Business | Bartleby

The secret to cutting corporate red tape

Getting rid of pointless rules and regulations

A BANKER TAPED a picture, drawn by one of his small children, to his office wall. When he arrived at work the next morning, he found the picture was covered by a large notice, saying he was in violation of company policy which required personal items to be put away at night. Such a reaction was not just petty, it risked demotivating the banker completely. In short, it defied common sense.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “When common sense fails”

Biden’s big gamble: What a $1.9 trillion stimulus means for the world economy

From the March 13th 2021 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Business

Overlapping  shadows of Donald Trump, a man and a women

Corporate America’s diversity wars are just getting started

Donald Trump’s attacks on DEI are causing huge headaches for bosses

Larry Ellison’s face feeding a sand timer with some planet and stars elements above. Two small figures on the right of the it looking scared.

What Elon Musk should learn from Larry Ellison

The founder of Oracle has demonstrated remarkable staying power


Kylian Mbappe of Real Madrid dribbles the ball during the LaLiga EA Sports match between Real Valladolid v Real Madrid.

Football clubs are making more money than ever. Players not so much

For both teams and their top stars, it helps to have a brand


The allure of the company town

Lego, Corning and the survival of an old idea

From cribs to carriers, high-end baby products are in vogue

Demographic and technological changes are making infancy more expensive

No one gains from American tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada

Donald Trump’s levy will hit his country’s carmakers hardest