Kent McMillan, post: 377754, member: 3 wrote: Haven't we established already, though, that the business-centered businesses tend to have names that aren't associated with those of the principal(s) for business-centered reasons?
The point I am trying to make is that it is the Surveyor and not the business that is responsible for the quality of the survey. A crappy Surveyor is a crappy Surveyor no matter the name or size of the company. I have seen very small survey operations turn out substandard work "because that is what my client wants". I can not control what a large company does. I have total control over what I certify.
The next step would be to examine the characteristics of various business organization that tend to produce certain results, a good many of which have ethical/professional implications.
If one studied surveying firms using certain variables like:
- fixed overhead expenses,
- critical volume of work to sustain operations,
- fluidity of staffing
- preferred type of work,
- dependence on population growth, and
- average time to failure.
I'd bet that some strong correlations would show up.
If Kent's theorem had any validity...a poorly operated surveying firm with a flaky name could instantly become respected and improve the quality of their work simply by renaming the company for some old goof that simply talks on the phone and signs surveys.
Why didn't I think of that?!...o.O
paden cash, post: 377794, member: 20 wrote: If Kent's theorem had any validity...a poorly operated surveying firm with a flaky name could instantly become respected and improve the quality of their work simply by renaming the company for some old goof that simply talks on the phone and signs surveys.
Why didn't I think of that?
So, you haven't been doing business as "Cash Land Surveys and Cool Stuff"? Yes, you're correct that you can't change your company name to Marilyn Monroe Mapping and expect to fool anyone at this late date.
You know this stuff applies beyond surveying firms. After reading these posts, I'm moving my banking from Bank of America to Wells Fargo. What could be more pretentious than Bank of America? Milky Way Bank or even Intergalactic Bank, maybe?
Now, does anybody have an address for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC or SJK Investment Management? I can't seem to find them and I desperately want to deal with honest, professional people who use their names or initials in their company names.
MathTeacher, post: 377805, member: 7674 wrote: You know this stuff applies beyond surveying firms. After reading these posts, I'm moving my banking from Bank of America to Wells Fargo. What could be more pretentious than Bank of America?
Actually, Bank of America is an excellent example of a name intended to deceive. It was originally named "Bank of Italy", but changed to give customers a different impression.
Surely you jest. Bank of America began life as Bank of North Carolina in Greensboro, NC. Had the locals taken it seriously, Greensboro, rather than Charlotte, might have been a financial center.
It's an interesting dialogue that you started here. Many professionals struggle with the issues raised. Do accountants owe their loyalty to their profession or to their firm? Or doctors, lawyers, or actuaries? Should an actuary sign off on an underfunded pension plan or should he lose a client? Should a surveyor move a line to benefit a contractor or should he lose a client?
Whether the company name has a bearing or not, it's not always easy to do the right thing. A true professional will put his profession first and strive to deliver an excellent product regardless of the circumstances.
So, by the Kent Mc rules of naming things,
Javad Ashjaee, is doing it right.
Ashtech,
Javad,
Oops, I see that you didn't jest. Really have to watch that merger history.
MathTeacher, post: 377820, member: 7674 wrote: Surely you jest. Bank of America began life as Bank of North Carolina in Greensboro, NC.
Per Wikipedia: "The history of Bank of America dates back to October 17, 1904,[1] when Amadeo Pietro Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco."
Whether the company name has a bearing or not, it's not always easy to do the right thing. A true professional will put his profession first and strive to deliver an excellent product regardless of the circumstances.
Actually, I tend to doubt that would describe the typical big-box corporate setting with the demands of keeping throughput at MBA levels overriding all else.
Nate The Surveyor, post: 377822, member: 291 wrote: So, by the Kent Mc rules of naming things,
Javad Ashjaee, is doing it right.
Ashtech,
Javad,
Except Javad Ashjaee isn't a surveyor, is he? Manufacturers aren't under the same obligations that professionals are.
Kent McMillan, post: 377826, member: 3 wrote: Per Wikipedia: "The history of Bank of America dates back to October 17, 1904,[1] when Amadeo Pietro Giannini founded the Bank of Italy in San Francisco."
Actually, I tend to doubt that would describe the typical big-box corporate setting with the demands of keeping throughput at MBA levels overriding all else.
Right you are on the Bank of Italy. As to the MBAs, I agree; that's what makes it so hard to do the right thing. There are, however, some honest professionals who will sacrifice a job in order to maintain their professional standards. And, to me, that's what defines a true professional.
MathTeacher, post: 377846, member: 7674 wrote: Right you are on the Bank of Italy. As to the MBAs, I agree; that's what makes it so hard to do the right thing. There are, however, some honest professionals who will sacrifice a job in order to maintain their professional standards. And, to me, that's what defines a true professional.
I look at it this way. A firm that is organized to provide a professional service should be organized in a way that doesn't minimize the likelihood of a actually delivering that professional service in a way that is ethical and professional. If you start from the premise that regardless of the trappings, the service at its core consists of a professional surveyor providing the service (although possibly with the assistance of a group of individuals hired from the cantina scene in "Star Wars"), then that is a very different organizing principle than attempting from the start to make an organization that is basically just a survey factory staffed with folks who come and go, with the main object being the maximization of proceeds from some future sale of the firm. There will always be a supply of distressed licensees willing to work in whatever conditions are on offer if paid sufficiently well.
That's pretty sound. At the heart is a professional providing a service and earning a living by doing so. There's nothing wrong with maximizing profits, but professional service can't be sacrificed. In a perfect world, shoddy practices would not survive, but the world is not perfect.
I like your views on business, service, and profit. What I'm not sure of is the focus on company name. Granted, some names should signal consumers that they should clutch their wallets and run, but surely it's not every company name that doesn't' include a principal's name.
