RE: Re: Some year end thoughts

midrange-nontech-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

>   2. Re: Some year end thoughts (Mike Eovino)
>
>> This is a purely, mostly uneducated guess on my part, but in the 10-year
>> timeframe you mention, it seems to me that 10 years ago, give or take (muzzy
>> femory), we started seeing corporate America absolutely fixate on short-term
>> profits, and neglect the long-term.  In this scenario, I believe, IS will
>> always get the short shrift.
>
>In that case, quite a bit of it has to do with public vs. private
>companies.  Public are the ones that tend to fixate on the quarterly
>#'s, while private companies can afford to take a longer view,
>sheltered from the insatiable demands of short-term investors.

An additional category, fairly large and influential -- government agencies.

After many years working for municipal, county and state governments, and 
thereby working ~with~ federal agencies, I learned a couple major differences 
between public and private ~sectors~ (rather than public and private companies).

First, government can't focus on profit at all, although budget is still 
critical; focus must be on service if success is wanted.

And second, long-term planning/strategy is far too often meaningless even 
though demanded. Regular elections often swap out top-level people and bring 
new "mandates". Out with the old long-term plan, in with the new.

But because private sector must interact with public (government) and public 
sector often sets standards, government influence ripples through all of it. 
And of course, not simply new interface standards but also regulations, etc.

The regular changes at the top can make for a frustrating career in the middle.

Tom Liotta