comparing todays corp.s to a Cherry pie!

I didn't realy know where to put this so it ended up here.

In talking about corporations I'm referring to mega corporations not the guy down the block.

As I circle the drain of life, so to speak, small comforts become big comforts. A couple of those are Cherry,chocolate, and Rhubarb pie.
When I lived in CA. there was a restaurant chain called Mari' Calender's who started as a pie baker that had great food and particularly Chicken pot pies and fruit pies, It was so strong in my mind as to be considered in my decision to move back to the Midwest. In a couple of years after moving, to my Joy the brand showed up in the freezer section of the local market with nearly the same great taste.

Unfortunately it also drew the attention of the other frozen food brands . You know the ones that sell for 10 for #10 and all taste the same (like card board) no matter which one you buy.

The other day I bought a MC Cherry pie and got home to sit down and enjoy a slice
only to find that vslice contained exacxtly 2 Cherrys and a pice of Cherry peal.

The point of all this is that Cherry pie is analysis of the greedy mega corps of today.
Banquet or I should say who ever owns the brand and now owns MC just substituted the contents and sell it as a premium brand to make a few bucks, well actually a lot of bucks. The same thing has happened with Fiat and Chrysler. and many others. THey don't buy to improve their own service or quality but to suck every penny ofd profit fron the good name they bought.

It works exactly like the McDonald's Katsup scandle of several years ago when they realised their servers were dumping several packets in each to go bag each packet worth maybe 1c but times mi8llions that adds up to a lot of pure profit. it actuyally makes a lot of sense for MD but what it started is what is important. Some one some where suddenly realized that if they took one cherry from each pie it would improve the corp. bottom line and no one would be the wiser.

The next CEO removed another cherry and improved the bottom line once more and so on untill today there are no cherries left in the pie. The same is true when a 1/2 gl of ice cream is sudenly 1 2/3 qts and now 1 1/2 qts. The moral is simple .What kind of corp. do you want to be. mcw

This is so incredibly true but like ChildhoodDream says, it is just the tip of the iceberg. Greed has taken such a hold on this society that there is absolutely no concern for anything important or honest. All conversations end as soon as the money is discussed. As it has been many times in past civilizations, this will be the downfall of our nation...

I have to agree with Hobo- nothing beats the real thing.

Talk about a fall from grace for Chrysler. The older ones were Cadillac competitors. Now... maybe a low end Buick?

not even close in my opinion. cadilac has come down to low buik status and Chysler to cheep import status.

Agreed- Cadillacs used to be better than they are now. We owned a Chrysler New Yorker- that was a car.

Today's Chrysler 200 honestly looks less appealing than a Volkswagen does.

It's amazing how far we've fallen- the higher end imports (Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, ....) are head and shoulders above us. Cost cutting has a lot to do with that....

I have to disagree with you there matador. I don't believe that foreign car companies are any higher a quality than the domestic ones. I have a new Chevy Silverado 2500 with 12000 miles on it. I's a very, very nice truck with not one problem. The wife has a 2015 mini cooper with 7000 miles on it. I've already had to have the timing belt replaced under warranty. I expected a company like BMW to make a much nicer product and to tell you the truth, When you compare it to anything with a comparable price tag made in America, it's not all that nice.

Olddude, I believe greed is human nature. Aside from that, you will see that the corporations that don't cut corners end up on top. Yeti coolers, Everlast welders, Makita tools, and even Google are known for quality and good service. Those are the companies with good reputations. McDonalds and Wally world have poor reputations because that's what they earned. I have no idea why anyoone would ever eat at MickeyD's but Wally world is just plain handy.

I Co-own a large construction company and I assure you that cutting corners is not something any sensible company does in the name of profit. It is not saving a $100 here and $200 here that brings in the revenue. It's quality and consistency from job to job, contract to contract. If I did shoddy builds, I wouldn't have the reputation I do and thus I wouldn't have the contracts that I do. Cutting corners is simply not economical.

Originally Posted by SteelMill

Olddude, I believe greed is human nature. Aside from that, you will see that the corporations that don't cut corners end up on top. Yeti coolers, Everlast welders, Makita tools, and even Google are known for quality and good service. Those are the companies with good reputations. McDonalds and Wally world have poor reputations because that's what they earned. I have no idea why anyoone would ever eat at MickeyD's but Wally world is just plain handy.

I Co-own a large construction company and I assure you that cutting corners is not something any sensible company does in the name of profit. It is not saving a $100 here and $200 here that brings in the revenue. It's quality and consistency from job to job, contract to contract. If I did shoddy builds, I wouldn't have the reputation I do and thus I wouldn't have the contracts that I do. Cutting corners is simply not economical.

Yes, greed is human nature but there was a time when it was not the only thing on the list. That has changed for the most part. There are, of course, exceptions but they are becoming harder to find every day. Your cites are interesting but I don't think they are truly valid. You are, IMO, comparing apples and oranges. You are in the business of producing a custom product and service while most of the large corps are producing mass produced product. In your line, any quality slashing would likely be evident fairly quickly. I can look around a room and tell you a lot about the construction practices of the builder. But when you are buying packaged products that look pretty in the box, you don't how good it is until you get it home and use it. Of course, even in custom building there are really large players that do cut corners and build based on financial decisions. The get away with it because of their strong marketing departments. My wife worked for a national builder for years as the assistant to the division President. I am well aware of how they operated and frankly the lack of quality was always evident in their homes. I will not mention the name of the company for legal reasons but let's just say they are a huge player in the industry.

Having beat this horse for a while I do want to commend you for having integrity in what you do. Being a contractor myself, I understand the difference between fast and cheap and quality workmanship designed to last a lifetime. There are far too few in this industry that truly still care about the product they create. they talk a good story until someone comes up and tell them how they can save $10...

SM:I would agree with on most of your points. some we will just have to agree to disagree. the so called best cars in the market are still made in America, Toyota , honda, Mercedies, and nisson.
yeti, mikita and everlast un fortunately come close to MC Donalds or walley world in income or worth $ wise, are they better products, yes.
Greed is human nature but, humaqns are also given the power of choice to be Moral or inmoral. I Commend you on your choice not to cut corners in your own Business. mcw

Originally Posted by directrecycle

we are spoiled around here..nothing beats an amish or mennonite baked pie..just down the road we have a small mennonite bakery across the road from the school,,sometimes its a race to see who gets to drive them to school..apple fritters with real apple chunks in them

I'm jealous.

Trucks aren't cars. I do agree that the Big 3 make a very good truck.

Mini is close to dead last in trade-in reliability (404.

I do think that the best cars out there are "foreign". Not all foreign cars are good, but some are very good. Case in point, I own an Audi A6 that replaced a Chevrolet Impala. The Audi is much easier to service, more reliable, and cheaper to run. It's what a modern Chrysler or Cadillac should have been, but isn't.

I do look at Toyota as an American company, too. Just ask the workers at the plants....

< /Rant>

I absolutely agree with your philosophy SteelMill. I do exactly the same. Noting irks me more than to buy junk. I would much rather spend a bit more and get something that will last. I see this as an extension of the way you do business, but this is a consumer mentality issue rather than a business mentality issue. The are connected but not the same. You might say that a poor business mentality will kill off your customer base, but, if that were true, Walmart would have been gone long ago. This is a perfect example of a company that sells junk at a low price and people keep streaming into their stores. Those of use who appreciate value more than cost are a dying breed I believe. Sometimes this results out of necessity (poverty) but more often it is greed based (it is my money and you can't have it). Perhaps my terms are strong but that is how I see it. Anyway, it is still good to know there are some folks left that care about what they produce as they do about their bottom line.

And on that note, I think I will retire for the evening...