· · · Corporate CacoPhony · · ·
Corporate
CacoPhony
Here is a presentation concerning witnessed corporate level waste—including the filling of multiple landfill destined top loader walk in truck sized dumpsters with tens of thousands of dollars of brand new merchandise, ironically performed during Earth Month, by a company that touts itself as being green, which happens to only be in the choice of brand coloring—JoAnn Stores.
Through extremely botched management, the equivalent of several truck sized storage units—the kind you see stacked on giant ocean tankers or careening by at a train crossing—was transferred unceremoniously into equally large dumpsters. No attempt was made to sell at discount or donate perfectly good and brand new merchandise. Even the ever popular LED light strips, and puffy pillows, comfy blankets and cushy socks—discarded.
The argument is that JoAnn can make more with the write-off. Such extreme waste seems a bit like a crime, especially when it is done on such an exponentially disastrous level, constantly. This is just one store out of possibly thousands, and one company out of possibly thousands.
Unfortunately this constant act of waste indicates the true meaning of a trickle down economy, the burden of which is suffered by the actual work force—through unbalanced wages, loss of hours, elimination of benefits, and haphazard schedules. A witnessed example of unethical practices is that untrained new hires were earning more than established personnel at higher levels—proven assets—who had repeatedly requested adequate pay increases to a non responsive managerial hierarchy.
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STORE WEARS
Episode Fore
The $hell Game
There is a phrase thrown around with the expressed purpose of inducing a sense of honor and integrity at the hourly level of companies—time theft.
What is of likely more value to realize is that most of the time theft likely occurs at the salary, stock optioned, benefit hoarding, bonus skimming, governmental level of companies. Simply put the last mentioned level says it all.
Additionally corporate level stupidity, greed and ineptitude cultivating the ongoing presence of slave labor is likely the true reason there is as yet no UBI in the USA.
It is crystal clear that Corporate Cacophony creates a coffin mentality that can kill a company, and when infecting many a—government hall it ee—silly can bury a country. ( A whole bunch of fun phonetics—okay funetics—going on here )
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Money Charms
Hi$torical Wa$te
Corporate Cacophony is unreasonably an historically established way of doing business. Although there are more, following are two historical examples of personal experience with exposure to the harmful effects of radiating melt down greed resulting from weapons of mass stupidity.
The first, De$cent—a play on the original company name, was my first jaunt at an internet startup focused on creating industry teaching solutions. The company would likely have profited from doing a little more homework in the common sense arena before self graduating themselves with teaching diplomas.
The second historical example, Ca$hIn—again a play on the original company name, also happens to have lived out at a startup focused on what seemed like an innovative way to create a software sharing community network.
In the short time I was there, it truly seems that if there wasn't such an emphasis on dumping large amounts of re$ources trying to get more key investors, they could have realized a shifting opportunity that was dawning from within and move into an entirely new direction of sparkling user interface design.
I am absolutely certain that more avenues for diversity and growth would have presented themselves through shared success, but as it turned out, selfish business practices and well established failing formulas were the chosen dead end.
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Thoughtstrip
De$cent
Wanting to move away from the constant exposure to toxic chemicals involved in the hands on creative career of architectural and industrial model construction, I set out to obtain employment in the digital graphics arena. After working diligently to self educate myself, I interviewed with a teaching software startup.
During the interview I was asked to perform tasks related to how I would solve a given problem. I was hired on the spot. Later I learned that many applicants could only reiterate what was in a Flash for Incompetents type book. Additionally I was able to show an actual working knowledge of the software as a creative tool.
Over several long days after most of the staff had gone home for the evening, I was informed that I was actually hired to complete work that was supposed to have been accomplished by the person in the next cubical who spent most of his day surfing the net. The terms of his contract made it impossible to fire him.
And although my hiring manager was incredibly happy with my work that exceeded expectations , he was unable to renew my contract due to the leech already sucking the budget dry.
It is no surprise that there is no information remaining about this company and the web domain appears dead or transferred.
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California Quarter
Ca$hIn
My next startup jaunt was at a networking software company in Downtown San Francisco. After a sparkling interview I was hired as Visual Designer due in part for a wonderfully simple animation I made as a marketing option for how they had generally described their mission via the company site.
It was a dream come true, for it was my first "stable" position with a forward projected company, the largest salary of my life up to that point, and yes, stock options.
Members of the executive team immediately put me to work on a logo. Taking in all kinds of input and ideas and visions, while simultaneously considering the actual end product, I developed a logo that was very well received. I then was tasked with graphical user interface design, and I am happy to say that my direction was in line with what I learned of later being utilized by Maya (now Autodesk Maya). Furthermore a great deal of what I developed has not yet been fully realized within any software that I am aware.
Within a few months serious shifts began to develop, one being that my direct executive manager was let go around the ime a new marketing manager was hired to oversee all of the visuals and marketing materials—web site, white papers and such—for which I was tasked to complete.
Learning from some executives that the logo and branding was to be outsourced, I set out on my own time to revamp the first branding to incorporate hints of the currently courted telecommunications giant.
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VOID Art
Coloring Zen
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Although my new branding was very well liked by many of the executive team, the marketing manager was given final say. She chose the mediocre branding which generously included the estounding quantity of two Photoshop files, each representative of how a single web page should look. All of that for what could have kept me employed for five years.
It soon became very evident that the board members were losing faith in their product, and were attempting to position the company as less start-upy by making certain exorbitant expenditures while simultaneously eliminating significant portions of the staff. Clearly in the hopes of being sold quickly to realize a nice return on their initial investment.
Nearing my first anniversary, more and more staff was let go. At one point the entire marketing team was invited to go to lunch where our manager explained that other members of the staff were being escorted out of the building. Shortly thereafter the last two remaining graphics oriented non managerial positions were escorted from the building.
In a very unexpected and extremely kind gesture from the executive team headed by the CEO, we were both allowed to attain a one year standing to enable us to be fully vested in our stock options which would allow us to benefit once the company went public.
Some time later it was requested of me to return my stock certificate in exchange for a seven to one reverse split. I chose to keep my original certificate, which as it turns out is a very nice sentimental symbol of accomplishment. To my knowledge the company and all the efforts of all involved simply fizzled away.
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Hello Hummingbirds
A New Purpose
Ultimately corporations do provide a service, and there are many striving toward fairness and humanity at all levels. As with any wrong, the detriment is born of negative human action and misguided and unempathetic purpose. Common sense and clarity and obviousness could ensure the success and growth of any company, business and, of course, corporation.
In a relevant side note it is reported that pain relievers such as Tylenol lessen empathic tendencies. Maybe more organic sustenance
will help to eliminate the desires for popping pain pills and quite possibly allow more common sense in along with a healthy and expansive empathy of values.
There are plans in the works to create a positively oriented mechanism for re-purposing to-be discarded merchandise with the expressed aim to lessen the burden placed upon landfill avenues. Success will require the cohesion of power, wealth, innovation, and of course empathy.
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