Budget as Sacred Shareholder Promise

"I can still hear Dan Burke in his famous budget sessions, “You can’t control revenue, but you can control costs,” or “Your budget is your promise to our shareholders.”"

"“The best defense against revenue uncertainties are constant, tight cost controls.”"

"I continued to sell a simple principle. We all prosper when the company’s earnings grow and then rain down in the form of profit sharing. Some of our personnel immediately recognized the attractive monetary rewards linked to cost controls, while others who were less attentive, considered them a nuisance. That is, until new information about earnings increased the price of their stock and the value of their profit sharing. That snapped them to attention."