"Natural Enterprises"
by
Jon Stahl
—
last modified
July 16, 2006 - 16:38
Musings on the economic advantages of open-source.
Environmentalist, business consultant and generalist extraordinaire Dave Pollard offers up an interesting comparision between "Hierarchical Corporation's Offerings" and "Natural Enterprise's Offerings."
It's interesting on many levels, but I was struck by how much it resembles the value proposition of open source generally, and Plone specifically.
Hierarchical Corporation's Offerings:
Advantages to the Customer | Natural Enterprise's Offerings:
Advantages to the Customer |
- Recognized, popular brand (a salve for low self-esteem)
- Low price (possible because of massive government subsidies and favours like 'free' trade agreements)
- Efficiency (as long as your needs are standard)
| - Personal relationship (knowledge, trust, partnership, friendship, even love)
- Customization (really have it your way)
- Local just-in-time service (responsiveness)
- Superior innovation
- Low pressure (since supplier is not dependent on growth for survival)
- Reciprocality (mutuality, flexible pricing)
- No
corporatist costs to pass on (huge management salaries, huge margins to
achieve 20%+ ROI demanded by shareholders, massive advertising,
marketing, transportation and packaging costs)
- Resilience
(reliability in the face of economic or other crises, due to superior
improvisational capacity and focus on effectiveness rather than more
vulnerable efficiency)
- Quality and durability (no crap from indifferent Chinese factories)
- Appeal to altruism (supplier is good to its people, its community, its environment, and good for the local economy)
|
