I feel qualified to speak to this because I've been an entry-level employee, middle management, upper management and now a business owner/operator.
I believe that as a business owner/operator WITH employees, I have a perspective many do not. Lack of that perspective prevents many of the business critics from getting past the sound bites provided by the nightly news media.
People should understand the following;
1. Businesses exist for the purpose of achieving profits. We all want the companies that we have our 401k's, IRA's and other investments in, to achieve the maximum profits, thus resulting in our good fortune.
2. Most businesses are not large multi-national corporations employing thousands of people. We are often times small operators who've risked our own money, the money we've borrowed and our own credit. Many people might think we don't care about our employees because we don't provide lavish benefits. Those people don't realize that many of us would offer such benefits if the money were there. Additionally, if these businesses go under, there will be no customers, employees or critics willing to lend us a hand to get back on our feet.
3. Often times, the very businesses that are criticized as being greedy donate huge sums of money to charity.
4. Businesses also often pay large sums of money in taxes just because they're corporations. E.g. in my own business, I pay higher rates on electricity just because I'm a certain type of business. I get nothing for that money. Also when government owned utilities raise fees (such as "customer fee"), they often make the businesses pay a higher rate, so as to give the impression that government is "sticking it" to the evil businesses.
I find it offensive that so many people think it is okay that they demand high pay for mediocre work, yet the corporations, focused on profits, are the evil ones. I take offense to those people who want to lecture me about the few corporations who've been bankrupted by greedy execs, while they ignore the thousands of businesses that have worked tirelessly to offer goods and services that consumers will need and want.
What most people never realize is that the businesses (especially the small ones) will move heaven and earth to keep their people employed, keep the lights on and keep the customers coming back. These businesses will beg and borrow for enough money to make payroll and ordering needed supplies. These businesses will sacrifice everything on the desire for future prosperity of the business. Essentially these things will all be done because businesses are made up of people. People make the decisions and no business owner or CEO, worth their weight, would want the business to fail. Might we have to cut back on expenses, salaries or personnel? Yes but most of the time those cuts are necessary to prevent the total collapse of the business which would result in everyone being unemployed and investors (including those with company stock in their 401k's and IRA's) going broke.
There will be the occasional CEO or business owner highlighted in the news, who is still enjoying their yacht while the company goes down the tubes. While those are the exceptions, I say people should then be upset with the board of directors that negotiated a salary package that allowed for this.
I believe it is well past time that we in America, quit demonizing businesses as being greedy. Everyone is greedy. It is just a matter of how greedy. None of us "needs" individual houses, two cars in the driveway and big screen televisions. We "need" food, clothing and shelter. That's it.
We are hypocrites when we decry the corporation as greedy while we hold out for higher pay, surf the internet at work or demand the maximum return on our mutual fund investment.
What say you?
