G
Greg Goodman
My take on this:
I agree that there are a lot of people who try to make good products for their customers.
However - and ignoring completely the issue of whether one chooses to make good products using Microsoft or Linux - I don't believe that business people are in business to make good
products. They're in business to make money. They may believe that making good products is good for their business, but that's the means,
not the end. If you can convince them that their ends would be better met (improved sales, profits, market share, etc) by embracing different
means (producing lower-quality products), they usually do exactly that.
The measure of success in business is the bottom line. Measuring success in other terms, such as quality of work, or advancement of the state of the art, or personal satisfaction, makes it a hobby, or an avocation, or a passion. It is possible to make money pursuing a passion for quality - I do, and I know others who do as well - but I do not believe that this is the governing principle behind the operation of large businesses, and certainly not for the multinational corporations that dominate the software and industrial controls hardware markets. When there is a tradeoff between quality and profitability, the economic (and socio/political) system in which we operate motivates decision-makers in the direction of profitability, and it motivates them more strongly the greater number of people they have to answer to.
My two cents,
Greg Goodman
Chiron Consulting
I agree that there are a lot of people who try to make good products for their customers.
However - and ignoring completely the issue of whether one chooses to make good products using Microsoft or Linux - I don't believe that business people are in business to make good
products. They're in business to make money. They may believe that making good products is good for their business, but that's the means,
not the end. If you can convince them that their ends would be better met (improved sales, profits, market share, etc) by embracing different
means (producing lower-quality products), they usually do exactly that.
The measure of success in business is the bottom line. Measuring success in other terms, such as quality of work, or advancement of the state of the art, or personal satisfaction, makes it a hobby, or an avocation, or a passion. It is possible to make money pursuing a passion for quality - I do, and I know others who do as well - but I do not believe that this is the governing principle behind the operation of large businesses, and certainly not for the multinational corporations that dominate the software and industrial controls hardware markets. When there is a tradeoff between quality and profitability, the economic (and socio/political) system in which we operate motivates decision-makers in the direction of profitability, and it motivates them more strongly the greater number of people they have to answer to.
My two cents,
Greg Goodman
Chiron Consulting