Camping World Quality

pnichols wrote:
Germany, and other similar places in the world, may not be where U.S. chartered companies think they should go to get their branded products manufactured ... but maybe it's in the kind of world manufacturing environments similar to Germany where customers should consider going to get high quality products. That is, until good old U.S. chartered companies begin to get the quality message again.

Notice I said "U.S. chartered companies" instead of "U.S. companies". Many U.S. companies no longer perform like good U.S. citizens ... they appear to be U.S. companies in name (and charter) only. Under our legal system a company chartered in the U.S. is considered to be "a person", hence they should act like a good U.S. citizen-person if they're want to be called a U.S. company.

IMHO, U.S. companies have at least one other top priority besides maximizing return for it's owners and executives ... that other priority is doing what's best for the long term existence and viability of the cultural system in which it is chartered. This other priority encompasses hiring the bulk of their workers from that cultural system, creating within those workers pride in the manufacture of it's products, and paying those workers maybe enough to someday buy some of the top quality products it's workers are putting together.

I prefer my products to come from companies that at least slightly resemble what I describe above. It's now becoming more and more difficult to find products coming from U.S. chartered companies that do. Some other countries still have companies - that started within those countries - that resemble what I describe.

Would I buy a top quality product from a China chartered company when I could not find an equivalent U.S. chartered company version of it ... yes ... just like I do now with top quality products from, say, Germany. But buying a less-than-top-quality version of a product from a U.S. chartered company that has it built in China instead of a top quality version of it built here .... is something else.

I agree with most of what you think a good company should be. However in the reality of todays world if you are a CEO you have definite bosses. When the Wall Street analysts and bankers get you on the conference call and TELL you that your share price is too low and you MUST change things..(Read: Save money) or the banks are not going to continue to loan you money at good rates or at all...then you must do something. This is the reality that many CEO's face everyday.

Is it farsighted? Maybe not. Is it what we want from our corporations? Probably not. But it is the CEO's job to do what it takes to keep the company competitive and viable.

There are only two ways to increase profit (and thus share price) Lower Costs or Raise Prices. Which are you going to do in the hyper sensitive, cost conscious Markets of today?

Your thoughts on corporations are laudable but unrealistic for most in todays marketplace.