The difference between running a business and running a city boils
down to this: Try closing a local, little used fire station to save a few
bucks. Outraged neighbors of all political stripes would storm the city council
in protest.
Now compare that to the silence that
typically follows a corporate decision to close an under performing branch bank
or a surplus warehouse.
The reactions are different and for good
reason. Although corporations and governments are organizations that may be one
of the few traits they have in common. The role of a business, any business, is
to make money. Successful companies typically accomplish that by
producing products that consumers want.
In addition, they must continuously find ways to reduce costs to
better meet the bottom line. Although governments must respond to the desires
of their constituents (consumers) by providing necessary services (products),
here the path diverges because public officials, unlike those in the private
sector, must balance meeting the bottom line with the expectation that they
will also provide for the common good, however that’s defined....Read More
