The winter palace and commerce
I met him on a tour of the winter palace.
On the chequered tiles of the hall
he enquired about my profession
and informed me of his.
Mounting the marble staircase
with a hand on a gilded banister
he averred his commitment to total quality,
hereinafter referred to as TQ.
Pausing before a Botticelli
he advised against investing in bio-technology.
He felt very strongly about this.
Gazing up at a moulded ceiling
he maintained that stock values had risen too high.
When I asked about share prices,
he grew angry. He was talking, he said,
about stock levels in his warehouse.
He was not silent for long though.
With his back to the secretaire´s marquetry and mounts
he extolled the benefits of outsourcing.
TQ, I learned, is linked to core functions.
Passing beneath a 200-year-old chandelier
he cracked a joke: Competition is like a gardener,
he said, it weeds out the weaklings.
Standing before a cabinet of rococo china
he explained that TQ is concerned with processes:
Look after the process and the product will look after itself.
Without a blush amongst the panelling
and velvet of the royal bedchamber
he emphasised the importance of quality certification
which is part of TQ, if I understood right.
Beside an ornamental fountain
in the symmetrical garden
he asked me what I had thought of the place.
Mike
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