Investing for the long term

Financial Times:

The stock price performance, though, perhaps reflects FedEx being more sensitive to shareholder pressure, taking on debt and expanding aggressively in the boom, including the unwise acquisition of Kinko’s, a retail printing chain, for $2bn in 2004. Since the economy began to falter in 2007, however, UPS shares have fared far better. Perhaps there is some truth to the argument that managers with unionised workforces tend not to succumb to short-term solutions to boost growth, but are forced to innovate and invest for the long term.

Power is safest when diffused, in this case on the job.

That UPS executives are constrained by their employees, whose welfare is partially secured through labor contracts, directly contributes to the long-term efficiency of the organization, because the free hand required to pursue "short-term gain into the flames" has been checked.

Just one example of the many useful things ordinary people do for society in defense of shared interests.