like I went to taco bell and they didn’t even have napkins out. they had the other stuff just no napkins, I assume because some fucking ghoul noticed people liked taking them for their cars so now we just don’t get napkins! so they can save $100 per quarter rather than provide the barest minimum quality of life features.
Yep.
Corporations have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders. They have to make money. And how much money do they have to earn? MORE.
To grow, they offer good food at a reasonable price. It seems cheaper to put the drink machine out for customers to make their own drinks choices… but then we need those extra pennies, so behind the counter it goes, so customers don’t get free refills… then how can we source cheaper stuff, beef beans etc. there will be c constant demand to squeeze every penny from the system… Bob is making too much; better fsck his schedule until he quits so we can hire Alice as she make only minimum wage.
I’m not sure where napkins fall in the chain but yes the quality likely will continue to spiral down.
There are very few companies who recognize that there is a quality floor they should not go below. Where they acknowledge that we can’t get any worse, but they have to raise prices. And depending on the managers this cycle will continue back and forth
Can we stop with the myth that “corporations/board members have a fiduciary duty to share holders for maximum profit”
It’s not true and never has been! It’s just some bullshit that was said in the 80s that sounds good but has no basis in reality
No?
As long as upper level management receives bonuses based on share price, and the board reenforces that…
The stock market is a voting machine not a weighing machine.
I simply disagree Management generally must keep increasing ARPU average revenue per user or else the market punishes the stock price
What? Everything you just said has nothing to do with fiduciary duty.
The reason the board acts that way is because of this myth. Also many companies have nothing to do with APRU. The stock market is not just Tech stocks and crypto.
Dumb question: did the laws change or was it a change in trends to maximize shareholder returns?
There was a cultural shift in the 1970s:
See https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2019/08/22/so-long-to-shareholder-primacy/#:~:text=The shift to shareholder primacy,increase its profits.” Subsequently%2C
Why did that change?
I think it was a self-beneficial fad. All the rich shareholders think it’s a great idea, as do many on boards (since the shareholders elect them), so it becomes dogma. All fads eventually lose their shine, as this one is.
But I’m neither an economist, nor a historian, so take my guess with a big grain of salt.
Not at all is that a dumb question.
See the other comments.
It is much more cultural than anything else.
As the stock market moved from buy and hold for the long term to the more manic trading we see today where shit like robinhood allows everyone to trade options