Blame it on the cow | Anecdotes, parables and organizational reflections
Anecdotes, parables, fables
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This text, whose summary was originally published by Professor Fernando Cepeda in his regular column for El Tiempo, is an excellent demonstration of conduct very our related to the branching of the guilt.
It was promoting the export of leather to United States Colombian goods, and a researcher of the firm Monitor decided to interview the representatives of two thousand stores in Colombia. The conclusion of the survey was decisive: the prices of such products are high, and very low quality.
The researcher then turned to the manufacturers to ask them about this conclusion. I received this response: guilt is not ours; the tanneries have a tariff rate of fifteen percent protection to prevent the entry of Argentine leather.
Then asked owners of the tanneries, and they answered: it is not blame our; the problem lies in slaughterhouses, because they get bad quality leathers. As the sale of meat brings them more profits with less effort, leathers matter very little.
The investigator, armed with all his patience, then went to a slaughterhouse. There he was told: fault is not ours; the problem is that farmers spend very little on poisons against ticks and also mark everywhere to the cattle to prevent is them stolen, practices that destroy leathers.
Finally, the researcher decided to visit farmers. They also said: it is not blame our; those stupid cows rub against the barbed wire to relieve stings.
The conclusion of the foreign consultant was very simple: the Colombian producers of leather briefcases cannot compete in the market of United States "because their cows are stupid!"
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* Michael Fairbanks, "Cultural Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress", Lawrence E. Harrison and Samuel P. Huntington (eds.), Changing the Mind of a Nation. Elements in a Process for Creating Prosperity. New York, Basic Books, 2000, pp. 268-281 personal contribution of Fernando Cepeda Ulloa.