Posted 8:57 AM by Juniper, a bean farmer
Viacom is morally equivalent to a drug cartel

In an old post, Athanasius, reminds us of the how not to honor God in business: The Devil and Sumner Redstone.

Posted 9:20 PM by Juniper, a bean farmer
Terrible Economic Tragedy! *sniff* *sniff*

From Foxnews.com:

"In a weekly report Tuesday, the Bank of Toyko-Mitsubishi and UBS Warburg forecast that sales at stores opened at least a year, known as same-store sales, for the combined November and December period will be up only 1.5 percent. That would be the weakest increase since the same-store index started tracking the data in 1970."

I'm a news junkie, so this bit above represents about the 73rd time i've seen, heard or read some version of this "woe are we who have only increased sales of stuff by 1.5% over last year!" and i'm really sick of it.

A few thoughts:

I understand the need for continuous growth to drive job creation, pull us out of recession, etc. But why is a 1.5% increase such terrible news? Is it
possible that after 30 years of increasing spending, marketers efforts aren't working or at least resulting in diminishing returns?

Another statistic I read put total holiday spending at a projected $215 billion this year. Thats about $1,000 per American over the age of 18 and it
specifically excludes big ticket items like cars, and household goods and groceries which are bought anyway. So its $1000 per person on STUFF. And much of that is added to the enormous high interest credit card debt of America's middle class families. Given how highly debt laden the average american is, newspapers should breathe a sigh of relief when growth in spending matches instead of exceeds growth in disposable income.

From an investor's perspective, I don't understand why top-line revenue growth is such a priority anyway. It seems to me a company with $1 billion in sales and $100 million in profit is alot more attractive than a company with $10 billion in sales and $200 million in profit. I would welcome a shift in focus toward efficient cash flow and profit margin over a "growth at all costs" mentality.

And besides, how well does most of the stuff we gave and received this year fit this line from Pope John Paul in his general audience on Wednesday 12/18?:

Christmas gifts are a reminder that the person of Christ is a gift to humanity. Our gifts in this feast to each other are a reflection and expression
of this great Gift."

Posted 9:14 PM by Juniper, a bean farmer
Whole Foods Inc. has several excellent corporate policies that demonstrate a concern for justice and the community. One of the most unique is their "shared fate" policy:

We recognize there is a community of interest among all of our stakeholders. There are no entitlements; we share together in our collective fate. To that end we have a salary cap that limits the compensation (wages plus profit incentive bonuses) of any Team Member to ten times the average total compensation of all full-time Team Members in the company.

Imagine that! You mean all financial rewards for company success shouldn't go to the top executives?

This would be an incredibly empowering policy. It keeps senior leadership focused on truly driving sustainable growth for the company, and motivates people at all levels of the company to see it succeed.

For the rest of Whole Food's Core Values, head over to their website.

Posted 9:37 AM by Juniper, a bean farmer
Christian Stewardship from Our Sunday Visitor.