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money back on a diamond.
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
Invented by one of the richest companies in the world, Diamonds
are Forever is a slogan which does not bear close examination.
Common and untradeable
Diamonds are neither valuable nor rare. Though fabulously
expensive, they are actually one of the most common minerals on earth.
In the West cut diamonds outnumber cars. They are almost untradeable as
a commodity. Their resale value is significantly lower than their original
cost, and nowadays they can easily be substituted in all their industrial
uses. In fact, without the tradition and romance, which have always given
diamonds their sentimental value, they would be almost worthless.
Artificially high prices
The high price of diamonds is a triumph of the commercial clout
and marketing genius of De Beers, the South African conglomerate that
has an 80% stake in world diamond supply. By strictly regulating the
mining and distribution of diamonds, De Beers has managed to keep
prices artificially high. And by turning the diamond into a universal
symbol of romance it has prevented second-hand diamonds from flooding
the market and forcing prices down. Even in times of hardship people are
reluctant to part with their diamonds. De Beers knows that if they ever
did part with them, the market would be saturated overnight.
Supply outstrips demand
World supply of diamonds has consistently outstripped demand,
so logically diamonds should be cheap. If not for De Beers, the world's
greatest cartel, they would be. But such has been the power of De Beers
that even a glut of diamonds, massive stockpiling, chronic cashflow
problems and political uncertainty have been unable to loosen its
stranglehold on the $60 billion world diamond market.
Cheap labour
Most of the diamonds traded internationally are mined by the
African poor or bought on the cheap from the Russians. And three
quarters of the world's gems are cut in poverty-stricken Surat in India,
often by young children earning as little as four American cents per
stone. Appalled by De Beers' business ethics, America outlawed the
company, effectively preventing it from opening its own outlets in the
United States. Ironically, America remains by far De Beers' single biggest
market and the company operates through American dealers unhindered.
ATTRIBUTES OF A GOOD EMPLOYEE
I'm often asked how to be a good manager, a topic I've
taken on in this column more than once. Less often does anybody
ask an equally important, question: What makes a good employee?
Here are 10 of the qualities I find in the "best and brightest"
employees, the people companies should attract and retain. If you have
all of these attributes, you're probably a terrific employee.
First, it's important to have a fundamental curiosity about the
product or products of your company or group. You have to use the
products yourself. This can't be stressed enough in the computer world. It
also carries special weight in other knowledge-based fields where
technology and practices are advancing so fast that's it's very hard to keep
up. If you don't have a fascination with the products, you can get out of
date and become ineffective pretty quickly.
Second, you need a genuine interest in engaging customers in
discussions about how they use products. What they like, what they don't
like. You have to be a bit of an evangelist with customers, and yet be
realistic about where your company's products are falling short and could
be better.
Third, once you understand your customer's needs, you have to
enjoy thinking through how a product can help. If you work in the
software industry, for example, you might ask: "How can this product
make work more interesting? How can it make learning more interesting?
How can it be used in the home in more interesting ways?"
These first three points are related. Success comes from
understanding and caring deeply about your products, your technology
and your customers' needs.
Fourth, you as an individual employee should maintain the same
type of long-term approach that a good company does. Employees need
to focus on lifelong goals such as developing their own skills and those of
the people they work with. This kind of self-motivation requires
discipline, but it can be quite rewarding performance, and it's great when
employees beat a quota. But if beating your sales quota or maximising
your next bonus of salary increase is all that motivates you, you're likely
to miss out on the kind of teamwork and development that create success
in the long term.
Fifth, you need to have specialised knowledge or skills while
maintaining a broad, perspective: Big companies, in particular, need
employees who can learn specialities quickly. No one should assume that
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