Re: This has nothing to do with quality -A bit Off-Topic Message #9 Posted by Juan J on 29 Nov 2003, 10:12 a.m., in response to message #8 by Mike
A friend of mine, when we were discussing Bausch & Lomb Optical Equipment, regretted about "that fine optics no longer made in the US." He worked with Bausch & Lomb in the late 1960s, and could tell the difference between the quality of that "old and good" equipment and the one now made in China, for instance. Needless to say, he was always complaining.
Unfortunately most corporations have moved their plants to countries were costs are cheaper, salaries much lower and profits higher. The price paid has been cheap items available at low prices and huge quantities, and users/customers complaining about quality.
It is possible to raise up the bar in quality standards, but that has a price too. And that implies cutting down profits. The result: crappy goods offered by the thousands at low prices. Just MBAs and their colleagues setting the standards for what they think the consumers will buy and will in turn increase profits.
No flaming intended, but today's MBAs and their obsession with cutting costs reminds me of those scientists about three hundred years ago who wanted to build perpetual motion machines. There are no such things in the real world (and MBAs should learn a little bit of Thermodynamics on their academic programs :)
We all know HP took quality seriously. As a matter of fact, most Western companies did. But when it comes to slash down costs and increase profits, quality seems secondary or even unimportant. HP has got that bug, too, or so it seems. The "lasting value" has apparetnly lost its meaning.
My two cents.
Juan J
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