In Defense Of "Big Companies"

We get tired here of all the attacks made on big companies. If you watch television, it always seems like someone's blaming a big company. They're evil, they're soulless, the executives are mean, etc.

But it's silly, it's wrong, and when you hear it, we encourage you to turn it off. If someone says something like it to you or others whom you're around, challenge them.

Somebody did a documentary about eating McDonalds for a month, and how much weight he gained. And then he blamed McDonalds for his weight gain. Nobody forced him. Cheap shot.

Lots of people don't like Wal-Mart. They say it puts small retailers out of business. HOGWASH. You know who puts small businesses out of business? Their neighbors, who USED to shop at their friends' stores but decided they personally could save some money at Wal-Mart. And then they blamed Wal-Mart. Cheap shot.

I recently read two stories that made me want to stand up for big companies.

The first was about an English Lord who is walking from Athens, Greece to London before the London Olympics. He is drawing attention to the principle of the world being at peace during the Olympics, as it was when the Olympics started long ago in Greece. He is trying to do it all on less than a hundred USD a day, I think. Walking, sleeping in the open sometimes, even.

And what did he say when asked about the logistics of his journey? "McDonald's is the secret. I'm extremely grateful for them, they've got Wi-Fi and nice, cheap food."

What about Wal-Mart? If you want to know how Wal-Mart feels about low prices, go to one in the US at midnight on Thursday. That's when people who get government assistance get their debit cards recharged. They shop late at night, and then the get in line after midnight, when they have money.

You know what they buy? Diapers, and milk, and baby formula, and staples for their children, in part.

And that Wal-Mart is fully staffed. At midnight. The store manager is there, and department managers. As one store manager said, "these are OUR people. They need us. We take this part of our job very seriously."

Don't believe what you hear about big companies. They got big not by cheating, but by providing products and services for fair value. And you and I rewarded them with more business.

Well done, I say.

Customer Service Email Change

Connecting with our audience has always been really important to the Manager Tools team. You've often heard us give out our emails on air and at conferences. We've got so busy though, that it's now difficult to sustain our response - we're getting emails all over the place! And, we're sorry to say, that sometimes your emails have gone unanswered because one or more of us thought the other was responding.

We've just instituted a new email response system on our customer service and show emails, which is helping us respond more quickly and make sure that no email slips through the cracks. To help us, please would you send all your emails to [email protected] or [email protected], rather than to our personal emails?

We love to hear from you, and we don't want that to stop. We just want to make sure that you hear from us too.

Please Forward This Newsletter

Those of you who have individual licenses know that use of that content is only for that particular member. This newsletter is not licensed content, and we'd love for you to forward it to anyone who would find it interesting and useful. You just need to click the link at the bottom of the page.

If someone forwarded it to you, and you'd like your own copy in future, become a Manager Tools member here. It's free!

no. 69 | 13 March 2012

People Say...

"I listened to the entire resume/interview series and took careful note. I truly believe it gave me that edge that helped me to land my dream job." Kate

Feedback

We'd love to hear your thoughts on our newsletter. Please send feedback to [email protected]. Thank you!

Manager Tools

Every Manager Effective

Career Tools

Every Professional Productive

Manager Tools | 5765-F Burke Centre Parkway | Suite #152 | Burke | VA | 22015

� Manager Tools, LLC. All rights reserved.