ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 1, 1996 TAG: 9608300070
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: COMMENTARY
SOURCE: SUSANA BARCIELA KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
Listen up, corporate America. Never mind how much you pat yourself on the back for earning record profits. Never mind how much Wall Street loves you for axing expenses and employees.
The people who buy from you and work for you think you are greedy and spiteful. True or not, justified or otherwise, it's that very perception that could lead to what corporations detest: more government regulation.
``You have a broad majority of the public regarding the biggest actors in the economy with a great deal of anger,'' says Scott Nova, director of the Preamble Center for Public Policy in Washington, D.C.
The reasons are no secret.
The gap between the income earned by the poorest and the richest continues to widen.
Job insecurity persists, fueled by continued corporate downsizing and the migration of low-wage jobs overseas.
Employee medical insurance, where it exists, covers less. And pension benefits keep getting chipped away.
Enter Albert Dunlap, easily a poster child for corporate greed. He's called Chain Saw, Rambo, The Terminator and a few other unprintable terms.
Dunlap, newly appointed CEO at Sunbeam, the ailing Fort Lauderdale, Fla., maker of toasters, heating pads and other appliances, is hailed by investors as a turnaround wizard. He's credited with eight corporate bail-outs, most recently at Scott Paper.
In his 15 months at Scott, Dunlap axed a third of the 33,000 employees, pumped up shareholder value by $6.5 billion, then sold the company in a deal that personally earned him a cool $100 million.
``I didn't get compensated for firing 11,000 people,'' Dunlap says. ``I got compensated for creating value.''
The son of a union steward, he says he knows well the human costs. He thinks of it as having rescued more than 20,000 jobs at a company that was a basket case.
``The only reason America is prospering is because of people like Al Dunlap,'' he says. ``We're adding significantly more jobs than we lost in restructuring.''
Sorry, Al. Most of America doesn't see it that way.
``Working people have been facing a whole new set of challenges as the economy changes dramatically,'' Nova says. ``We find the laissez-faire policy approach to corporate behavior, which has been in ascendance in the last few years, unworkable.''
A new think tank, the Preamble Center recently released the findings of a study that supports its bent. ``Corporate Irresponsibility: There Ought to Be Some Laws,'' included a national poll of 800 registered voters. Among its conclusions:
More respondents, 46 percent, agreed ``corporate greed is preventing the middle classes from getting ahead,'' than the 28 percent who blamed ``wasteful and inefficient government.'' And 22 percent agreed with both propositions.
Sixty-nine percent favored or strongly favored ``government doing something to ensure that corporations act more responsibly;'' 26 percent were opposed or strongly opposed.
Asked about a number of specifics, majorities supported requirements that corporations provide basic benefits, such as health insurance and pensions, and standards for ``responsible corporate behavior'' that would curb layoffs.
But nothing hits the outrage button more than exorbitant CEO pay, particularly when it follows staff cutbacks.
``It drove people berserk,'' Nova says, describing the reaction of focus groups. ``The CEO may lose his job, but still gets a golden parachute.''
You can quibble with this poll; like any study, take it with a grain of salt.
But it's not far off in capturing the public's anti-big business sentiment. Discussion of corporate greed may have been tabled for the convenience of both parties during the current presidential campaign, but it wasn't long ago that Pat Buchanan tapped into a rich vein of rage.
Dunlap blames the politicians for inflaming the public. He argues the perceptions are fueled by media reports.
Right or wrong, the anger isn't going away. It will be fanned not only by savvy politicians but by the continued squeezing of the work force. The gloating of richer-than-sin CEOs won't help.
``If you are in business, you're in business for one thing - to make money,'' Dunlap writes in his soon to be released book, ``Mean Business: How I Save Bad Companies and Make Good Companies Great.'' ``The shareholders are the No. 1 constituency,'' Dunlap says.
Like it or not, most Americans don't see it that way.
Companies that worship only profit and shareholders have every reason to exploit employees and consumers. Executives who get millions for short-term decisions don't have to live with the long-term consequences. The work force does.
Will the tables turn? The best talent will flow to the best employers. Employers will understand that motivated employees produce more, that competent people at every level make the company profitable. That long-term, healthy communities ensure the supply of good workers and consumers.
Listen up, corporate America.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 linesby CNB