From what I have seen, corporate wealth translates to perks in a similar manner. Google, for instance, provides free food to all its employees. Which begs the question: can Google not optimize its expenditures right now? Maybe some Google employees have done a critical analysis and determined using facts and figures that Google's spending on food is in fact an optimal allocation of funds. These hypothetical employees could have scribbled their equations onto their free napkins with their free pens, discussing in their free time over their free meals of chicken breasts marinated in conflict of interest.
Working for an aid organization in Africa is no reason not to get perks. Indeed, nearly every blog about international development I have read has mentioned branded SUVs and sat-phones and asked, is all that spending really necessary?
As a thought exercise, I will reverse the question: what would an NGO buy with the money it saved from not buying an SUV?
Western contractors in particular may spot the answer a mile away: nothing! Why nothing? Because if you do not buy the SUV, you do not get the money. The same logic exists in the West. If a company will reimburse your meal costs up to $25, would you spend only $5 on meals? And if a company will reimburse all your cell phone costs, will you really make zero personal calls on that phone? The money has already been allocated: to reject it would send it into a financial void until somebody else came along and snagged it. Rule-bending is expected, within reason.
How do we define within reason
? In the end, expenses will be denied if somebody in the company takes a stand because the budget is too lucrative. And here is where the aid industry is a black sheep. Millions of people have taken a stand. The Live 8 concert, for instance, was an enormous success for their cause. The weird thing is, for the most part they have not seen the budget, they have not seen the expense reports, and they want to increase the budget—in fact, they want to double it!
In an effort to stay interesting (and to pace the cynicism inherent in this entry's Challenge), I have split this topic in two. I will sign off at this cliffhanger for now. Feel free to comment!