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Re: Diane's email: "can" vs. "must"
Posted By: Shelley Ticehurst, on host 12.16.212.150
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 1998, at 19:56:14
In Reply To: Re: Diane's email: "can" vs. "must" posted by Darien on Tuesday, October 6, 1998, at 15:58:55:

> Of course money is a factor, but is that necessarily wrong? Is it by definition bad to put profit among your motives?

Of course not, just that it often becomes a bottom line frenzy of numbers instead of a broader consideration of the cost in terms of less easily quantified costs (society, environment, etc.).

When I was in college we ran a simple business model game to see who knew the most about marketing. We were commercial fishermen and attempted to apply everything we had learned in all our marketing classes. The person with the most money/profit "won." What we discovered was that no one could win, at the end all our "boats" were sitting in the harbor and the ocean had 1 fish left in it. This is a simple model, but it demonstrates the point that profit should only be a part of the overall idea, not the overriding factor, which is normally is.

I should say that my inclusion in the business world has taught me that class obviously does not correllate to the actual working world, and there seem to be many farsighted or balanced thinkers out there in the business world, but not nearly enough.

>That's quite alright. Just as long as you can answer any questions that might come to you, you needn't apologise for the brevity of your message (to a point, of course).

I'll do my best. (o: