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Dresden

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Posts posted by Dresden

  1. Since this forum is full of astute people, I thought I'd ask about taxing. I live in an incorporated village in Ohio, and was wondering where the Village got the authority to levy an income tax on it's residents. There may be a simple answer to this, however, the mayor refuses to respond to my questions.

  2. By "playing politics", what types of things do you mean? Could you concretize by examples of the types of "playing" that got some of your managers managers to where they are?

    self PR, the brand of ME, whoring your face everywhere, taking credit for others ideas etc.

  3. Company politics is mostly about marketing and spin. One must market one's self to the appropriate humanoids and spinning one's achievements so as to impress said humanoids. As long as one has actual achievements to market & spin, this should not involve any dishonesty or fraud, therefore no ethical compromise.

    That said, it is a PITA, and at a certain point you may decide it isn't worth it. This will likely limit your promotability. It is what it is.

    Good point.

  4. Is it good for business? No. But it is reality. And it becomes more pronounced the larger the company.

    IOW, your co-workers are probably right. But there is a way to play the "game" (to a certain extent) without compromising your ethics. Just realize that it may impose a ceiling at a certain point .

    How do you play the game and maintain your ethics? I see sort of a Roark vs Keating. of course keatings ethics are suspect.

  5. So, I've decided to make a 10 minute presentation MBM. I'm lacking focus though and could use some direction.

    Here is the abstract.

    Is this creating value? The fundamental underlying question that affects every direction and decision taken in Market Based Management (MBM). Developed by Charles Koch, a prominent Libertarian, he implemented ideas from Ludwig Von Mises and other noted Austrian economists, to develop a strategy of management for the future. And it's paid off. Koch Industries is the largest and most profitable privately held company in the world.

    Eliminating pay structures of employees and job titles, his workers are treated as entrepreneurs within the organization. His workers are compensated on value creation they generate for the company, not something like tenure.

    "entrepreneurs are rewarded by getting to keep a portion of value they create in society. " Why shouldn't workers be rewarded the same way?

    -- here is where I lose focus. I have a bunch of different topics I want to touch on in a limited amount of time (10 mins). Help make this coherent!

    MBM has four main assumptions.

    todays world is characterized by an unprecedented rate of change- driven by accelerating accumulation of knowledge.

    "creative destruction. " Less effective products and methods are constantly being replaced by those that produce greater value.

    Second assumption. : prospering in this environment requires a well rounded and internally consistent framework that enables us to interpet and apply new knowledge.

    principles that apply to market economies can be applied to an individual company.

    Third. Theory and histopry we know that the best frame work for dealing with rapid change is based on economic freedoms.

    property rights.

    And the fourth is the five key dimensions.

    MBM has five key dimensions.

    Vision. Determining where and how the organization can create the greatest long term value.

    Because Koch Industries is privately held, the company can focus on long term goals, rather than quarterly performance.

    Virtue and Talents. Helping ensure that people with the right values, skills and capabilities are hired and retained and developed.

    The company looks to develop people from small towns, and farms who work to put themselves ahead in life. They generally recruit talent from state schools.

    Decision Rights. Right people in the right roles with the right authority to make decisions and to hold these people accountable.

    All employees have a stake in the business, and are held to a profit and loss model. At Koch, it is ok to make a mistake, as long as it is learned from, and not covered up.

    Knowledge processes. Creating, Aquiring, Sharing and applying relevant knowledge, measuring and tracking profitability.

    Initiative. From rank and file, rather than strick control from the top.

  6. what do you guys and gals think about MBM?

    WHAT IS MBM?

    "MBM refers to practices used by leaders to continuously discover and apply the beneficial aspects of the market process within an organization (using internal markets to guide transactions between business units, for example, or basing pay on value creation rather than tenure).

    MBM is based on economic thinking, sound mental models, and an ability to harness the dispersed knowledge of employees, just as markets harness knowledge in society. To adopt a market-based approach to management is to cultivate and continuously improve those knowledge processes, behaviors, and “rules of the game” within an organization that promote principled entrepreneurship and the creation of superior economic value.

    Market Based Management was developed by scholars and businesspeople working in and with Koch Industries, the largest privately-held company in the United States, with assets in oil refining, chemicals, trading, textiles (through its ownership of Invista), and paper products (as a result of its recent acquisition of Georgia-Pacific). Koch Industries Chairman and CEO Charles Koch credits the success of Koch Industries to the application of MBM."

    from their website. http://www.mbminstitute.org/

  7. I'm confused with your terminology. You say "privatized" which means "privately owned" but then use "(non-union)" as a qualifier. When you say "private" and "non-union", do you mean it will be entirely private? Or just a non-union municipality?

    Yes, entirely private, sorry for the confusion.

    The best way to reduce the cost of the police force is to restrict them to their proper function: protection of rights. Not arresting drug dealers and buyers or issuing traffic tickets; not directing traffic. Enforcing rights-protecting laws.

    I agree entirely with this.

  8. Would it be unreasonable to conclude a privatized (non-union) municipal police force would effectively be more cost efficient for a city, and therefore, tax payer to maintain? It seems private military contractors are having some success in our recent foreign engagements and has me thinking about this. My local police force is generally budgeted upwards $1million a year. What are some ideas on why something like this could work, or could not. I'm sort of frustrated, because, our local police chief is trying to outsource the department to a neighboring city; and I think there might be cheaper ways of doing business.

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