A Socially Responsible Burger Joint?

We hear news of the corrupt practices of companies everyday, but maybe Burgerville provides a counterexample. Burgerville seems to be trying to act responsibly toward their employees. They have found a way to cut costs, improve productivity, AND pay for the health care of employees. Do you think providing health care for workers is the responsibility of our government? What role, if any, should private businesses have in providing health care? Why has paying worker health care premiums resulted in increased sales and improved employee productivity? Now, if they could only come up with a new name!

To Tariff or not to Tariff...

News today that the U.S. will impose tariffs on Chinese tires coming into this country creates an outcry from the Chinese government. OBama's move is in stark contrast to his predecessor's four-time rejection of such a move. This took a lot of nerve considering our delicate relationship with the Chinese right now. What do you think the fall-out will be? Do U.S. workers in the tire manufacturing industry have a "right" to a job? If so, does that right over-ride the interests of U.S. consumers? Click here for the news article.

Capitalism: A Love Story

I'm looking forward to seeing Michael Moore's new film "Capitalism: A Love Story." Moore's candid approach always seems to create a stir. Here's an excerpt from Arrington Huffington's review.

Michael Moore has proven again and again that he has a remarkable feel for where the zeitgeist is heading. He's like a zeitgeist divining rod. Roger and Me was way ahead of the curve on the collapse of the auto-industry. Fahrenheit 9/11 was way ahead of the curve on the collapse of the house of cards the Bush administration used to lead us to war in Iraq. Sicko was way ahead of the curve on the collapse of the US health care system. And now, with his new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, he is riding the wave of the collapse of trust in our country's financial system.

….In the film, Michael describes capitalism as evil. I disagree. I don't think capitalism is evil. I think what we have right now is not capitalism. In capitalism as envisioned by its leading lights, including Adam Smith and Alfred Marshall, you need a moral foundation in order for free markets to work. And when a company fails, it fails. It doesn't get bailed out using trillions of dollars of taxpayer money. What we have right now is Corporatism. It's welfare for the rich. It's the government picking winners and losers. It's Wall Street having their taxpayer-funded cake and eating it too. It's socialized losses and privatized gains.

Which is why -- although you can bet many will try -- Capitalism: A Love Story can't be dismissed as a left-wing tirade. Its condemnation of the status quo is too grounded in real stories and real suffering, its targets too evenly spread across the political spectrum.

Regulating Bankers

Here are some questions to think about regarding the Fed's new plan to regulate risk-taking financial institutions.

1. How would you feel about working for a bank if there was government oversight on how much you could be compensated?

2. Do you think that curbs on compensation in the banking industry would significantly reduce profits?

3. Do you think that curbing compensation in the banking industry in the U.S. will drive the "best talent" to other industries or other countries to work?

Training and Experience on the Job

Adam Van Dell asked a question on his blog that made me think about the influx of knowledge workers in our labor force. These are employees who bring value to an organization simply by virture of what they know. They are skilled workers such as physical scientists, computer analysts, or product designers, even video game developers. They usually have some kind of expert knowledge in a subject matter and come to the job with a lot of skill and training and education. Obviously we need a lot of these kinds of workers today, but they raise a challenge because their knowledge becomes outdated very quickly. Some say the technical education of such workers has a shelf life of about 3 years. That's not much time before they need "retooling" or re-training. So how should management tailor the workplace for such workers? Do they need special consideration? Failure to update their skills may cause the orgnaizaton to lose competitive advantage, or the worker may go to another firm that does provide the retraining.

The GM Bankruptcy -- A Sticky Wicket for the U.S. Government.

What role should the U.S. Federal Government play in the new (improved?) GM? The Feds will be both owner and regulator of the business. This raises interesting questions that test the metal of our executive branch. Will the administration's business decisions contradict other agenda items of the O'Bama administration such as sustainability goals? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal raises some of these issues.

The Obama Plan for GM - Radical or Reckless?

1. In contrast to the mainstram headlines, John Nichols in this article claims the Obama plan for GM is just more of the same -- a plan that will continue to deindustrialize America rather than one that will support American industry, workers, and families. And all this at taxpayer expense. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/02-0