Mail

Forget Sun Tzu, Try the Art of Business

America is the main customer of the Chinese economic expansion, and the two countries would be far better suited as allies than competitors ["China Changes Everything," March]. Look at what happened to Germany. If it had partnered with America and the rest of Europe at the beginning of the last century, instead of starting wars, it would be the dominant economic powerhouse. Now is the time to put aside our differences and look at the big picture.

Allen Hing, director, HARB Management Consultants, Sydney, Australia

The short-term positive impact of Chinese manufacturing and "always low prices," as Wal-Mart says, masks the dangers that lurk downstream: American job losses and high poverty rates. Cleveland is already experiencing the devastating effects. Our poverty rate is one of the highest in the nation. We cannot look at these trade policies in isolation because the ripple effect for communities across the United States is tremendous.

John Colm
President
WIRE-Net
Cleveland

I've worked as an economist in Asia since 1980, and I thought Ted Fishman's article was unfair to China. It seems to imply that China is the sole reason oil prices rose more than 30% last year. There was no mention of supply constraints or the 4% growth in the U.S. economy or wars in the Middle East. Just China. There was also little praise for the fact that all electronics, among many other consumer products, are considerably less expensive than they were a decade ago, thanks to China.

David O'Rear
Chief economist
Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce
Hong Kong

The Cost of Options

There is no reason to believe that the new regulations for expensing stock options will spook investors in privately held companies ["FASB Limits Stock Options," March]. Investors in closely held companies are far more attuned to what is really going on financially than investors in public companies, so their reaction to seeing those costs on an income statement should be more muted. If, on the other hand, investors are foolish enough to think that a company is a worse investment the day after it has to expense options than it was the day before -- even though its compensation strategy has not changed at all -- then you don't want these investors.

Corey Rosen
Executive director
National Center for Employee Ownership
Oakland, Calif.

Labor Pains

Norm Brodsky knows that unions do quality work and that hiring local people is good for a business's reputation in the community ["Why the Union Can't Win," March]. He says that before he met with the representatives from Local 361, he was considering hiring a few union guys, as a gesture of goodwill -- but after the business manager for Local 361 was gruff with him, that went out the window. The lack of sales technique on the part of Local 361's representative was an affront to the author's entrepreneurial sensibilities.

Brodsky makes a very good point: Union leaders should learn to treat employers like potential customers instead of adversaries.

But that advice cuts both ways. What are union leaders supposed to do when employers treat them as adversaries instead of potential partners? And how can a union official successfully market his rank and file when the competition is willing to travel from 12 hours away and sleep in trailers on the job site?

Let's face it: Whatever leverage labor once had is long gone. It's up to us as employers to squeeze a little social justice into the work environments we create. Bringing in construction workers from several states away, when competent people live right next door, is not exactly a recipe for success in this regard.

Robert Cavanaugh
Owner
Cavanaugh Wallcovering
Exton, Pa.

I lived most of my life in Virginia and recently moved to West Virginia, so I was happy to read about Norm Brodsky's experience with Walt Conklin and his crew, the subcontractors from Virginia. I have been self-employed since I was 19 years old and now, at age 32, I also try to take a strong stand for the small guy. I can't tell you how many "mountain men" I've hired with great success.

Ron Meade
President
AquaMax
Charles Town, W.Va.

I have worked with men just like Walt Conklin and his crew many times, so I understand the contagious feeling of accomplishment they project, as well as the pride and camaraderie they possess. Norm Brodsky is a businessperson who needs warehouses constructed quickly and as expertly as possible, so I understand his choice completely.

However, people like Walt often work without any health care benefits. When I worked in the South as a roughneck on oil rigs and as a steamfitter, I saw men like Walt get hung out to dry. When they got hurt on the job, they were discarded. Although Brodsky has pointed out major problems that unions must address, unions are necessary to protect the workers like Walt in case they become injured.

Timothy A. Brown
Crew leader
Dominion Peoples Natural Gas
Pittsburgh

Back in the mid-1990s, the union leaders got the idea to unionize my then small business with its six production employees. I explained to my production staff that if they voted union and successfully negotiated for the wages the union proposed, two of the six would make $1.65 an hour more, three would make 85 cents less, and one would make $1.42 less. I also asked them to consider that with the monthly dues and other contributions, the best any of them would get was $1.83 less an hour. And the union's offer to provide health care to the journeymen wasn't impressive, since I already covered 100% of health care costs for all of my employees.

I also did a little research on the union. It lost money in each of the previous three years. Its local union chief got a new Cadillac, leased by the union, every year. He traveled quite a bit, always first class at union expense. I also discovered that the last time the union had its offices painted, it got three bids: two union, one non-union. The non-union shop got the job.

In the end, our production employees voted against unionizing.

Jon Julnes
President
Vanguard ADA Systems of America
Snohomish, Wash.

Terry "Moose" Millard
President
Vista Consulting Group
Colorado Springs, Colo.

It's a shame that the apprenticeships offered to the union crafts don't include the basics of good salesmanship, but I hope Norm Brodsky doesn't paint all unions with the same broad brush. Under the leadership of our current president, Douglas McCarron, we've dramatically restructured the way our carpenters' union works. Our union leaders are capable of thinking like business leaders, and business agents from our area are now attending workshops, taught by a former management representative, that stress organizing as a sales mission. I always ask my members to consider the contractor's customer as our customer. Our leadership understands the need to be competitive, value driven, and polite.

John Rockefeller
Agent and organizer
Carpenters Local 2337
Pewaukee, Wis.

Ben Laime
Owner
The Washito Group
Albuquerque

I have said for years that if unions would treat contractors more like customers, I would probably go union. The pool of highly trained labor is appealing. But the thing holding me back is that unions protect the workers with poor work ethics and poor workmanship when those members should be reprimanded. Contractors like me would love to have a union that supported us in our efforts to do high-quality work. However, they turn the relationship between the workers and business owners into an adversarial one that's based on mistrust. The last thing I need in my company is a union that fights me instead of helps me.

Rocky R. Geans
Owner
L.L. Geans Construction
Mishawaka, Ind.

After I finished reading Norm Brodsky's column about his experience with Local 361, I felt like the wind had been taken out of my sails. But I know in my heart that things can improve. The Ironworkers are changing, and we do have a business plan. I work for the Ironworkers International, and our labor management trust, Impact, is trying very hard every day to make our industry a better place for workers, contractors, and customers like Norm Brodsky.

Robert E. Banks
Northeast director of Impact
Ironworkers International
Boston

Let's Be Cautious

Learning about your market from competitors is a good idea ["Let's Be Friends," March]. But from a legal perspective, it is safest to do so by joining national trade organizations or by befriending CEOs of similar businesses in different sectors. And before you discuss any matters related to pricing with your crosstown rival, I'd recommend contacting a lawyer or an antitrust specialist to make sure you are not inadvertently sharing information illegally.

Maury Bricks
Operational finance specialist
Shell Energy Services
Houston

Money Isn't Everything

The quest for happiness undertaken by Greg James really hit home for me ["Successful, Yes, But Still Searching for Happiness," March]. As entrepreneurs we're lucky enough to control our destiny. So why do so many of us still feel overworked, overstressed, and generally unhappy in our lives? The new Ferrari or yacht is simply not going to do it, as Greg James found out. There needs to be something more. I agree that the secret is to find out what your heart desires and create your life in alignment with that goal. I own two companies that I hope to sell one day. I figure I'll give up the high-stress life and take a $30,000-a-year job at a nonprofit. There is a huge entrepreneurial void in the nonprofit community and this is where, as the article says, you can "contribute to something beyond yourself."

Peter Renton
Founder
Renton's Inc.
Denver

Trusting Your Employees

I have another suggestion for Brian Boubek about how to share his company's wealth without giving away equity [Ask Inc., March]. He should consider creating a trust fund that would be owned by his employees. Boubek could decide when to put in funds and could contribute according to his company's ability. Employees could withdraw their shares of the money whenever they like or leave them to accrue interest.

Ariel Fabian
President
AriTami International
Tenafly, N.J.

Without License

The reasoning behind the SEC's crackdown on finders makes no sense to me ["The Secret World of Finders," March]. What difference does it make whether or not a finder has a broker's license? It's like assuming that when a driver is licensed he won't speed, and when a driver is not licensed he'll outrun the highway patrol. The finder possesses all the rights of the person he represents. So let the served beware of the servant. What further regulation do we need?

Richard Palmquist
CFO
Truth Radio
Nipomo, Calif.

RFP Reduction

I was shocked to read that 33% is considered an excellent proposal response rate ["Perfecting the RFP," March]. My success rate ranges from 60% to 80%. When I read that proposals typically run from 20 to 50 pages, I thought, What are they responding to, RFPs about rocket science? Perhaps I have a high success rate because mine are 5 to 12 pages. When I get the feeling that I'll have to provide a lengthy proposal or lower my price, I walk away.

Joe Vranich
Coach and consultant
The Executive PR Coach
Irvine, Calif.

A Constructive Coup

I differ with the opinions of your experts about how to stage a coup against a lousy CEO [Ask Inc., March]. Both experts focus on going on the attack. In my opinion, there is no better way to create a battle that could destroy the company before you have the chance to turn it around.

To get anyone to see where he or she is coming up short, get away from judgments about the person and instead gain agreement about the key responsibilities and objectives of that person's position. When failings are presented in this way, it lessens the chance that the superior will get defensive or go on the attack. The result is a faster resolution with a lot less blood on the floor.

Brian G. Herbert
Owner
Carolina Business Advisors
Charlotte, N.C.