor... and I hope that he can inspire you to get whatever it is that you want out of life...

May the power stay with you...

.
Thanks Shamou. And you! See, nice and smart is good. And successfull...just joking.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #44 (permalink)  
Old 06-17-2007, 10:29 AM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 909
Keith is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Shamou View Post
Here is a hypothetical scenario:
You work for a privately owned company and discover a way that the same amount of production can be done with half the manpower. You talk about this to the owner and he tells you that if you implement your technology… he will make you a full partner… which means a huge financial reward for you.
However, if you do it, you know that half of your friends and co-workers will lose their job and that since most of these people have been there for over twenty years… it will be next to impossible for them to relocate at a the same salary… resulting in a huge financial loss for them…
If the same production can be done with half the manpower, why not implement the technology and use the current employee base to produce twice as much? That way everyone wins...
__________________
When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created.
When people see things as good, evil is created.
When the way is forgotten, 'morality' and 'piety' need to be taught.
-Dao De Jing, Chapter 2
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #45 (permalink)  
Old 06-17-2007, 10:38 AM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 789
Erki is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith View Post
If the same production can be done with half the manpower, why not implement the technology and use the current employee base to produce twice as much? That way everyone wins...
Hey, it was my idea.(post #25)
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #46 (permalink)  
Old 06-18-2007, 09:38 AM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 419
silicon toad2000 is on a distinguished road
Default

Jenny, nicely managed on the hours cutback and performance review.
That's often the hardest thing about slimming down an operation, identifying the fat to cut.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #47 (permalink)  
Old 06-18-2007, 02:13 PM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 909
Keith is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Erki View Post
Hey, it was my idea.(post #25)
Cool, I didn't see that. Great minds...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silicon Toad
and hope you can drop the price enough to gain the market share needed to sell all the production?
IBM once famously estimated that there was a global market for maybe 6 computers, tops. But once the price of the product came down, whole new markets opened. We're now at the stage where many (most?) homes have a computer - so some of those ran out and got a second (or third) one! Automobiles too went from a rare and expensive luxury to the point where most households have multiple cars.

Your comment seems to imply that the market for your product is a closed system. But it almost certainly isn't...
__________________
When people see things as beautiful, ugliness is created.
When people see things as good, evil is created.
When the way is forgotten, 'morality' and 'piety' need to be taught.
-Dao De Jing, Chapter 2

Last edited by Keith : 06-18-2007 at 09:28 PM.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #48 (permalink)  
Old 06-18-2007, 10:58 PM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 419
silicon toad2000 is on a distinguished road
Default

I agree, if you are in the business of manufacturing good in an emerging market such as you have pointed out there are massive increases in the size of the market. These generally occur over a longer period of time and only after the entire industry has changed. Every emerging technology is the same, dvd players, mobile phones, microwave ovens, TV's ballpoint pens...
These changes are longer term. It takes the market some time to respond to the drop in prices and then the manufacturers some time to respond to the increased volume to drop prices again and so on...
I felt this situation was purely discussing the short term ramifications of the actions. There's no doubt with a strong management team who clearly seem to be pioneering new technology, in time will need more staff than they did before the initial technology was implemented.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #49 (permalink)  
Old 06-20-2007, 06:59 AM
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Illinois
Posts: 151
A.K.Light is on a distinguished road
Default

I'd move forward.

The ladder of success is NEVER crowded at the top. If it was, it would no longer be the ladder of success. As a result, somebody would put up a new one and start climbing.
__________________
Doing my best...
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #50 (permalink)  
Old 06-20-2007, 02:41 PM
Banned
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Quebec, Canada
Posts: 3,813
Shamou is on a distinguished road
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by A.K.Light View Post
I'd move forward.
The ladder of success is NEVER crowded at the top.
I think that calling it the "pyramid of success" is a more descriptive name... you find the crowd at the bottom... but only the top banana on top...

.
Digg this Post!Add Post to del.icio.usBookmark Post in TechnoratiFurl this Post!
Reply With Quote
  #51 (permalink)  
Old 06-25-2007, 04:22 PM
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 20
maximebellemare is on a distinguished road
Default

I would put the new technology into action as soon as possible. with the money we would save, I could help more people that are really in misery. Some poeple are dying because thy have no food right now, I don't care about if one of my friend will be in obligation to stop playing golf during his vacantions.
__________________
www.intelligence