Engineers really know their stuff

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BadDog
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

Post by BadDog »

Only when there is nothing left beneath their feet. And since they were so "successful" in maximizing quarterly profits at the now gutted company, they get sweetheart deals from their peers on other boards who want to take the reduced early payout rather than the substantially higher amortized long term return (allusions to lottery are intentional). These always come with golden parachutes because, at least in private, they know and acknowledge how this usually plays out. So yes, eventually, but only after they collectively gut the entire economy of a nation. Once they got theirs, who cares what happens to the rest...
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John Hasler
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

Post by John Hasler »

There are many companies and many styles of management.
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warmstrong1955
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

Post by warmstrong1955 »

John Hasler wrote: Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:46 am There are many companies and many styles of management.
Ain't that a fact!
And....I have seen companies prosper, along with it's people, as well as fail, along with it's people, when headed up by MBA types, bean-counters, engineers, or marketing people.
Pretty much equally among any type you want to pick on, they are all capable of good and bad, if I look back at a bunch of 'em.

Guy I once worked for told me, "If it wasn't for people.....mining would be easy."
Applies to most anything no? Especially at the top.

;)
Bill
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BadDog
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

Post by BadDog »

LOL, true that. But the MBAs I'm talking about aren't just MBAs, but rather a specific breed of MBA exemplified (originating?) with the "Harvard MBA" style of the 80s. I've worked with/for/at very long running successful companies only to see them taken over (replaced most all of upper management with cronies) and gutted by those people.
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warmstrong1955
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

Post by warmstrong1955 »

Well....MBA's aren't the only ones who do that.
Example.....
I worked for a manufacturing company. The manager, when I got there, was an engineer, who, when he got there, literally saved the company from extinction.
He left, headed to a different division, and was replaced by an MBA. This guy, took the company to the most money they had ever made, in their 35 year history. He didn't do that alone.
The company was sold, and the MBA guy also went back to the original owner. Enter a new manager, a guy with a marketing background. He took the company to the most money they had ever lost in their 40 year history. He didn't do that alone either.
After that....it was a revolving door at the top. That company, is essentially gone.

So....pick one. Good and bad, in all walks of life.
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BadDog
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

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Yeah, MBAs certainly have no corner on that market. Just a dominating pattern in my experience...
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warmstrong1955
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

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For anyone still interested in the FIU bridge collapse, this is an interesting read:

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/ ... 71434.html

Bill
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tornitore45
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

Post by tornitore45 »

I spent 11 years in a company in Italy run by an engineer with majority stock, the company had exponential growth and profits, shared fairly between management and the peons, was sold to Fiat and the Alcatel. Is now defunct.
Moved to US spent 44 year in corporate industries, save a couple of start up, the big companies plunging decline started when the MBA and "professional" managers took over from the founder 1st and 2nd generation.
My experience agrees wit BadDog 100%
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hoppercar
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

Post by hoppercar »

My vote is for automotive engineers...they have to be the dumbest people on the planet....whose idea was it to put a fuel pump in the gastank ?....and why can't they put an access hole in the firewall, so I can change my heater core, instead of ripping out the whole dashboard...but the king of all auto engineer idiots has to be the one, where thebattery is so far down in the wheel well, you have tojack the car up, and take the tireoff, so you can replace the battery
SteveM
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

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hoppercar wrote: Wed Dec 12, 2018 1:41 pm My vote is for automotive engineers...they have to be the dumbest people on the planet....
Oh, I could go on forever:

The late 1970's Monza that had to have the engine jacked up to remove a spark plug.

When I need to melt ice off my windshield, the car runs the air conditioner (not talking about the inside, this is the outside).

I can't set the system to warm my hands with the dashboard vents at the same time as I am defrosting the windshield.

GM and some others design their wipers so that you can't tilt them back and have them sit upright while you scrape your window.

At night, your judgement of car distances is based on how far apart the headlights are - who at Saturn thought that it would be a good idea to move the headlights about a foot apart in the center of the grille?

Have any of these engineers actually used an automatic day/night mirror? They are too dark in the day and not dark enough when the idiot behind you has his high beams on.

Who in their right mind thinks that having a touch screen to operate everything in the car is somehow significantly different from and safer than texting?

In some cars, you can't get cloth seats, but when you complain that the leather seats are cold, they want you to buy a $600 heated seat package? (This is an example of one of our member's sig line - "Engineers solve problems. When there are no problems to solve, they create their own").

A friend of mine when in to buy a Porsche a while back. While the leather interior, sunroof and various luxury items and doodads were standard equipment, the limited slip differential was an option (on a "performance" car).

Steve
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warmstrong1955
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

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Today's solutions are tomorrow's problems.
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SteveHGraham
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Re: Engineers really know their stuff

Post by SteveHGraham »

Don't laugh. I had a 2003 Thunderbird. Coil-over-plug ignition. As far as I know, it's a very stupid idea to begin with, mandated by the greenies. Ford fixed it so rainwater collected in cavities over the coils, so every so often, they go bad. Also, the car kept giving me "check engine" warnings, and sometimes it would not start even though the battery was good. It was a fiberglass car, and the ground screw was back in the trunk...loose.

The car was designed so the windows won't let you open or close the doors when they're up. I don't recall exactly how it worked, but either the windows rolled down automatically so you could open the doors, or maybe it was so you could close the doors. Bizarre.

The trunk lock was behind the driver's seat. I had to get out the manual to open my trunk for the first time.

The car's computer was in the stereo, so it was impossible to buy a new stereo for the car. Found that out after I ordered one.

The car had 280 HP, but they programmed the fuel injection so it had about a half-second lag when you hit the gas. That means it did the quarter in about the same amount of time as a 150-HP car with fuel injection that works correctly. Every time you hit the gas, the car practically stopped. I'm sure everyone who knows anything about cars realizes you have to add a lot of power to cut a half-second off a car's acceleration time. Total waste of engine, and it was also dangerous, because the car might just sit when you tried to get out of danger.

My Dodge pickup has grab handles on the windshield pillars, to support your weight when you climb in. If you actually put your weight on one, it breaks.

My dad had a 2002 Infiniti with xenon lights. They eventually stop working. Infiniti charges $900 for each ballast, if you can find them at all. The car came with a touch screen. It died after a few years. Good luck running the AC or radio without it. They quit making the part. The engine has like 50 gaskets up top, and they go bad. We were quoted $1000 to replace them.

Nobody beats boat engineers, though. Bacteria are significantly smarter. My dad had a Hatteras yacht that was literally built around a $500 refrigerator. They built the galley, installed the fridge, and then put the superstructure on the hull. If the fridge dies, buy a new yacht. The boat was made so you could pull 8V71's out the saloon door, but you could not get the refrigerator out without cutting up cabinets.
Every hard-fried egg began life sunny-side up.
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