Greed and our Nation kind of sickening to me.

[M-technik-3]

Sears and Roebuck as you know has been struggling. Then the CEO Eddie Lampert is buying a 40 Million dollar house.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/morganbr...an-creek-home/

And as we know Craftsman tools is now going to be saying Made in China. ARG.

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147083

[z31maniac]

On a much smaller scale, where I work now, I was told a few years ago everyone's normal Christmas bonus was cut to 0.

After the break, one of the VPs comes back with a brand new Porsche Cayenne turbo......

[KenC]

On a much smaller scale, where I work now, I was told a few years ago everyone's normal Christmas bonus was cut to 0.

After the break, one of the VPs comes back with a brand new Porsche Cayenne turbo......

The VP just works 139,000x as hard as all of the other employees. :roll:

[cale]

On a much smaller scale, where I work now, I was told a few years ago everyone's normal Christmas bonus was cut to 0.

After the break, one of the VPs comes back with a brand new Porsche Cayenne turbo......

Exec's getting raises you could set a clock to is the norm, even while making man power cuts else where.

[Farbin Kaiber]

Exec's getting raises you could set a clock to is the norm, even while making man power cuts else where.

The rich get richer, and the poor bitch and moan.

[cale]

The rich get richer, and the poor bitch and moan.

Hey I'm by no means against ceo's and executives being on a different page when it comes to pay, bonuses or lay off's. They're at the top for a reason, you have no one to blame but yourself if you're stuck at the bottom. Capitalism ftw.

[Farbin Kaiber]

I wasn't saying you were, I was just quoting the last post in the thread.


No hard feelings?

[M-technik-3]

No I just don't want to see another company run into the ground while corporate CEO take bonus after bonus. If your alright with this type of management then fine. I am not.

[PeteD]

Agreed with OP. Par for the course unfortunately.

Side note - Bill Gates was in my building a couple of weeks ago hanging out with Bill Cummings (owner of office buildings), they meet up and try to get other billionaires to give away a significant amount of their money before they die. I'm ok with those guys being filthy rich, as it is clear to see how they got there. However, CEO's of big companies that often fail and still reap unbeleivable rewards is rather unsettling. That's the Nature of the beast though.

The sad part about all of this is Craftsman Sales (Made in China) will probably see an increase because, large in part, American consumer behavior flocks to lower price points.

[Farbin Kaiber]

I'm not "alright" with that type of management, but moreso, I'm not alright with people (not you, the majority/masses) complaining about a few having control, and working minimal time required to provide/survive as opposed to working more than expected (see: 40 hour week) to create something (see: innovate in an untapped market) to provide for themselves and create growth.

I see the issue as similar to the adage "Those who can't, teach" with people being those whom don't create/innovate, work for someone that does.

[rwh11385]

Most forget the leadership signified by CEOs taking a $1 salary if their company is struggling. I want to slap people who whine about executive pay if they don't get out of bed before noon and smoke then play COD all day, but CEOs ought to only be paid for success and performance, not just being a pair of cheeks in a nice chair. I've known an amazingly talented and irreplaceable CEO being paid a good more amount of money than others, but his contributions were also vastly superior than several people combined and worth every penny... even if that kind may be rare. Sadly, the hum-drum and destructive machine that is a short-sighted corporate culture ended up booting him from the company he built from the ground up, starting in a dorm room. People like him deserve what they get paid, although I think he put the success of the company and its future above his compensation still.

And anyone who complains about their managers/VPs/executives getting the majority of the kill and them just get scraps should become their own boss. Unless you got skin in the game or share in the risk, no one is necessarily going to give you more than you require to have you stick with your job. Of course companies can reward hard work very well and have great performance reviews, but sadly most don't. It's much easier to find a company that operates well than complain until a poor one makes you happy. Even if it is a cesspool of bad practices and policies, someone will likely fill your shoes. (places with 25%+ turnover every year but still 'grow') Companies that understand great talent is hard to find and costly to replace invest in their workers with good benefits and training, and hopefully more leadership will see that.

I'm not "alright" with that type of management, but moreso, I'm not alright with people (not you, the majority/masses) complaining about a few having control, and working minimal time required to provide/survive as opposed to working more than expected (see: 40 hour week) to create something (see: innovate in an untapped market) to provide for themselves and create growth.

I see the issue as similar to the adage "Those who can't, teach" with people being those whom don't create/innovate, work for someone that does.

Man, it's eerie agreeing with you... but yeah. I know people who put in the minimum, or less than that, and complain strongly about rewards even while not doing their job well. Obviously there are some companies which operate well and their care and empowerment of their employees is crucial to that... but I'd say it's the minority.

Not all managers or leaders do this, but certainly many find comfort in a 'long desk' and then defend their nest... instead of driving change and making improvements. Marginal improvements are safer than great leaps, which is why some companies are being choked by bureaucracy. Hopefully the future holds many more smaller disruptors that change industries and produce creative business models that deliver superior products and services to happier customers with happier employees. There's certainly ample opportunities growing in Africa as well as India. And anaerobic digestion, sanitation, and alternative power, etc.

But titans like Circuit City, Best Buy, Sears, etc. simply try to maintain the status quo and ignore reading the tea leaves, for hopes that doing more of the same will save them. The age of big box retail may be declining and I'd love to see Wal-Mart suffer as well. But turning to China for tools is putting price before quality and nothing I've seen from any of first three mentioned has been innovative. They've denied their realities instead of trying to change their game - I mean look at Ball Co. Or other examples I could think of if I had more time and didn't have to finish mowing...

[mar1t1me]

Hey I'm by no means against ceo's and executives being on a different page when it comes to pay, bonuses or lay off's. They're at the top for a reason, you have no one to blame but yourself if you're stuck at the bottom. Capitalism ftw.

Which, in my experience is that they know, and have sucked up to, just the right people. It is seldom because they're smarter or work harder.

I have no problem with someone who runs a viable business making money. But a 236:1 ratio of CEO pay to worker pay in America is obscene. It was 30:1 in the '70's, and is still about 16:1 in Japan.

It has also been shown that lavish CEO pay tends to devalue the stock over time. In other words, even more people get screwed by it!

Capitalism is great! I wish we had that system.

[Vedubin01]

You can always find another place of employment if you dont like how the one you are at is structured.

Or better yet, start your own!

[rwh11385]

You can always find another place of employment if you dont like how the one you are at is structured.

Or better yet, start your own!

+1. x1000.

[mar1t1me]

+1. x1000.

I have my own, thank you very much, but I will tell you the single biggest issue I face is working capital. Banks aren't lending. Period. I went to 6 banks with 8 years of positive track record, good credit, no black marks at all, and was looking for enough money (Modest mid-five figure amount, well within norms for the type of business) to make my already profitable operation more efficient. In other words, we all make more money. Every single one said things like "too risky" and "our underwriters frown on commercial lending now" and "well, how much cash collateral can you put up?"

In other words "Fuck off".

And why is this so? Because a bunch of greedy, unaccountable people gambled and lost. Somehow, they're still raking in the dough, but the rest of us continue to be expected to just suck it up.