Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Nigel Peacock's avatar

Here in the United Kingdom, more and more places are ripping out cashier tills in favour of self-service channels.

One local supermarket here is mostly self-service with their queuing system. It looks like an airport check-in hall.

Expand full comment
Thom Linden's avatar

Thanks Thom. Is is interesting also that your example of breaking up AT&T was eventually reversed allowing the Bells to merge (Southern Bell heading the way). So, the breakup was relatively transitory. Same with Standard Oil. It's another example of how corporations are only aligned with their self-serving goals (primarily money). I often think corporations should be required to include goals on ethics, worker and community responsibilities. Since all corporations are licensed by the government, this seems eminently reasonable - but politically unlikely.

This leads me to another thought - corporations should be governed as a 'system'. You describe parts of the system: cities, consumers, employees, retail outlets, corporate hq (to name a few). What I do not see is anything that analyzes and governs this system. As a simple example, corporations locating a new retail mega-store will usually bend the city/county over for low or zero taxes. They argue the benefits to local workforce. That's the carrot. The stick is they negotiate with other cities/counties as alternative locations. Thus they force all the localities to work against each other in biding wars.

Without viewing them as a system with a lifecycle, we miss how the corporation actually implements their monopoly.

Expand full comment
31 more comments...

No posts