From: Arlo J. Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Fri Jul 02 2004 - 23:29:56 BST
> Just in case you're wondering, I think employee ownership of corporations
> is a fine idea. But, I ask myself: If such corporations are as financially
> successful as companies with traditional corporate organization, why
> aren't there more of them?
I think the answer lies in your definition of "financially successful". So long
as the litmus is "maximum accumulation of wealth" (cheap labor, cheap
production, monopolized markets), these companies probably can not compete with
corporate structure. For example, so long as Coca-Cola (or fill in the big
corporate name here) can export labor to impoverished areas such as Tijuana,
and pay the laborers practically next to nothing (several cents an hour in many
markets), how could an employee-owned soda company which by its nature would
provide realistic living wages for its employees compete. As soon as it
threatened Coke in a particular market, Coke would undersell its product to
maintain its market share.
Employee owned companies will thrive only when people make a conscious choice to
perhaps pay more for a product produced by a company paying fair living wages,
allowing its labor to be connected with the product of its activity, and
certainly *not* exploiting the citizenry of poorer nations. I do not think that
in the culture of rampant consumerism we live in such a dialogue has been
possible. I think it has been fairly well documented the abuses of corporations
like Coke and Nike and Microsoft, and yet the majority of people remain
ignorant (perhaps willingly) of these abuses and continue to make purchasing
decisions based on cheap price or brand status.
I agree with Pirsig in spirit that such a "revolution" has to be a grass-roots
bottom up change, but I feel strongly that it is a Quality endeavor to promote
it in the dialogue and in practice.
Arlo
PS: Just to clarify, I certainly do not think all corporations are "evil", and I
do belive that there are those which are run "good" and by "good" people.
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