Kraft and Heinz merge

"El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First!" (lightningzone) 03/25/2015 at 17:27 • Filed to: None

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And the Wall Street Journal !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! us that zero-based budgeting, or as I call it, the Ebenezer Scrooge method of management, is going to save us all.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

This "marvelous", Texas originating, method is obviously a bunch of shit, just like trickle down economics. It may seem like a good idea, but when you apply it in real life, it just doesn't work.

If you waste your time and energy at work with ridiculous things like using less toilet paper, or using the most economical text for printed paper, or rationalizing the coffee or drinking one less beverage per week or sacking a bunch of people just to scare the remaining employees into overworking themselves to death, you will miss the real opportunities and you won't have time to implement a cohesive vision. Sure, you may save some money in the short term, but you will end up losing a lot more on long term.

We, as car enthusiasts, have taken the results of this bean counting method, right in the face. Just think of how many awesome cars were never given to us because they couldn't make a business case or because narrow minded, corporate tools couldn't see the long term benefits and the halo effect, of those cars. The manuals are doing down because bean counters think that it's too costly to offer two types of gearboxes on the same models.

DrJohannVegas > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 17:31

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I've always wanted to do some real research on whether: 1) ZBB leads project managers to try to shorten the duration of development projects, and thus 2) It leads to more expensive projects, by encouraging, indirectly, more spending in order to rush the project so it fits in fewer budgeting cycles.

E. Julius > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 17:32

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Well it looks like their management has already taken a critical step towards increasing longterm profits: merge with your competition to increase market power and bleed the consumer surplus dry.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 17:35

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Of all the sub-brands, Velveeta gets front and center listing?

MrDakka > E. Julius 03/25/2015 at 17:37

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Are they now a monopoly?

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > E. Julius 03/25/2015 at 17:41

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Well, that's why smart consumers always try new brands. Consumers created big corporations and consumers can create rivals for them.

E. Julius > MrDakka 03/25/2015 at 17:42

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No, although a monopoly isn't strictly necessary for what I described with my initial comment. I'm sure it's not too bad, otherwise some sort of antitrust authority would hopefully have prevented the merger. Seeing two huge companies merge like this is always a little… disconcerting for me though. That being said, besides the Heinz condiments and occasionally some Planters nuts I never buy any of that crap.

E. Julius > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 17:42

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Or buy local : )

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 17:46

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From what I've heard working for 3G companies is a terrible way to go. Its a brutal cutthroat culture where the margins as thin as possible. Absolute minimum staffing leads to absurd work hours and burnout employees.

I'd bet the long term implications would be bad for this style. Your company would simply be a stopgap for people looking for a better job, high turnover will to instability in the office place and eventually you'll need to hire lower end employees to meet the work needs. You would struggle to keep up with competition and thus fall back.

To bring it to cars, when Henry Ford instilled the $5 a day wage it was for mostly selfish reasons. In the long run its cheaper to have experienced and skilled employees and pay them more than it is to have inexperienced labor for cheaper.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 03/25/2015 at 17:47

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I'm surprised DeliMex isn't in the picture. That.s pretty good for comfort food.

Well, I got the picture from Business Insider, but it was too big, to leave it the post, as it is.

MrDakka > E. Julius 03/25/2015 at 17:51

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Apparently this merger will make them the third biggest food company in North America and fifth largest in the world

http://fortune.com/2015/03/25/hei…

http://www.wsj.com/articles/kraft…

ClassicDatsunDebate > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 03/25/2015 at 17:54

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Yeah....like where the hell is Kraft Dinner??

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 03/25/2015 at 17:55

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Well, this is the man behind 3G and the richest man in Brazil, Jorge Paulo Lemann. I imagine that to become the richest person in a country like Brazil is not a walk in a park, I'm guessing you need a certain amount of evil inside, and very sharp elbows.

E. Julius > MrDakka 03/25/2015 at 17:58

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Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 18:05

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You know what is the saddest thing? It is that Heinz are the only supplier for a good BBQ sauce to my country(or at least how I imagine a good BBQ sauce must taste like, not being to the US yet).

BoxerFanatic, troublesome iconoclast. > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 18:06

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Baseline budgeting never accounts for economic shifts AWAY from business functions.

Baseline growth budgeting makes a critical assumptions that what is relevant now, or in the past, will ALWAYS be relevant, and growth will always occur to create justification for growth above the baseline.

Efficient re-allocation of finite capital should take into account retraction, retrenchment, economic down-turns, business cycle variations, and obsolescence

Casting zero-based budgeting as "ebenezer scrooge", asserting that there is inherent cruelty, or making passing, unsubstantiated swipes at demonstrable macro-economic trends that are summed up simply as "trickle down economics", is vilification and political ideology, not sound economic theory.

Evaluation of business strategy as a whole, not as just a template from the past, is not inherently cruel, and doesn't automatically assert cruel denials, but it does allow for realizations of changing economic realities...

By baseline budgeting... buggy-whip manufacturers would still be getting pay raises, a hundred years after the advent of the mass-produced automobile that proceeded to make horse-drawn personal transit obsolete... automatic growth of a previous line item that is no longer relevant.

McMike > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 18:08

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Pour in tank, get horsepower.

daender > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 18:11

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History shows what happens when two powerhouses combine to form a monopoly...they get too big to stay stable and implode upon themselves. Ex: Penn Central's demise after merging Penn Railroad, NY Central, and another northeastern rail in 1969...declared bankruptcy in 1970.

CRider > El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! 03/25/2015 at 18:28

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Then the new brands will be bought out by the huge corporations. Go to any major supermarket, it's very hard to find any "alternatives" that aren't owned by one of the behemoths.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 03/25/2015 at 19:00

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You could make your own.

You can skip the organic part if you want, but make sure you keep tasting the sauce as you mix it, to make sure it has the taste and thickness you want.

El Relámpago(LZone) - Humanity First! > Shady Balkan Subject, Drives an Alfa 03/25/2015 at 19:15

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You can find a whole lot of bbq sauce recipes online, even Coke and Mountain Dew based, if you like your soda in your food.