NOVEL SOLUTIONS
Arguments for Free Enterprise
SHANNON WETZEL, MANAGING EDITOR N ot that it is a secret, but figuring out
Charles Koch’s political leanings doesn’t take long when reading his book, “Good Profit.” Koch, the CEO of one of the largest private companies in the world, is clear on his belief that a free market soci- ety is the most beneficial from an economic, health and quality of life standpoint. Whether you agree with all of Koch’s political
and philisophical ideas, his latest book is a good read and interesting exploration of his arguments for free enterprise. T e point of Good Profi t is that companies can
achieve strong success by striving to make the lives of its customers better. It goes beyond improving a specifi c product to anticipating what the people really need or want and then working to provide that for them. Sometimes this means creating new technology or application of a resource that makes the original business obsolete. Koch calls this “creative destruction.” According to Koch, successful businesses grow by cre- ating value for the customer through constantly replac- ing products, methods and skills by superior alterna- tives. In this way, a business’s success stemming from a product that improves quality of life is a win-win. “Good profi t is earned through principled entre-
preneurship...It is not diminishing someone’s well- being but adding to it by mutually benefi cial voluntary transactions, based on respecting what the customer values,” Koch writes. Good Profi t’s subhead is “How Creating Value
for Others Built One of the World’s Most Succesful Companies,” and the book delivers with numerous ex- planations and examples of this foundational philoso- phy at Koch Industries. Koch explains in detail his company’s Market Based Management system based on the principles of free market and then frames this system within its fi ve dimensions: vision, virtue and talents, knowl- edge processes, decision rights and incentives. Each dimension has a chapter dedicated to it, followed with case studies taken from various Koch enterprises. It covers not only transaction-based decision-making but also recruiting and training employees, compliance and building knowledge. Regardless of whether you agree with all of Koch’s management views, the book is worth reading, studying and contemplating for any manager.
ABRIDGED
Relevance to Metalcasters Technical Diffi culty Self-Help Fluff Profi t Booster
We deal with a great many regulators on a daily basis at our facilities. We realized that we needed to better
understand and satisfy their needs just like we would a commercial customer.
Metalcasters’ Translation: Making the same eff ort to comply with regulations and
innovate better ways to achieve the ultimate goals of these rules as metalcasters do to anticipate and meet the needs of its customers would ultimately lead to full compliance and safer working environments.
January 2016 MODERN CASTING | 49
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