THEIR CHEATING HEARTS…
(…have become the preferred way to game their market positions)

The latest scandal involving Volkswagen, which up until now was the epitome of quality, reliability, and rectitude, seems to be just another sorry example of how corrupt the world of big business and enterprise has become.

Almost every day we have new reports of some kind of scam or deceptive act in the world’s business community, and it isn’t just limited to one particular industry or sector, or large corporate entities. All sorts of dubious business practices seem to be found even among the smallest of enterprises. It’s a sad commentary on how endemic that is. Over the past several decades the business world seems to have abandoned the values of what made it a matter of great pride by emphasizing …quality…in every aspect of production, distribution, customer service, and marketing operations…as the determining factor for having a strong position of merit in the marketplace.

Somehow, somewhere along the way, that all changed, to be replaced instead by the idea that…cheating …was the best way to game their market positions. To what extent accrued loads of bureaucratic regulatory controls over accounting practices, capitalization structures, taxation , compensation levels, and social benefit mandates of one kind or another, are contributing factors to the idea that only by…cheating…in such matters can business prosper…is an open question. There may be some basis for thinking so, but we think it is not just those things, but more a matter of a change in values brought about by technology and globalization.

Simply put…today’s global consumerism no longer really cares about “quality” but only about “quantity”…and at the cheapest cost possible. Thus, cutting corners have become the guiding mantra for producing and marketing whatever products are made to feed that consumerist appetite. That’s why their cheating hearts…have become the preferred way to game their market positions.

CENTURION