After adding the 10c version to my cart and going through to checkout, it would have saved me a twonie as opposed to ordering the same deluxe version from Germany.
After adding the 10c version to my cart and going through to checkout, it would have saved me a twonie as opposed to ordering the same deluxe version from Germany.
I’ll stick with the order I already made.
EDIT - for non-Canucks, a twonie is $2
Compared to Amazon US, the deluxe will cost almost $40 more. For a book.
After adding the 10c version to my cart and going through to checkout, it would have saved me a twonie as opposed to ordering the same deluxe version from Germany.
I’ll stick with the order I already made.
EDIT - for non-Canucks, a twonie is $2
Compared to Amazon US, the deluxe will cost almost $40 more. For a book.
Crazy. I’m not purchasing anything from Amazon any longer due to their deplorable working standards (I’m a workplace health and safety consultant). The last item I bought through Amazon was the Ornette Coleman boxset and it was a positive experience from a consumer perspective, but there is too much wrong with the business model for me.
I am aware there are probably concerns along the entire supply chain in the production of a record. I am also aware of how many goods are produced in China, and they care less about workers. I really only buy records (besides food and personal care products) so I will make my choice there.
I’ll pay a little extra to get my vinyl from a far more reputable distributor and prefer to use local retailers when possible.
Having said that, a $40 price difference is hard to argue with. All of this is pushing me towards a minimalist existence.
After adding the 10c version to my cart and going through to checkout, it would have saved me a twonie as opposed to ordering the same deluxe version from Germany.
I’ll stick with the order I already made.
EDIT - for non-Canucks, a twonie is $2
Compared to Amazon US, the deluxe will cost almost $40 more. For a book.
Crazy. I’m not purchasing anything from Amazon any longer due to their deplorable working standards (I’m a workplace health and safety consultant). The last item I bought through Amazon was the Ornette Coleman boxset and it was a positive experience from a consumer perspective, but there is too much wrong with the business model for me.
I am aware there are probably concerns along the entire supply chain in the production of a record. I am also aware of how many goods are produced in China, and they care less about workers. I really only buy records (besides food and personal care products) so I will make my choice there.
I’ll pay a little extra to get my vinyl from a far more reputable distributor and prefer to use local retailers when possible.
Having said that, a $40 price difference is hard to argue with. All of this is pushing me towards a minimalist existence.
I love Amazon's business model and have been a heavy investor for years. In my opinion, the work conditions are fine and everything I've read in the Times and everywhere else are both anecdotal and one off. There is a distinction between a bad manager and a bad company culture. When you have the number of people they do, you will always have some percentage that is unhappy or has an as to grind, along with idiotic line managers. I don't see them as modern day 19th century factories. They also voted to split 20-1 yesterday, which makes me even more pleased with them.
$45 before shipping?! insane. funny how dischord can manage to produce 7 x 7" box set with booklet for $50 yet 1 LP that is mass produced is $45 from pj. "nevermind what they're sellin, it's what you're buying"...rings true i guess
After adding the 10c version to my cart and going through to checkout, it would have saved me a twonie as opposed to ordering the same deluxe version from Germany.
I’ll stick with the order I already made.
EDIT - for non-Canucks, a twonie is $2
Compared to Amazon US, the deluxe will cost almost $40 more. For a book.
Crazy. I’m not purchasing anything from Amazon any longer due to their deplorable working standards (I’m a workplace health and safety consultant). The last item I bought through Amazon was the Ornette Coleman boxset and it was a positive experience from a consumer perspective, but there is too much wrong with the business model for me.
I am aware there are probably concerns along the entire supply chain in the production of a record. I am also aware of how many goods are produced in China, and they care less about workers. I really only buy records (besides food and personal care products) so I will make my choice there.
I’ll pay a little extra to get my vinyl from a far more reputable distributor and prefer to use local retailers when possible.
Having said that, a $40 price difference is hard to argue with. All of this is pushing me towards a minimalist existence.
I love Amazon's business model and have been a heavy investor for years. In my opinion, the work conditions are fine and everything I've read in the Times and everywhere else are both anecdotal and one off. There is a distinction between a bad manager and a bad company culture. When you have the number of people they do, you will always have some percentage that is unhappy or has an as to grind, along with idiotic line managers. I don't see them as modern day 19th century factories. They also voted to split 20-1 yesterday, which makes me even more pleased with them.
It’s a free country (seemingly). You are entitled to your opinion. I don’t think of the world solely as an investor. If the culture exists at all, it is wrong.
Occupational Health and Safety Legislation in the province I live ensures the psychological safety of workers. There are very specific requirements employers must have in place to ensure the situations you are talking about (rogue managers, poor culture within specific divisions or geographic locations, unreasonable workplace demands, pressures) does not exist.
There is a fine line between ensuring customers are happy (at all cost) and workers are treated with respect and dignity. Having worked for many large multi-national corporations in my current role, I can tell you worker rights are less valued in American companies. The constant pressure to deliver results to investors outweigh the concerns of other key stakeholders, including workers.
I believe there are four levels of corporate culture. What the executive and BOD would like to believe exists, what middle management has created based on corporate objectives, what the workers relay to middle management through surveys, meetings, etc.
Then there is the real corporate culture that exists, which is usually a far cry from what the executive and BOD want in place.
It’s one thing in business that is almost impossible to measure. With a little professional knowledge provided by peers, I am convinced this is not a culture I can support.
This is all from my own observations. I don’t read or listen to any of these “corporate culture gurus” although the Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is a good read.
Didn't some deluxe version of the CD come with the hardcover tab book.
And the vinyl had a shorter tab booklet included?
Or am I misremembering?
You are correct! The deluxe CD had a hardcover songbook with tabs and the original vinyl had a soft cover one, both out of print. This new version does not appear to have a songbook tab.
After adding the 10c version to my cart and going through to checkout, it would have saved me a twonie as opposed to ordering the same deluxe version from Germany.
I’ll stick with the order I already made.
EDIT - for non-Canucks, a twonie is $2
Compared to Amazon US, the deluxe will cost almost $40 more. For a book.
Crazy. I’m not purchasing anything from Amazon any longer due to their deplorable working standards (I’m a workplace health and safety consultant). The last item I bought through Amazon was the Ornette Coleman boxset and it was a positive experience from a consumer perspective, but there is too much wrong with the business model for me.
I am aware there are probably concerns along the entire supply chain in the production of a record. I am also aware of how many goods are produced in China, and they care less about workers. I really only buy records (besides food and personal care products) so I will make my choice there.
I’ll pay a little extra to get my vinyl from a far more reputable distributor and prefer to use local retailers when possible.
Having said that, a $40 price difference is hard to argue with. All of this is pushing me towards a minimalist existence.
I love Amazon's business model and have been a heavy investor for years. In my opinion, the work conditions are fine and everything I've read in the Times and everywhere else are both anecdotal and one off. There is a distinction between a bad manager and a bad company culture. When you have the number of people they do, you will always have some percentage that is unhappy or has an as to grind, along with idiotic line managers. I don't see them as modern day 19th century factories. They also voted to split 20-1 yesterday, which makes me even more pleased with them.
It’s a free country (seemingly). You are entitled to your opinion. I don’t think of the world solely as an investor. If the culture exists at all, it is wrong.
Occupational Health and Safety Legislation in the province I live ensures the psychological safety of workers. There are very specific requirements employers must have in place to ensure the situations you are talking about (rogue managers, poor culture within specific divisions or geographic locations, unreasonable workplace demands, pressures) does not exist.
There is a fine line between ensuring customers are happy (at all cost) and workers are treated with respect and dignity. Having worked for many large multi-national corporations in my current role, I can tell you worker rights are less valued in American companies. The constant pressure to deliver results to investors outweigh the concerns of other key stakeholders, including workers.
I believe there are four levels of corporate culture. What the executive and BOD would like to believe exists, what middle management has created based on corporate objectives, what the workers relay to middle management through surveys, meetings, etc.
Then there is the real corporate culture that exists, which is usually a far cry from what the executive and BOD want in place.
It’s one thing in business that is almost impossible to measure. With a little professional knowledge provided by peers, I am convinced this is not a culture I can support.
This is all from my own observations. I don’t read or listen to any of these “corporate culture gurus” although the Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is a good read.
I agree with everything you say, specifically how an executive's vision can break down in practice. I'm an executive at a mid size (less than a billion in top line) financial services company. And yes, it can be frustrating to put your vision to execution. But that's not unique to Amazon as you well know.
You're also correct in how the American business culture varies from other countries, like Canada. Since my business is neither occupational safety (like yours) or Transportation and Warehousing (Amazon, the risky side) I'm not trying to change the American culture in this regards. I recall doing a little research back when Amazon was really under fire and their rate of serious accident was actually below the average rate of others in transportation and warehouse. Now you'd probably argue that the average isn't good enough. And maybe you're right. But I also don't necessarily agree that it makes Amazon a deplorable company.
You call out one of the great ironies in the way we view businesses. Amazon gets all of this political pressure because they are a mammoth company, with an extraordinarily wealthy founder. But it's really a business made up of middle class people going to work every day. The irony is that BOD and senior executives try to put in a culture of safety, as you say, but then it breaks down. But it breaks down at the middle management level. It's the average Joe-manager that tends to fuck it up.
Didn't some deluxe version of the CD come with the hardcover tab book.
And the vinyl had a shorter tab booklet included?
Or am I misremembering?
You are correct! The deluxe CD had a hardcover songbook with tabs and the original vinyl had a soft cover one, both out of print. This new version does not appear to have a songbook tab.
Too bad they didn't reissue the songbook too this year.
After adding the 10c version to my cart and going through to checkout, it would have saved me a twonie as opposed to ordering the same deluxe version from Germany.
I’ll stick with the order I already made.
EDIT - for non-Canucks, a twonie is $2
Compared to Amazon US, the deluxe will cost almost $40 more. For a book.
Crazy. I’m not purchasing anything from Amazon any longer due to their deplorable working standards (I’m a workplace health and safety consultant). The last item I bought through Amazon was the Ornette Coleman boxset and it was a positive experience from a consumer perspective, but there is too much wrong with the business model for me.
I am aware there are probably concerns along the entire supply chain in the production of a record. I am also aware of how many goods are produced in China, and they care less about workers. I really only buy records (besides food and personal care products) so I will make my choice there.
I’ll pay a little extra to get my vinyl from a far more reputable distributor and prefer to use local retailers when possible.
Having said that, a $40 price difference is hard to argue with. All of this is pushing me towards a minimalist existence.
I love Amazon's business model and have been a heavy investor for years. In my opinion, the work conditions are fine and everything I've read in the Times and everywhere else are both anecdotal and one off. There is a distinction between a bad manager and a bad company culture. When you have the number of people they do, you will always have some percentage that is unhappy or has an as to grind, along with idiotic line managers. I don't see them as modern day 19th century factories. They also voted to split 20-1 yesterday, which makes me even more pleased with them.
It’s a free country (seemingly). You are entitled to your opinion. I don’t think of the world solely as an investor. If the culture exists at all, it is wrong.
Occupational Health and Safety Legislation in the province I live ensures the psychological safety of workers. There are very specific requirements employers must have in place to ensure the situations you are talking about (rogue managers, poor culture within specific divisions or geographic locations, unreasonable workplace demands, pressures) does not exist.
There is a fine line between ensuring customers are happy (at all cost) and workers are treated with respect and dignity. Having worked for many large multi-national corporations in my current role, I can tell you worker rights are less valued in American companies. The constant pressure to deliver results to investors outweigh the concerns of other key stakeholders, including workers.
I believe there are four levels of corporate culture. What the executive and BOD would like to believe exists, what middle management has created based on corporate objectives, what the workers relay to middle management through surveys, meetings, etc.
Then there is the real corporate culture that exists, which is usually a far cry from what the executive and BOD want in place.
It’s one thing in business that is almost impossible to measure. With a little professional knowledge provided by peers, I am convinced this is not a culture I can support.
This is all from my own observations. I don’t read or listen to any of these “corporate culture gurus” although the Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is a good read.
I agree with everything you say, specifically how an executive's vision can break down in practice. I'm an executive at a mid size (less than a billion in top line) financial services company. And yes, it can be frustrating to put your vision to execution. But that's not unique to Amazon as you well know.
You're also correct in how the American business culture varies from other countries, like Canada. Since my business is neither occupational safety (like yours) or Transportation and Warehousing (Amazon, the risky side) I'm not trying to change the American culture in this regards. I recall doing a little research back when Amazon was really under fire and their rate of serious accident was actually below the average rate of others in transportation and warehouse. Now you'd probably argue that the average isn't good enough. And maybe you're right. But I also don't necessarily agree that it makes Amazon a deplorable company.
You call out one of the great ironies in the way we view businesses. Amazon gets all of this political pressure because they are a mammoth company, with an extraordinarily wealthy founder. But it's really a business made up of middle class people going to work every day. The irony is that BOD and senior executives try to put in a culture of safety, as you say, but then it breaks down. But it breaks down at the middle management level. It's the average Joe-manager that tends to fuck it up.
This is a great post, but please note most (if not all) companies only measure workplace safety as it pertains to physical injuries (OSHA recordable incidents for example) or the potential for significant outcomes (near misses). While this is obviously important, the psychological safety of workers is another animal and difficult to measure. Generally because these are handled by HR and the safety group is largely not involved. I am working on this to assist businesses understand that safety cannot be lumped together and HR and safety must be aligned kn corporate objectives. Breaking silos! Determining more effective ways to demonstrate if business objectives, identified by individuals such as yourself, are being fulfilled while providing tools on accurately measuring psychological safety in the workplace. It is consuming a lot of my free time, generally thinking and taking notes while spinning vinyl lol.
And to be completely honest, there is a movement among US executives to ensure stakeholders are as important as shareholders. Trailblazer by Mark Benioff is a great read outlining the new direction US executives are undertaking. These shifts in philosophy take a great deal of time of course.
After adding the 10c version to my cart and going through to checkout, it would have saved me a twonie as opposed to ordering the same deluxe version from Germany.
I’ll stick with the order I already made.
EDIT - for non-Canucks, a twonie is $2
Compared to Amazon US, the deluxe will cost almost $40 more. For a book.
Crazy. I’m not purchasing anything from Amazon any longer due to their deplorable working standards (I’m a workplace health and safety consultant). The last item I bought through Amazon was the Ornette Coleman boxset and it was a positive experience from a consumer perspective, but there is too much wrong with the business model for me.
I am aware there are probably concerns along the entire supply chain in the production of a record. I am also aware of how many goods are produced in China, and they care less about workers. I really only buy records (besides food and personal care products) so I will make my choice there.
I’ll pay a little extra to get my vinyl from a far more reputable distributor and prefer to use local retailers when possible.
Having said that, a $40 price difference is hard to argue with. All of this is pushing me towards a minimalist existence.
I love Amazon's business model and have been a heavy investor for years. In my opinion, the work conditions are fine and everything I've read in the Times and everywhere else are both anecdotal and one off. There is a distinction between a bad manager and a bad company culture. When you have the number of people they do, you will always have some percentage that is unhappy or has an as to grind, along with idiotic line managers. I don't see them as modern day 19th century factories. They also voted to split 20-1 yesterday, which makes me even more pleased with them.
It’s a free country (seemingly). You are entitled to your opinion. I don’t think of the world solely as an investor. If the culture exists at all, it is wrong.
Occupational Health and Safety Legislation in the province I live ensures the psychological safety of workers. There are very specific requirements employers must have in place to ensure the situations you are talking about (rogue managers, poor culture within specific divisions or geographic locations, unreasonable workplace demands, pressures) does not exist.
There is a fine line between ensuring customers are happy (at all cost) and workers are treated with respect and dignity. Having worked for many large multi-national corporations in my current role, I can tell you worker rights are less valued in American companies. The constant pressure to deliver results to investors outweigh the concerns of other key stakeholders, including workers.
I believe there are four levels of corporate culture. What the executive and BOD would like to believe exists, what middle management has created based on corporate objectives, what the workers relay to middle management through surveys, meetings, etc.
Then there is the real corporate culture that exists, which is usually a far cry from what the executive and BOD want in place.
It’s one thing in business that is almost impossible to measure. With a little professional knowledge provided by peers, I am convinced this is not a culture I can support.
This is all from my own observations. I don’t read or listen to any of these “corporate culture gurus” although the Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is a good read.
Ever spent any time in a restaurant kitchen? Lol woooo boy there’s an environment I’d love to hear your take on!
After adding the 10c version to my cart and going through to checkout, it would have saved me a twonie as opposed to ordering the same deluxe version from Germany.
I’ll stick with the order I already made.
EDIT - for non-Canucks, a twonie is $2
Compared to Amazon US, the deluxe will cost almost $40 more. For a book.
Crazy. I’m not purchasing anything from Amazon any longer due to their deplorable working standards (I’m a workplace health and safety consultant). The last item I bought through Amazon was the Ornette Coleman boxset and it was a positive experience from a consumer perspective, but there is too much wrong with the business model for me.
I am aware there are probably concerns along the entire supply chain in the production of a record. I am also aware of how many goods are produced in China, and they care less about workers. I really only buy records (besides food and personal care products) so I will make my choice there.
I’ll pay a little extra to get my vinyl from a far more reputable distributor and prefer to use local retailers when possible.
Having said that, a $40 price difference is hard to argue with. All of this is pushing me towards a minimalist existence.
I love Amazon's business model and have been a heavy investor for years. In my opinion, the work conditions are fine and everything I've read in the Times and everywhere else are both anecdotal and one off. There is a distinction between a bad manager and a bad company culture. When you have the number of people they do, you will always have some percentage that is unhappy or has an as to grind, along with idiotic line managers. I don't see them as modern day 19th century factories. They also voted to split 20-1 yesterday, which makes me even more pleased with them.
It’s a free country (seemingly). You are entitled to your opinion. I don’t think of the world solely as an investor. If the culture exists at all, it is wrong.
Occupational Health and Safety Legislation in the province I live ensures the psychological safety of workers. There are very specific requirements employers must have in place to ensure the situations you are talking about (rogue managers, poor culture within specific divisions or geographic locations, unreasonable workplace demands, pressures) does not exist.
There is a fine line between ensuring customers are happy (at all cost) and workers are treated with respect and dignity. Having worked for many large multi-national corporations in my current role, I can tell you worker rights are less valued in American companies. The constant pressure to deliver results to investors outweigh the concerns of other key stakeholders, including workers.
I believe there are four levels of corporate culture. What the executive and BOD would like to believe exists, what middle management has created based on corporate objectives, what the workers relay to middle management through surveys, meetings, etc.
Then there is the real corporate culture that exists, which is usually a far cry from what the executive and BOD want in place.
It’s one thing in business that is almost impossible to measure. With a little professional knowledge provided by peers, I am convinced this is not a culture I can support.
This is all from my own observations. I don’t read or listen to any of these “corporate culture gurus” although the Culture Code by Daniel Coyle is a good read.
Ever spent any time in a restaurant kitchen? Lol woooo boy there’s an environment I’d love to hear your take on!
In the very early 90s most of my employment was working in various kitchens from local joints to fast food giants (Pizza Hut, KFC). I knew it wasn’t for me. I had some really bad experiences… and quit a lot of jobs due to the working conditions/expectations. I suppose it was destiny for me to be a safety consultant 😂
I have never consulted in the restaurant industry, but I believe there are real problems and it results in many workers having substance abuse issues. I don’t remember having a more demanding job than during a kitchen rush, whether I was in the dish pit or slinging pizza. Perhaps things have changed over the past thirty years, but the people doing the work would know better (that is the case in any industry, I learn from the people doing the work and spend time with them and management to find solutions to problems in their area).
In some establishments these are seen as “entry level” positions and many of these workers don’t know their rights, legislated by the province, (OSHA in the US). Many employees are also recent immigrants, who from my experience have trouble wrapping their head around worker rights, depending on country of origin. The big restaurant chains would probably have sound Safety Management Systems (SMS) in place as they would understand the risk to the organization. However, local franchisees or managers may drop the ball on what is expected from Head Office.
Local restaurants, even high end establishments, probably do not have an SMS system in place, as they don’t have enough employees to meet the requirement to have one, unless the OH&S Director (perhaps OSHA in the US) demanded they put one in place (generally due to government inspection findings or reportable incidents).
The managers/owners or anyone else deemed responsible for workers safety generally don’t understand their responsibilities for worker safety, as legislated by the jurisdiction they operate. For instance, if a worker is seriously hurt at the workplace and the employer is found negligent, the business and individuals can be fined heavily.
I would say this, it is very unlikely the restaurant industry has identified most of psychological safety hazards. I’m sure some have been (harassment for instance), however there are many environmental factors (noise/lighting), personal factors (work-life conflict/age-related changes), and work organizational factors (workload and pace/job security, content and control) that have never been considered, let alone thought out into mitigating those hazards.
It was slightly cheaper for me to order this from Germany than from the 10c with all shipping charges calculated.
There was a nominal difference when including shipping and state tax to my shipping address across the border in WA ($4 CDN cheaper than from Germany) which would have been eaten up in gasoline to pick up the parcel (about $2 a litre these days).
Comments
EDIT - for non-Canucks, a twonie is $2
They also voted to split 20-1 yesterday, which makes me even more pleased with them.
"nevermind what they're sellin, it's what you're buying"...rings true i guess
from what the executive and BOD want in place.
You're also correct in how the American business culture varies from other countries, like Canada. Since my business is neither occupational safety (like yours) or Transportation and Warehousing (Amazon, the risky side) I'm not trying to change the American culture in this regards. I recall doing a little research back when Amazon was really under fire and their rate of serious accident was actually below the average rate of others in transportation and warehouse. Now you'd probably argue that the average isn't good enough. And maybe you're right. But I also don't necessarily agree that it makes Amazon a deplorable company.
You call out one of the great ironies in the way we view businesses. Amazon gets all of this political pressure because they are a mammoth company, with an extraordinarily wealthy founder. But it's really a business made up of middle class people going to work every day. The irony is that BOD and senior executives try to put in a culture of safety, as you say, but then it breaks down. But it breaks down at the middle management level. It's the average Joe-manager that tends to fuck it up.
Too bad they didn't reissue the songbook too this year.
https://thesoundofvinyl.com/*/*/Ukulele-Songs-Exclusive-Vinyl-Edition/7CT20000000
The big restaurant chains would probably have sound Safety Management Systems (SMS) in place as they would understand the risk to the organization. However, local franchisees or managers may drop the ball on what is expected from Head Office.
Toronto - '96, '00, '03, '05, '06, '16, '20, '22
Ottawa - '16, '20, '22
Hamilton - '20, '22
I'm guessing sometime next week they will be shipped out.