In "A Christmas Carol," Ebenezer Scrooge gets transformed over the course of the movie from -- well, a scrooge -- into a figure of benevolence. In "It's A Wonderful Life," a Scroogelike figure -- banker Henry Potter -- remains a scoundrel to the end. But Jimmy Stewart's George Bailey discovers a better way, thanks to angel Clarence's teaching.
Bailey, like Scrooge, learns that while kindness may not generate great wealth, it does point the way to a "wonderful life."
Here's hoping more Americans learn that lesson, too -- as taught by the North Country's own Christmas Carol firm, Marvin Windows of Warroad, Minn.
Last week, President Barack Obama highlighted Marvin's refusal to lay off employees, even in the depths of a downturn. "During the recession, Marvin's competitors closed dozens of plants and let hundreds of workers go, but Marvin did not lay off a single one of their 4,000 or so employees -- none," Obama said in a speech.
"In fact, they've only laid off workers once in over 100 years. Mr. Marvin's grandfather even kept his eight employees during the Great Depression."
ADVERTISEMENT
That policy is a whole lot easier said than done. The housing collapse brought the roof down on the construction industry. So, Marvin "cut employees' pay and reduced perks like tuition reimbursement and 401(k) matching," The New York Times reported earlier this year.
"Employees haven't received profit-sharing checks in two years, nor have the 16 members of the Marvin family who work for the company."
But the company didn't lay anyone off.
That policy helps Marvin's bottom line, the company's owners insist. But we all know that's not true. Ruthless cost-cutting surely could propel Marvin and its owners to higher profits and stronger growth. And if Marvin were a publicly traded company, that's exactly what Wall Street would demand.
But Marvin is not a publicly traded company. It's privately held -- and as a result, its owners are free to manage the firm as they see fit.
And the way they see fit reflects a benevolence that's both wonderful and rare.
As both "A Christmas Carol" and "It's A Wonderful Life" show, there are lots of different ways to run a business. Scrooge and Marley is a lucrative firm when Scrooge is a penny-pinching tyrant. When Scrooge is transformed, it's still a going concern, though perhaps a less profitable one.
And both banker Potter and hero Bailey run businesses.
ADVERTISEMENT
But the moral of both stories is that goodness is its own reward. No, it doesn't bring in cash or pump up stock-price growth. In other words, it may not be the most efficient way to run a business -- or one's own life.
However, it can be an effective way. For as Marvin's owners and workers know, goodness generates real currency, but of a different, less tangible sort.
The president alluded to this currency when he said, "Our success has never just been about survival of the fittest. It's about building a nation where we're all better off."
George Bailey called it to mind when he read Clarence's inscription, "Remember, George: No man is a failure who has friends." And Tiny Tim captured it when he said at "A Christmas Carol's" close, "God bless us, every one."
-- Tom Dennis for the Herald
