Regression

Some part of me has clearly regressed to my undergraduate days, as following yesterday's post about DVD pricing, I woke this morning to a dream about photo copier pricing.

Back in the Treasury, the locale for so many of the dreams which I remember, where, unlikely though it would have been, I had been commissioned to organise a paper for a very important person, organise in this case meaning getting something from a slightly less important person to process and pass onto the first important person. The something which turned out to be a lengthy pencil note on one side of a rather large and awkwardly shaped piece of paper which I thought prudent to copy for the record before moving onto the next step. But while it would not fit conveniently into the copier to which I had access, the first very important person had a special copier in his outer office into which it would fit. Had to talk very nicely to the man (as it happens, of dark colour and little hair) who was guarding the thing to get him to let me use it.

At which point I woke up to wonder about the rules appropriate to the management of expensive resources such as fancy photocopiers.

First thought was that since one had bought the thing, one might as well maximise the value to be got from it by allowing all comers. A thought which is slightly dented by at least two considerations. First, I think that photocopiers are usually brought in on a rental basis, not bought (without the 'r') and with the rental agreement including a duration element, a number of copies element, maintenance cover and penalties for lack of service, this last on a complicated and graduated basis in order to keep the chaps from purchasing happy. So one does not necessarily maximise value to one's own company by allowing all comers, although one might maximise that to the owner of the photocopier. And seen from a long way up, it is still wasteful to have the things sitting there doing nothing. Market forces failing again. Second, in the case of the very important person, part of what he is paying for is exclusive access. The things is always charged up and ready to go whenever he (or his secretary) might want to use the thing, unobstructed by the smelly public.

Then one needs to keep the accountants happy. Current fashion is to apportion the costs of vaguely central resources to the people that use them, rather than simply charge them to some central fund. So this might mean that everyone is issued with a photocopier card which is stuck in the photocopier every time you want to use it so that your budget can be charged with your copy. This way the cost of the photocopier gets allocated fairly among the fee earners (to borrow a term from law firms) - but at the cost of restricting use. Not clear that this is maximising value either. And what about the transaction costs of all these cards and copies?

Clearly time for breakfast.