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From: smith@sctc.com (Rick Smith)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Intel and Sun: from a MBA viewpoint
Message-ID: <1991Feb20.163603.742@sctc.com>
Date: 20 Feb 91 16:36:03 GMT
References: <30522@usc>
Organization: SCTC
Lines: 29

ajayshah@almaak.usc.edu (Ajay Shah) writes:

[deleted review of Sun's modest success and Intel's big one]

>What is this story telling us?  Does this mean that market
>pressures prefer corporate strategies like Intel's --

First, I note an assuption that it is important for a startup to have
the goal of making *big* profits and somehow it's a failure to make more
modest profits. Sure, you can never be too rich. On the other hand, it's
nice to have a job that holds some interest and satisfaction for onesself.
More than a few people (myself included) are willing to sacrifice some
income to do something worthwhile rather than something less satisfying.
And it's nice to have customers who are happy with your products as
opposed to ones who feel victimized or just stuck.

Second, I note the assumption here that such thoughts would naturally
occur to an MBA. Good administrators have broader goals than higher profits.
Profits are crucial to survival, but I haven't seen anything to imply
that pursuing high profits as an explicit goal (usually a shortsighted
strategy) make a company's survival more likely. "Pursuit of Excellence"
provides some counterexamples relating to this.

>                       The more things change, the more they stay insane.

Like many things, point of view is important.

Rick.
smith@sctc.com    Arden Hills, Minnesota


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