Big doubt on the size being the main factor, though it contributes. IMO the main factor is scarcity. An underfunded large organization will find way to operate efficiently. See NASA or some large charities.
A small startup with nearly unlimited Venture Capital will most of the time find a way to squander that money and get results that shouldn’t take tenth of the money.
The difference being that there are natural mechanism to correct waste in private companies, if it becomes significant compared to its scale. A public company often won’t have the same. E.g. which politician is going to go order layoffs? Hope he does not plan to get elected again. I think there is a good chance, if your company was public, the sw engineers would still be wasting time and resources. Perhaps on a different pointless project.
And that is before even addressing outright corruption and embezzlement.
Big doubt on the size being the main factor, though it contributes. IMO the main factor is scarcity. An underfunded large organization will find way to operate efficiently. See NASA or some large charities.
A small startup with nearly unlimited Venture Capital will most of the time find a way to squander that money and get results that shouldn’t take tenth of the money.
The difference being that there are natural mechanism to correct waste in private companies, if it becomes significant compared to its scale. A public company often won’t have the same. E.g. which politician is going to go order layoffs? Hope he does not plan to get elected again. I think there is a good chance, if your company was public, the sw engineers would still be wasting time and resources. Perhaps on a different pointless project.
And that is before even addressing outright corruption and embezzlement.