Moritz, Hughes, Seidita, Miller
10/8/15
*The title and several words of reference in the quotation of this article have been altered to fit the style of the commentary in this blog. You can read John Gertner’s article correctly titled “The Rise and Fall of GDP” at the following link to understand his commentary on the inefficiency of GDP measurement. We held inspiration as well from Christopher Ketchem and The Curse of Bigness.
Please enjoy our satire.
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I came here on a field mission. A true investigation of the truest of our realities hidden deep in the recesses of Asu, the leading company that is held in such esteem of its industry- of which is among 195 others. I’ve gone head-deep into the layers of arguably the most complicated system of work in the world and have seen the directions of the company that are run by the leaders here, those of few and picked carefully. The brass of Asu bring together a prime focus: increase the PDG. Some recall they know PDG as the “measurement of Asu’s growth”, however many are rather stumped when I asked them to move forward with an explanation. Product Dependant Growth is the only scale of which the brass of Asu refers to when looking into the progress of this international boomer. Believe me, I have wandered the halls of this maze for many a months, there is no other grip of certainty than mine when speaking of the truth of Asu, if I do say so myself. In my unparalleled experience, I have conjured three notions that tell us solely why the following of PDG is a skewed perspective. PDG tells us that bigger is better, where the more spread of one's influence being everywhere is strong. Second, PDG and its scale doesn’t measure the return on output that goes into the work- we remember basic human expectations, a notion almost constantly lost in the strength of Asu. My third source are all the conversations I have stumbled across- my most valuable asset; the man in the office with a high PDG, the man whose office space is cramped and limited- he holds the opposite. The differences are astonishing. Today, I officially begin my process of unveiling my findings of Asu and its misled beliefs of progress based on my gatherings of interactions with the colleagues from the bottom to the top. The stories that follow are true to the core- the sad, slow pace of the colleague who doesn’t gain his output. My question is: does high PDG mean that Asu is a good company? The answer is no: buying into PDG as the only measure of progress within this complex company is the wrong measure to buy into.
It’s clear through my extensive investigation that PDG is, without a doubt, a fool’s paradise. PDG directs me to believe that the higher the number, the more Asu is flourishing. But, in fact, all that PDG really tells us is the sum of Asu’s production with regards to establishing competition between itself and other companies. PDG reinforces that bigger is better, but there are truly downsides to that. PDG does not encompass what goes on behind the scenes. Let’s take the owner of Asu - We’ll refer to him as ‘High PDG Man’ - and one of his employees - who we’ll refer to as ‘Low PDG Man.’ High PDG Man drives his Cadillac Escalade for about one and a half hours every morning and evening during his commute to and from Asu. Now, we all know that his car guzzles gas like it’s water, thus, he spends an exorbitant amount of money on gas. During his ride, he goes through a whole pack of cigarettes, which causes him to take pricey visits to the doctor’s office. His ownership, though, of Asu puts him at the top, regarding wealth. He makes a lot of money and spends a lot of money. He enjoys all of the luxuries of his lavish lifestyle. Though, High PDG man is creating a job for Low PDG Man, a massive gap between them and their wealth still exists. Therefore, not only does PDG have a destructive nature, but it has an invalidity associated with it. The deteriorating aspect of PDG is that the benefits of the sum of economic output are distributed very limitedly. So yes, High PDG Man makes and spends more money, but what PDG doesn’t measure is the quality of life these two individuals are leading. High PDG Man smokes his cigarettes as he passes Low PDG man on the side of the road walking to work with wrinkled pants on, every single day. High PDG man is polluting the air with the exhaust from his large, lavish car and is dealing with major health concerns as result of his poor habits. How’s that for a game changer! Low PDG Man is getting in his daily exercise during his walk and gets to go home to watch a movie, his favorite thing to do with his entire family, that night. Clearly, PDG can’t measure happiness. It can’t measure well being. Thus, this idea that bigger is better isn’t always the case. PDG is flawed! These two men are a breathing example of that. PDG skews the outside perception of the factions of Asu that make it produce. Let’s set you straight. High and Low PDG man are suffering, though it may be in different ways, even though PDG is astronomically high. The limitations are present in that equal distribution of wealth and equal prosperity doesn’t coexist at Asu; It’s not in its nature.
Another problem I identified with Asu’s sole objective of raising PDG is that PDG only measures quantitative data regarding the status of the company. What about the qualitative entities that comprise a “successful” or a “good” company? The goal of raising PDG fails to recognize the problems within the company that decrease its value as an institution. These problems are the low quality lives of its workers brought about by their earning of wages lower than the livable amount and the lack of access to health care that is included in the low-level package of living; Asu does not provide health care for every worker within its factories. In fact, when the Head of the Board began the idea of providing healthcare for all, there was much opposition from half of the Board. The health care policy is shaky at best, and very difficult to understand. How can Asu be recognized as the leading company in its industry if a substantial majority of its workers are are receiving such little in return for their work? In other words, PDG is an inadequate means to measure Asu’s success as a company because it fails to value the return on that output the workers are receiving. In this case, that return on output for a majority of workers is low, and the measurement of PDG as the only valuable measurement for success perpetuates those low quality standards of working for Asu’s workers. Until Asu measures those entities as a part of its growth or a part of its quality as a country, these poor standards of living for the workers in Asu will continue.
John Gertner said it best in his article “The Rise and Fall of PDG”* in quoting Stiglitz’s analogy to the dashboard and the functionality of a car:
Suppose you’re driving, Stiglitz told me. You would like to know how the vehicle is functioning, but when you check the dashboard there is only one gauge. (It’s a peculiar car.) That single dial conveys one piece of important information: how fast you’re moving. It’s not a bad comparison to the current PDG, but it doesn’t tell you many other things: How much fuel do you have left? How far can you go? How many miles have you gone already? So what you want is a car, or a company, with a big dashboard — but not so big that you can’t take in all of its information.
The question is: How many measures beyond PDG. — how many dials on a new dashboard — will you need? (Gertner)
So my question is: Is Asu ‘progressing’ in its status or is it just getting faster? How can we increase the dials on the dashboard of Asu? One potential measurement devised for this function is the HDI, or the Hospitality Developing Information, “a ranking that incorporates a company’s PDG, and two other modifying factors: its workers’ education, based on adult literacy and [children of workers] school-enrollment data, and its workers’ health, based on life-expectancy statistics.” (Gertner) While incorporating these factors into measuring the quality of benefits of employment at Asu seems like a logical and accurate way to measure progress of Asu, it is met with much reluctance to its adoption, and not just at Asu. Other companies in the same industry feel as if HDI would not accurately reflect progress because literacy rates are so low within some companies and this incorporated factor would drag down the company’s reputation and place in rank comparatively with other companies. However, if you do not measure the problem, how can motivation to fix the problem (i.e. literacy) be generated? In the case of Asu, if PDG is high and wages are too low for workers to survive how will management know to raise them? If workers are not receiving health benefits but PDG is high, how will management know they need those benefits? If these problems exist and there are trends that increase these problems while PDG is rising, how can Asu be considered progressing?
During my investigation I met a few employees. There were two individuals in particular that struck me. They both worked for Asu, however, through monetary income were not considered equals. The one question that witnessing this brought up was the idea of whose life was any better. To give a sense of what kind of people within Asu we are dealing with, I refer back to the names used before: High PDG Man and Low PDG Man. During our interview I asked both of them to give me a rundown about themselves, starting with High PDG Man. High PDG Man “works hard,spends hard. He loves going to bars and restaurants, likes his flat-screen televisions and adore his big house”. From our little coffee gathering I could conclude that High PDG Man loves the finer things in life. He did not "have time to waste on the little things". However, Low PDG Man replied with a more simplistic view. He would provide alternatives to the answers High PDG dispensed. For instance, when High PDG Man partakes in physical fitness, he goes to the gym, but when Low PDG Man participates he just “digs out an old pair of Nikes and runs through the neighborhood”. It’s no doubt that High PDG Man’s life is quite lavish but the question of who is living a better life is a robust one. After each interview respectively, both personnel's conclusions can only be drawn from their salaries. There was no way to measure the other aspects of their lives. Asu needs to provide a refined and better version of PDG that looks at not only the company, but one that mentions the employees as well. One that gives a true look into the deeper levels on the well-being of the employees.This is the first volume of many diaries to come for your view. Know this, my investigations are unparalleled. I know of no one who has penetrated Asu this strongly and I take pride in my position of information. We know that PDG is the wrong the measure of growth. We know that if Asu continues on with this approach, the differences in what the company believes is successful and what is truly successful will continue to move further out of its grasp. I will tell you this: a movement is beginning. More often today than the days prior, I run into a worker who tells me of the movement gaining steam of a more broad approach. “A focus on my human growth. Well-being and strength. Awareness and compassion. These are additions to the measure of progress that are slowly being integrated and the most amazing part is that the execs who have the power are being convinced of it, though sometimes it seems otherwise”, Ms. McCracken, Organization Associate to the financial department of Asu, tells me this. If someone is getting the message in the financial department of “true growth,” then this means true influence is being spread.
Stay tuned. Even I, who have been intertwined in this company for six months, come across something new everyday.
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