Big Business Affects The Culture

Today in the business schools and trade magazines, scalability is the operative word. Everything must be done in a scalable fashion – that is – so that economy of scale can be achieved. Process variability is squashed, along with innovation and personality. Even in small companies, the doctrine is to standardize and streamline processes, so that the company appears modern and is saleable to a larger competitor.

The problem with this is that it’s only good for big business. Big businesses are good for the few rich families that own them, and for people who enjoy the lifestyle that is required to be successful working in a big business. But for those who enjoy autonomy, freedom, creativity, personality, independence, and all other individualistic pursuits, big businesses are generally bad places to work.