GREG SMITH'S resignation op-ed in the New York Times must surely
take the prize as the most talked about resignation op-ed of all
time. Mr Smith's fans argued that his article was just one more
proof that a once great company is on the skids. His critics
(led by the giant squid itself) argued that there was no truth
in the accusations—and that Mr Smith was motivated by rather
baser motives (such as spite at only being paid $3m a year) than
the desire to expose evil. But everybody agreed on two things.
That a company that employs 12,000 vice-presidents is suffering
from an advanced case of job-title inflation. And that treating
companies like “muppets”—if that is indeed what Goldman Sachs
does—is a terrible thing. Surely the first thing that successful
businesses should do is love their customers?  Really? Treating
customers like “muppets” might be going it a bit. But plenty of
sensible companies treat their customers as something less than
kings—indeed that is the definition of the budget end of the
market. R