If you ask any seasoned professional, they will tell you that the downturn began in 2003, after the world had swallowed the pain of the ‘tech bubble’.
Industry experts might also suggest that real profit had been eroded by then as well. Organic growth in that period had been, at best sporadic. What had stimulated the economy was the near doubling of invisible earnings highlighted in the annual GDP figures of UK Plc.
Easy money made available through the global financing system created a false sense of wealth, as companies acquired, merged, invested and de-invested in each other, their divisions and rewards.
Those industries that actually created genuine profit, made so much that they built up huge war chests, only to invest in new markets, geographies or technologies.
Once this fashion had been fully exercised, new premises became the next ‘black’. Companies developed campuses, self contained, factory styled, building blocks centred around lakes, fountains and five star restaurants. Employee welfare became the order of the day as legislation encouraged the employer to head off any legal dispute with employees as companies introduced work-life balance initiatives, training plans and work from home strategies.
This had the effect of allowing the employee to believe that the company worked for them. This behaviour manifested itself from the directors down, within some of the world’s largest companies.
Those organisations that had been split up, privatised or recently floated demonstrated these behaviours in abundance.
To check if your company fits this bill, ask yourself how many six sigma black belts are in your business, and if they actually add any value to the process?
As the cats became fatter, the gene pool became shallower. Now we have to replenish stock and start over.
Cheers pal. I do aprpecitae the writing.