Labour as a Commodity

I am reading Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton, and I ran across a nugget that I want to share.

On the two divergent imperatives: the economic imperative, which dictates that the primary task of business is to realize a profit; and the human imperative, which causes employees to hunger for financial security, respect and tenure.

de Botton correctly points out that for long periods these two imperatives can coexist happily, however when a company is faced with uncertainty, the economic imperative will always win out.

So if labour is just another input, like raw materials and machinery, the only thing that actually separates it from say a computer, is labour's human quality.

Ahhh Summer

Vancouver Island Summer Holidays 2005 073
Originally uploaded by PBryden.

Well I've been on hiatus for a few weeks from the blog, enjoying a much needed family summer holiday on Vancouver Island. It is a truly spectacular place to visit, one that every person with a love for the outdoors should venture to discover.

After finishing an intensive two-year MBA at the Haskayne School of Business, endlessly plowing through textbooks and sinking in cases, the last thing I thought I would do is read. To my suprise I have just devoured books of all kinds since the trip to South America. I have a few that I'd like to write some comments on so I will do that over the next few days.