Quote:
Originally Posted by Bullitt
I know what his job entails and he is a key part of determining the direction of the company, directing people and resources, making decisions that greatly affect the future of the company, not some goofball salesman in a plaid suit pitching ideas to a board. That's the way this company is structured, he manages a number of salespeople, market research folks, product prototype developers, etc., and uses these resources in collusion with other "executives" or whatever you want to call them, to make decisions about how the company should be run and where it is going. The point is, he is an example of a white-collar worker whose salary, purely due to it's size, is something of a target by people with an obsession to demonize anyone associated with those at or near the top of a large company.
|
Which is why CEOs once earned a massive 17 times more than the average employee.
How did companies (ie Ford) get productive? 1981 Ford was taught by Deming that the executive's job is "attitude and knowledge". Not decision making. That means providing direction - the strategic objective - then spending time verifying that employees are properly managing the accounts and properly trained to do so.
How was pre-1981 Ford fixed? Ford went from 48 levels of management (all who worked very hard) to 5 levels. Suddenly employees were empowered to do their job - and therefore did work better. Suddenly bosses no longer made so many decisions. Suddenly bosses provided attitude and knowledge by working for the employees. Suddenly Ford went from record losses to record profits in nine years. Why? Executives were no longer so important. The "too many white collar" problem was diminished. What did change? Decisions were made at lower levels where decisions are best made by the little people.
Again - Apollo 13 - the hero was never the big executive. If top executives are making heroic decisions, then communism exists. The hero was the little guy who did not even have a name. Executives do not make success. Executives only make success possible. As a result, the CEO deserves a massive 17 times more money - and no more.