Mail

Fired Up Over Carlotta

I agree with Norm Brodsky about the need to limit rules and enforce them consistently ["Firing Carlotta," May]. Brodsky mentions the three rules of his company: no drugs, no smoking, and no hiring of friends or relatives. Carlotta hid the identity of a friend and clearly broke the third rule. How interesting, though, that the two people who confronted Carlotta about her transgression were Brodsky and his vice president of human resources, who also happens to be his wife.

I'd like to suggest a fourth rule for Brodsky: You're not above the rules. Don't impose rules on your organization if you can't lead by example.

Mike Docherty
CEO
Venture2 Inc.
Delray Beach, Fla.

Although we firmly agree with Norm Brodsky in his decision to terminate Carlotta for being deceitful, we strongly disagree with his third rule. Including family and friends gives you a strategic advantage when it comes to hiring. Not only do you have an instant pool of potential employees, but you are already alerted to their strengths and weaknesses. That allows you to place them in positions where they can achieve maximum potential. We also see within our company that, because we hire friends and family members, there is a natural bond between employees. There isn't a need to make everyone get along or force teamwork.

Christine M. Bordonaro
Assistant marketing and PR manager
Charles River Apparel
Medford, Mass.

Norm brodsky's experience with Carlotta reminded me of a situation our company recently faced. We don't have any rules about nepotism. So we have several employees who work with -- and in a few cases actually report to -- other family members. For the most part, that hasn't been a problem. But in the past year, multiple members of the same family have sued us for supposed discrimination.

Yurij F. Wowczuk
Plant manager
ITW Sexton
Martinsburg, W.Va.

More Love for Azuma

I have a few more reasons to praise Julie Azuma, founder of Different Roads to Learning ["Entrepreneurs We Love 2005," April]. After reading the article in Inc., I visited her website, and it is full of great learning tools for autistic children. My son is autistic and because he is 23 years old, I was afraid it might be too late for him. I e-mailed Ms. Azuma and received a reply the next day. She was very knowledgeable and supportive, something I greatly appreciated as a single parent in the military. Thank you for including her in your list of 26. I would never have found her otherwise.

Sgt. Renee Garnett
Squadron medical officer
2-6 Cavalry
Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan

FAR From a Contract

Your article about selling to the Department of Homeland Security failed to mention the most valuable resources ["Targeting the DHS," May]. The Federal Acquisition Regulation, or FAR, is the federal rule book on purchases. And the DHS has its own supplemental guidelines called the Homeland Security Acquisition Regulation. Going for a DHS contract without reviewing the FAR and HSAR is like flying with no lessons.

Terry Miller
Retired
Keysville, Va.

A Duty to Fairer Trade

The National Association of Manufacturers has, as you observed in your recent story, made a concerted effort to include the views of both large and small companies in its new trade agenda ["On China Trade, Smaller Companies Find Their Voice," May]. We have succeeded on several actions that will level the playing field, including the decoupling of the undervalued Chinese yuan from the dollar. But the article may lead some readers to conclude that the NAM seeks a unilateral increase in duties on all Chinese imports. That is not the case, as doing so would violate our trade obligations and encourage other countries to take similar actions that breach World Trade Organization agreements.

Bill Primosch
Senior director of international business policy
National Association of Manufacturers
Washington, D.C.

Prepackaged PR

Getting PR services at a storefront sounds very unprofessional ["The Next Great Retail Idea: PR?" May]. You shouldn't order a logo the way you shop for a leg of lamb because you can't build a great company brand with a series of standardized press releases and logo templates.

Jonathan Gouthier
Principal and creative director
Gouthier Design
Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Standard Deviation

In new industries like mine, certification from the International Standardization Organization has almost no payoff ["So Many Standards to Follow, So Little Payoff," May]. I run an IT disposal firm, and the ISO fails to address the real quality issues for us. Organizations are beginning to pay the price for the mistakes of mismanaged IT disposal: regulatory fines, bad publicity, and even litigation when computers turn up in landfills or third-world countries, or when confidential or sensitive data from hard drives falls into the wrong hands. Because the ISO helps define processes, not policies, certification does not denote quality.

Kyle Marks
CEO and founder
Retire-IT LLC
Columbus, Ohio

Last year a large corporation approached my small specialty coffee-roasting company, asking us to produce our trademarked product for one of its catalogs. The requirements were outrageous, and I feared it would ask for an ISO certification. I was relieved when it did not because I've been unable to find a way for a firm the size of ours to obtain certification without bankrupting the company.

Denney Willis
President
Arbuckle Coffee Roasters
Tucson

Best Cities for How Long?

The growth of these new suburban hot spots for business will be short-lived ["The Best Places for Doing Business in America 2005," May]. Yes, low taxes and low housing costs spur development, but after a place is built out, that infrastructure requires higher taxes to maintain.

Once new centers of business like Boise, Idaho, reach a certain level, commerce will toss them aside like a hermit crab discarding a shell, and it will be on to the next low-cost backwater town. As for me, I'd rather dwell in a pit of urban decay like Philadelphia than live in a town that only looks good on a spreadsheet.

Rob Formica
Marketing promotions coordinator
Law Journal Newsletters
Philadelphia

A Better Browser

Though most people still use Windows, the small percentage of us who use other platforms have had a number of viable browser choices for years ["A Better Way to Surf?" May]. Linux users have had Mozilla, Galeon, and Konqueror, as well as lesser known browsers like Dillo and Links; and Mac users have had Safari.

In fact, even Windows users have had many choices, though most use Internet Explorer simply because it comes bundled with the system. The Opera browser, for instance, has been available as an alternative for years. The only thing different now is that Firefox has a big publicity campaign behind it, giving it a lot more exposure than its predecessors.

Richard Steiner
Lead analyst
SITA
Atlanta

At its antitrust trial, Microsoft went on and on about how deeply entwined Internet Explorer was with Windows. Now IE has become the entry point for viruses, spyware, and other problems. Many of the features Microsoft is talking up for IE7 are already in Firefox. Firefox is smaller, faster, and safer -- what's not to like?

Robert Halloran
IT systems administrator
Jacksonville, Fla.

Sharp Eyes

I think your photographer was making a joke with the image that opened your health care story ["Cut Your Health Care Costs Now," April, above]. A 500-tablet pharmacy-sized bottle of Endocet, a generic version of Percocet, says a lot. That's an interesting remedy for health care woes.

Les Gwyn-Williams
President
Terry's Family Pharmacy
Verona, N.J.