I posted on the Lane #1 site, now I'll add my opinion here:
To make this simple, I'll put it this way: Businesses that fail to adapt to ever-changing economic pressures will INEVITABLY become obsolete. It might not be tomorrow, or a year from now, but eventually failure to adapt will cause a business to go under.
If Brunswick has the vision to be proactive and do something about the economic pressures that they (and all businesses) face, and can make changes that are more cost-efficient long-term for their business, then more power to them! What is more American than the ability and freedom to maximize profit potential? Besides, we don't know their situation and I'll bet there are a lot of well-educated, sharp people behind this decision. I doubt very seriously if they didn't consider the uproar-from-Joe-Bowler angle, but that is a risk they are willing to take.
If you are worried about the loss of employment that may or may not be caused by such a move, what happens when the ever-decreasing margins caused by a multitude of factors catch up with them and they can't afford to sign the paychecks? I submit that EVERYONE (other than the other manufacturers, of course) is better off if Brunswick stays in business and maintains market share and provides competition so that prices for us as consumers will stay down.
Maybe if they had some decent jobs in Mexico we wouldn't have the problem with illegal aliens we have in this country. Instead, everyone wants to impose their ideals on the very people who fuel this economy and require that businesses maintain employment for people. Well here's a newsflash, folks: having a job is a PRIVILEGE, not a right. If you can't cut the mustard, get out of the way because business is all about survival of the fittest, not some mother-hen philosophy that we need to take all of the starving and needy under our wings and provide for them. Furthermore, if you have to depend on pseudo-patriotism or some idealogical guilt trip to sell a product as opposed to making a better product, maybe you shouldn't be in business anyway.
I am so sick of how everyone wants to demonize big business for making business decisions that are healthy for their existence. Unless you have faced the pressures of running a business over the long term as I have, you probably have no idea what it means to adapt and roll with the punches that you will face in today's business climate.
If you are going to make a decision regarding what product to use, make the decision based on how the product performs for you and whether it is within your budget, not on some idealogical guilt trip that has no base in reality whatsoever.
quote:
The thing that bothers me, is its a matter of principal.
Sounds like someone who has never walked the walk, as far as running a business is concerned. YOu have to do what is ethical, but you can't let a "matter of principal" be your demise, either. That is NOT to say a business person should sacrifice their integrity or ethics; it is the responsibility of the business first and foremost to make BUSINESS-healthy decisions. While important, the well being of the employees is second to the well-being of the business itself.
I have so much more to say but I'll try to cut this down a bit.
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Predicting my next opponent runs into a BUZZSAW!
Member- FOS
LUCK is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
