Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for January 13, 2010

For which the CEO at the end of the table gets a million $ bonus

No bail out money ?

Where accountants thrive, vision dies.

Of course there will be bail out money. Where else do you think the money for the million $ bonus will be coming from?

Soon there won’t be anyone left to push the buttons.

i was at the other end of the table a year ago november. it was august ‘08 when it really started to far apart. you’d think by now it would be more than a detectable pattern. maybe he’s talking about the guys suit…….

When there are no beans you don’t need beancounters.

Good one, Joe! (Keep it up.)

they always talk about cost-cutting in classes, but never even mention human suffering.

Ji2m Ditto, Once upon a time I had a conversation with an intern (business MBA) at our company (an international paper company) questioning him about an announced price increase. Business was very flat, so what little we had was made tenuous by this announcement. He informed me it was part of the ‘Five Year Program’. I informed him that it didn’t take an MBA to know you don’t sell refrigerators to an eskimo. (was the best I could come up with to highlight the folly of poorly considered marketing)

Potrzebie said, 19 minutes ago

“they always talk about cost-cutting in classes, but never even mention human suffering”

I am not sure I am giving you comfort for your statement or not, but I have no use for so called ‘ax men’. Any person can reduce payroll by cutting jobs, unneeded personel. That might look good on the P&L that first year. However, after that, when ‘ax man’ is long gone, (having received kudos from the Board of Directors for his ‘cost cutting’ measures) it is time to pay the piper. Inefficiencies start rearing their ugly heads, those of such that would not have manifested themselves had the experienced workforce remained intact. Having said that, of course inefficient operations must be given a hard look and remedies applied. Process improvement, and innovation are tantamount to any successful business.

Accounting in a business is needed to know what is going on. Maybe there is a disconnect for a large corporation, using accounting information to make proper business decisions because of the breadth of knowledge needed. Need to know where the money is coming from and where it is going and how to improve the situation. Looks like this company is going down hill as there isn’t any effort to even get the information to make informed decisions.

It gives me a pain right in my tax.

Many MBAs, accountants and executives put workers on the wrong side of the balance sheet. Workers are not liabilities; they are assets because they are essential to produce the company’s product just like the machines used to make a company’s product. Managers and executives, on the other hand, are liabilities.

When an MBA recommends getting rid of his/her computer and telephone, only then can he/she talk about laying off workers to “improve the bottom line.”

no nnails up fresnodudes butt kiding

Along with accounting our businesses need more accountability at all levels.

As for the test of a salesman’s prowess maybe we should say they could sell space-heaters to souls in the fiery furnace?

fredbuhl, when there are no beans, you go hungry! johndj, it’s not selling refridgerators to eskimos. it’s selling ICE to eskimo’s that makes a “great” sales person. ed, you’re along the line of putting out the fire with gasoline.

I couldn’t think of Ice to Eskimos.

Looking back, it would have been better if I said he could sell a copy of “How to run a Ponzi scheme… for Dummies” to Bernie Madoff

The guy at the side of the table is fading out, he is already the same color as the chair.

Ji2m said: “Superfrog, True, too true… Sometimes I believe MBA stands for ‘Morons Being Asinine.’”

Or, “More Bad Advice”.