Private Sector more Efficient than Public?

[Razgovory]

I don't think I've ever seen evidence that private industry is more efficient the public sector.  I'm not sure how would even go about finding such evidence.  I've seen lots of people claim it though.  Must be a faith thing.

[crazy canuck]

Is the private sector more efficient?  The question is at what?

If we are talking about competing in the marketplace the answer is yes for a whole range of reasons that I dont think are contraversial so I will move on to the second point.

If we a talking about providing government services in a monopoly enviornment the answer is no.  Over the last 15 years or so this Province experimented with privatizing a number of services that government or government agencies had once provided to the public.  In every case those decisions were reversed or substantially scaled back.

There is one simple reason.  The profit motive doesnt work when it comes to providing government services and because the company providing the service needs to make a profit the cost of providing those services for the government ends up being more expensive then if the government just did it themselves.

Of course this leaves a question as to what services should be provided by government but that is a whole other debate.

[Phillip V]

I also have increasingly funny stories working with and in government, but I think I have reached a point where I need to keep quiet until I retire.

But private companies waste money on stupid crap to, such as lavish dinners and "morale events" when I would rather they just put that money in my bank account. I was forced today to order $300 worth of business casual clothes for myself that they paid for because the shirts are emblazoned with the small company logo.

[crazy canuck]

But private companies waste money on stupid crap to, such as lavish dinners and "morale events" when I would rather they just put that money in my bank account. I was forced today to order $300 worth of business casual clothes for myself that they paid for because the shirts are emblazoned with the small company logo.

Not to mention executive salaries and perks. 

[CountDeMoney]

But private companies waste money on stupid crap to, such as lavish dinners and "morale events" when I would rather they just put that money in my bank account. I was forced today to order $300 worth of business casual clothes for myself that they paid for because the shirts are emblazoned with the small company logo.

A certain company I won't mention spent over $700,000 on imported Italian marble for renovations of a particular public area once;  just three years later, it was renovated again by the new CEO according to his tastes, and they painted over it.  All that gorgeous marble, simply white washed.  I feel sorry for the schmuck that punches a wall there in frustration, thinking it's drywall. 

And how can I forget the $20,000 handcrafted custom conference table that was hauled to the dump because its shade of cherry didn't quite match the woodwork on the ceiling.  Not even returned, just trashed.  And a new one ordered.

Yes, companies can be truly silly with their money.

[PDH]

UPS and FedEx are two very large organizations that to me seem very efficiently run.

Fedex is not that well run, especially when dealing with non-urban areas.  Local routes are contracted, with far less oversight, and even express has to be centrally run through the main hubs - this means packages overnighted from, say, Denver to Colorado Springs must fly to Memphis or Indianapolis in order to return to Denver to be routed to Colorado Springs.  They are too rigid and do not do regionalism that well.  As far as I know, this is the norm for Fedex.

UPS seem far better at how they do their shipping models, but they also seem to take a higher margin and so their prices are about the same as the less efficient Fedex.

[Ed Anger]

Use up the alotted funds. If a couch ends up in your house, so be it.

[CountDeMoney]

UPS seem far better at how they do their shipping models, but they also seem to take a higher margin and so their prices are about the same as the less efficient Fedex.

They shattered the frame to my Royal KHM typewriter.  They don't like hauling heavy parcels, so fuck them.

[PDH]

UPS seem far better at how they do their shipping models, but they also seem to take a higher margin and so their prices are about the same as the less efficient Fedex.

They shattered the frame to my Royal KHM typewriter.  They don't like hauling heavy parcels, so fuck them.

Both are the shit when it comes to heavy packages or oversized ones.  Both also claim that any box shipped with them have to be able to withstand a drop from 3 feet onto a hard surface or they will not pay claims.  This means a lot of boxes smashed or accordioned because they are "not right" for their standards.

UPS just gets their ground boxes, smashed or not, to their local locations at a better rate.

[Grallon]

UPS and FedEx are two very large organizations that to me seem very efficiently run.

*Seem* is the operating word.  I'm currently working for an average sized (2000 employees) company that is owned by a multinational holding. 

Scratch that!

I'm posted at the site of an average sized company - owned by a multinational corporation - and serviced by my employer - another multinational corporation.  In the last few months the IT infrastructure of the original client company has been forcibly integrated within the 'globalized' infrastructure.  The turnaround services once provided within hours - are now delivered days later; those once offered within days are now delivered weeks later...  And the amount of paperwork - written or electronic - has exploded.

Naturally, since the central hub has off-shored to 3rd world shitholes most of the services once provided by my employer it appears - on paper at least - that there are significant operating cost savings.  However nobody seems interested in accounting for the 'intangible' costs of productivity loss due to the downtime of employees payed substantially more than the above  10- bucks-an-hour-and-a-bowl-of-rice-a-day slaves...  But in this era of short term quarterly bonus reviews I suppose this isn't worth mentioning.  The client we service is riddled with bureaucracy.  Which makes it possible for my employer to double or triple bill the services provided without anyone being the wiser...

So no Yi, being private does *not* equate being efficient. 



G.

[MadImmortalMan]

Five years ago we got funds from the government to replace a broken elevator with a brand new one. $400,000. And a copier/printer/publisher machine. $500,000.

The new elevator is still not installed because the funds to do the install have never been released, and because the contract to install it has never been awarded. It is a small-business set-aside, and no business small enough to bid on it has the ability to do the work. The elevator is getting rusty.

The copier needed service after a year, and it's under a service contract together with a shitload of other federally-owned devices like it--but the bill on the service contract is overdue by four years so the company won't fix it.

Last year, $180,000 was awarded to build an urban garden in the same facility. They grow crops there on about an acre. But the soil is toxic on that site, and you aren't supposed to drink the water from the tap much less eat food grown in it.

[CountDeMoney]

Use up the alotted funds. If a couch ends up in your house, so be it.

You have to; you have no choice.  That's the counter-intuitiveness of private sector budgeting. 
Heaven forbid you don't spend all you ducats that year in some fit of fiscal responsibility;  if you don't, The Powers That Be will determine you don't need a budget that size after all--and when you truly need it, it won't be there.

[HVC]

And how can I forget the $20,000 handcrafted custom conference table that was hauled to the dump because its shade of cherry didn't quite match the woodwork on the ceiling.  Not even returned, just trashed.  And a new one ordered.

i'd have a new dinning table

[MadImmortalMan]

And how can I forget the $20,000 handcrafted custom conference table that was hauled to the dump because its shade of cherry didn't quite match the woodwork on the ceiling.  Not even returned, just trashed.  And a new one ordered.

i'd have a new dinning table

No kidding. at the very least take that thing home and put it on ebay. 

[CountDeMoney]

i'd have a new dinning table

And a new living room table, and a new bedroom table...that thing could've landed a Boeing on it.