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MBA style management focusing on short-term economics and management bonusses seems more likely to me. I don's see how treating employees well leads to poor service and quality.

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There's a story about an AA Exec who figured they could save $1m by cutting the number olives in a first class martini from 3 to 2. It's often used as an example of how attention to detail can deliver amazing savings that don't effect service. But here's the thing. As a person who occasionally travels first or business class, if you want to charge 3-5x for 50% extra space might be best not to count the olives.

Yes, exactly. You've got a group of people who drive most of the profit margin for your product because they seek luxury, and you intend to nickel-and-dime that group? How does this make sense?

If that story isn't apocryphal, it should be taught in business schools as an example of missing the forest for the trees. It's like an executive at FedEx "figuring out" that they can save 1% of their costs by reducing the reliability of overnight delivery, or an executive at Mercedes "figuring out" that they can shave costs by using plastic leather.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's a great way to destroy a brand with pound-foolish thinking.

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