Company and Government are very different



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送交者: 吴礼 于 2006-2-20, 15:15:17:

回答: Does anyone of you enjoy the freedom of speech in the company? 由 Erxin 于 2006-2-20, 14:53:13:

1. The priority of a company is to operate effectively. This requires centralization of decision power. The priority of a government is to avoid mistakes. This requires check and balance.

2. A company does not have control over all parts of an employee's life, while a government can potentially have such control. Therefore we need laws to protect personal freedom from the government. By the way, such laws also protect us from the companies. For example, a company cannot fire someone because of his political view, or his political activities outside of his work (unless the company itself is a political organization).

3. A company is accountable to the market. If it makes big mistakes, it won’t survive. A government cannot be contained from outside (not with reasonable cost anyway). So it must be contained from within, namely by the people.

4. If an employee does not like how his company works, he can always change job. However, there is no such recourse for a citizen who does not like his government (again, with reasonable cost). Therefore, the people need to have a say on how the government should behave.

So, to answer your question, a company is not run by democracy. An employee does what his is assigned to do, without getting involved in other decisions. However, you do have reasonable freedom of speech. If you don’t like a decision of the boss, you can argue with him at the meetings, or complain to your co-workers. This usually won’t change the decision, but it won’t bring negative consequences to you, either, if you stay within the boundary of work ethics. It is not guaranteed by law if it is work-related. But it is provided by the culture, which is cultivated by our political system.

Actually, I observe a big difference between U. S. and Chinese companies; even through they are of similar types in market place. It seems that the former pays more respect to personal dignities of the employees, and have a clearer boundary between an employee’s work duty and his family life. Is this true?






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