Re: Producing books

["Wilcox, John (WWC, Contractor)" <wilcoxj -at- WDNI -dot- COM>]

 ----------
From: Jill Burgchardt

When a company is paying a contractor by the hour, they may see an
immediate
value in providing the slickest, highest-productivity tools. One way or
the
other they'll spend the money, tools or hours billed. (Or, they'll try
to
keep both costs down by finding a contractor who already knows and owns
the
tool.)

When a company has a captive full-time employee getting the job done
with a
not-quite-the-best tool, the incentive changes. The employee is paid for
their regular work week at a high or low productivity rate. It becomes a
tangible factor when the employee can no longer do the job in the time
allowed. Then, the company will evaluate whether they need a second
employee
or can increase the existing employee's productivity by changing tools.
.
.
.
Jill Burgchardt
jburgcha -at- pestilence -dot- itc -dot- nrcs -dot- usda -dot- gov
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You're too logical to work for the government.  :o)

I am a contractor, but I have no say as to the tool used.  I must use
Word, even though I would no doubt produce docs more efficiently using
some other tool.  The keyword where I work is standardization.
        If I leave, an employee may well have to maintain my docs.
        All employees here use Word.
        Therefore, I use Word.
Even though the short-term cost is greater, the long-term benefit of
standardization is achieved.

(At the same time, they talk a lot about empowerment.  Go figure.)