It's a balancing act. It's good to be flexible and willing to pitch in even when it's not part of your 'job title'. But we need to also be conscious of why the company hired us - what they are counting on us to do - which is usually at least somewhat related to job title!

When I worked at Oracle there were times when every new computer purchase had to be approved at a very high level. I won't say how high, but it was HIGH. :Whistling: And Oracle is a lot bigger than Steve's friend's company. When things like this happen, part of the reason is that management is trying to send a BIG MESSAGE - i.e. that cost controls are very important to the company right now, and everyone should be thinking of how to reduce or limit expenses. And yes it does make people think twice before requesting a new computer or a business trip. It doesn't mean you can't request them - and get them - as Steve's friend did - but it does have the intended effect of reducing the number of things requested - and therefore reducing costs.