We all recognize that in order to survive a company must be a low-cost producer or supplier. We also are familiar with the claims of the glorious things that can be achieved when companies empower their employees. Unfortunately, many companies just can't bring themselves to trust their employees when it comes to stewardship of company funds.
I started off looking for examples of humorous economies - in particular, the pencil extender. Theoretically, pencil extenders were something that would be hard for a cost-conscious manager to resist. Before calculators and computers, pencil consumption was much larger, and this nifty gadget could for negligible investment reduce pencil consumption 25% to 30%.
In response to my query, people told me about misguided controls, not gadgets. Often the stories were followed by a postscript of how the regulations led them to seek employment elsewhere or become self-employed.
The stories rang very true. A collection of small frustrations is often what finalizes one's determination to seek a more enlightened environment. In my case, I had more or less decided to take a merger package and run when reading the new company's travel policy convinced me I would find the new system far too onerous. Several pages were devoted to detailed examples describing how no matter how much money you saved the company by staying over Saturday night, you would end up being required to pay the company for the privilege. A long-time employee of the acquiring company confirmed his expense accounts almost always bounced the first time.
The founder of a successful consulting firm described her early days with a large company. "My expense authority was $500, and I wanted some software that normally retailed for $600. When I saw an ad in the newspaper offering the software for $350, I filled out the paperwork and sent it to purchasing along with a copy of the ad. Purchasing bounced the request back with a note stating that my boss' approval was required because the company couldn't use that vendor and get the discounted price."
Lots of stories end with a version of the following comment, "came back with a revised expense report and told the manager that it's in there, but just try to find it."
Hard to say if this one could have been hidden. "A director of the company had accepted an invitation to speak in Farmington, N.M. On the morning of the evening function, the director had an emergency and called me...with instructions to get to Farmington and make a presentation in his place. I took off on the only possible commercial itinerary, which went from Houston to Dallas...to Albuquerque...to Farmington. Unfortunately, the flight to Albuquerque was late, and there wasn't time to drive to Farmington. As I was about to give up, I saw a sign for charters and discovered that for a little more than twice the cost of a rental car, I could charter a plane and get there in time to make my speech. Since I was replacing a director, I thought the choice was obvious. After I filed my expense account, I had to personally appear before four layers of management to explain where I had gotten the idea that a 'senior engineer' could charter a plane for any company business."
Ironically, "one approval was all that was required for expense accounts. For four levels of authority to even know about it meant that three levels had to kick it upstairs for higher consideration before making a decision."
Today, despite all the empowerment talk, many companies have a long way to go.
Most companies claim they are hiring the best of the best to manage their assets. Good people will find a way around silly rules.
By the way, even pencil extenders found other applications. "For one's entertainment and the annoyance of others, the hollow tube could, by itself, function as a whistle in the same fashion as a bottle. Also, with a short length of pipe or a grooved piece of board and a ring cut from a red rubber truck tire, the extender could be propelled a considerable distance."

Eve Sprunt, evesprunt@aol.com, is senior science and technology coordinator for Chevron Corp.

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