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Ten Commandments of
AlterCom (Plus One More)
I
Thou
shalt not be unequally yoked.
We do not engage in
business with vendors who do not share our values of above-average
customer service. Any vendor who continues to provide less than
above-average service must be removed even if it costs us internally
or contractually for a brief period of time.
II
Thou shalt innovate; take responsibility for
problems
and assume command of the solution.
We are leaders. We do
not wait for opportunities to present themselves; we seek them
out—create them. We continually brainstorm to take advantage of our
intellectual talent and then immediately follow-up on a discovered
opportunity.
When a problem arises,
we do not pass it along to another staff member; all who hear about
the problem are automatically owners of it until it is satisfactorily
resolved. Employees and managers are authorized to take responsibility
immediately and resolve the problem using whatever means intelligently
available. If no means of resolution is immediately available, we
quickly create one to please the customer and fulfill their needs.
III
Thou shalt only hire those who are more
intelligent than thyself.
We never hire down. This
only creates an organization less intelligent than the management
currently in place. If you are afraid to hire someone more intelligent
than yourself because you feel threatened, then you've placed the
whole company on the path toward destruction; it won't have the
intellectual stamina to compete in the marketplace.
IV
Thou shalt communicate with all levels of
management
and question every procedure.
Any employee shall have
the ability to contact and communicate with any other employee,
manager, or executive without repercussion. Where customers,
employees, managers, or executives can't freely communicate ideas with
the whole, the ability of the company to function optimally is
undermined. Just because a product or service or procedure exists
doesn't mean it is necessary or efficient. If a product, service, or
internal procedure is causing a problem or bottleneck for the
customer, we devise a solution, present our findings, and innovate to
correct the situation.
V
Thou shalt not reinvent the wheel.
We constantly scour the
marketplace to see what everyone else is doing. We look at our
competitors' business models, their customers, and their processes and
then assimilate from our competitors what works. However, just because
a competitor is doing something doesn't necessarily mean we
immediately follow suit. We are seldom first in our industry with a
new product; but we provide better solutions with such products when
we do release them.
VI
Thou shalt be moral.
In all that we
do—internally and externally—we strive to maintain a moral
standard of decency, honesty, and integrity that reflects the values
of our family-oriented society.
VII
Thou shalt be friendly and professional.
In our communications
and relationships with customers (advertising and PR), with
co-workers, and with vendors, we maintain an upscale image that is
continuously professional, friendly, and courteous.
VIII
Thou shalt maintain the following
priorities, in this order, for the organization for decisions being
made:
1) customers,
2) employees, 3) managers, 4) investors. Simply
put, the organization is only profitable as long as the customers are
happy and paying their bills. Employees caring for those customers are
happy if the have the tools they need and their managers are happy and
well equipped to help. Managers are happy when investors treat the
company like an organization of human beings rather than a nameless,
faceless business unit. Investors are pleased if the whole is working
smoothly and profitably. We will make no decision for the investors
that adversely affects the customers, employees, or management—in
that order.
IX
Thou shalt give more than thou receivest.
When the whole works
according to this principle, everyone flourishes. Customers must
receive more than they expected from the employees. Employees must
receive more than they expect from the management. Managers receive
more than they expect from investors. Investors will ultimately
receive more than they expect from returns. The company always
rewards its customers, employees, management, and investors for
individual and collective achievement in direct proportion to the
benefit provided by their individual or collective efforts to the
company.
X
Thou shalt strive for personal and
professional growth.
If you're looking for a
job, we don't want you. If you're looking for an opportunity to
improve the industry, even the world, through our company—even if
you plan eventually to move on—we can use you for a time. If you see
your weaknesses as a means to a handout, you're lost, we have no use
that kind of defeatist attitude. If you know your weaknesses and
ignore or work around them because they're meaningless minor
annoyances, then we can use you. We provide our staff with the tools,
knowledge, and training to achieve personal and professional growth.
XI
Thou shalt love thy customers and co-workers
as thy self.
This final commandment
is the sum of all the others: Treat customers and co-workers the way
you'd want to be treated. Everything else will fall into place.
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