Bob Michaels
nobody special
Yes there is and it is regulated by the government.
zauhar
Mentor
tbhv55
Well-known
... just priceless! (presuming, of course, that I'm not reading sarcasm where none was intended...)retnull
Well-known
The Dodo, an extinct flightless bird, may share some qualities with Dido, a sensitive English pop singer of another decade...but it's not immediately clear which ones.
Alas, it seems Kodak's destined for not the popularity of Dido, but the deadness of a Dodo.
tbhv55
Well-known
+1 from a parasite engineer.
zauhar
Mentor
Bob, I have never overseen a restructuring, but my colleagues were victims of one that resulted from foolish mismanagement. (I escaped the purge, but soon found a way out.)
Our company was doomed by an incredible level of effort invested in a very simple project - but of course, when there are five chefs in the kitchen, it's hard to even boil water.
We were still tinkering with it when our competitor announced EXACTLY 'our' product - and they were giving it away as a freebie to attract customers! The walls closed in...
The sad thing is, the people at the bottom all knew better, knew that too much time was being spent on this project, some even spoke up. It made no difference. And the people who were responsible paid no price.
So although I do not know the precise conditions at Kodak, I believe we are seeing a drama being played out that is pretty common, in large and small companies. Much of it has to do with the emergence of the professional managerial class, people whose skills are hard to identify, and yet they mysteriously have risen to run the world. I also call them 'parasites', which is precisely what they are.
Although the folks at my company did not emerge from business school, it was fascinating to see how the attitudes and assumptions of the managerial class took root with us, AFTER we went public. Suddenly our genial CEO was being grilled by analysts who demand performance measures, benchmarks and milestones, and you could feel him slowly losing his grip on things. People who were smooth talkers took center stage.
Randy
Sparrow
Mentor
Well said, this is of course why their shareholders are to a man so happy with the way the company has been run, and why the company's workforce can look forward to many more years of gainful employment, secure pensions and fine medical provision.
Sorry ... I thought you said dildo at first
zauhar
Mentor
politicians can run things better than CEOs?
and congresses and parliaments can make better decisions than boards?
same, same. power corrupts and all that ...
Paul, do you know who DOES know how to better run things? - the people at the bottom who are actually doing the work. If they have more authority in the workplace, fewer stupid things will happen.
Classic example - the disaster at the BP offshore oil rig did not have to happen. The engineer in charge knew something was going wrong, but an a-shole from the managerial class demanded that he do as he was told. The engineer said words to the effect 'it's on your head' and turned the valves as instructed.
Except I bet it wasn't on the parasite's head - it wouldn't surprise me if the engineer took the fall. A better scenario: the guy who knew what he was doing should have had the authority to say 'no'.
Let's see. There was a time when that guy WOULD have had the authority to say no. He would have had a contract that spelled that out, negotiated by a - can't remember the word. ;-)
Randy
Bob Michaels
nobody special
Some companies are successful while some are not. Some management decisions are good while some are not. Some decisions to go to work for a employer are good while some are not. Some investments pay off while some do not.
We have the personal choice to participate in every one of those or not. There is a reward premium commensurate with every risk. I will take that scenario over any other. Having been both right and wrong at different times in every one of the above situations, I like having the choices.
It is very easy to sit in your chair on Monday morning and critique the decisions the sports players made on Sunday. A similar situation exists in business.
We have the personal choice to participate in every one of those or not. There is a reward premium commensurate with every risk. I will take that scenario over any other. Having been both right and wrong at different times in every one of the above situations, I like having the choices.
It is very easy to sit in your chair on Monday morning and critique the decisions the sports players made on Sunday. A similar situation exists in business.
zauhar
Mentor
Bob, our choices are withering every day. On older gent was once reminiscing to me about the "old days" and spoke fondly of the time when he could walk across the street and choose another employer if the first guy turned out to be a jerk.
We are way past those days - now you are expected to be grateful for any job, of any sort. If you work for yourself, you are better off in some ways, but you may be one serious illness away from bankruptcy.
Businesses ALWAYS succeed because of the efforts of their employees. Steve Jobs did not create the iPhone. He was smart enough to let his creative people do their jobs - his role was to put himself in the shoes of the customer and demand the best. Sadly, those people who put their heart and soul into their business are vanishing. Businesses today usually succeed in spite of their 'leadership', not because of it.
Which brings us back to Perez - He does not give a rat's ass about his company or the creative people there (I hope that a few are still hanging on). People in Perez' position should be grateful that their employees have given them the OPPORTUNITY to lead them.
Speaking of work, I need to get back to mine. ;-(
Randy
Sparrow
Mentor
So you would be the first to expect those who made the wrong decision to take responsibility for them? ... or would you support this modern idea that the very top management should be rewarded for what is an obvious, and abject failure regardless of the consequences of their actions? bearing in mind it isn't their money that they are paying themselves ...
semilog
curmudgeonly optimist
Yes. That. Exactly.
Bob Michaels
nobody special
No, I would fault myself supporting them / investing in them / going to work for them if I made that decision.
Or, I might congratulate myself on not doing any of the above.
Either way, it is only my decisions I am concerned with, not Perez's or the Kodak's Board of Directors.
shadowfox
Darkroom printing lives
Bob, I cringe thinking where that road actually leads.
A whole lot of people in this country (United States) are putting their blinders on. Some deliberately, some don't even realize it's there.
semilog
curmudgeonly optimist
This is Panglossian in the extreme. We might want to consider what structural incentives exist for a company's management team to gut what remains of a struggling company for personal gain (vs. shareholder benefit!) and whether those incentives are destructive to our overall economy and social fabric.
If one looks at the vast increases in executive compensation over, say, the last forty years, and at the concomitant decoupling of executive compensation from corporate performance, it is not difficult to see that things are amiss.
Sparrow
Mentor
Ah, so it's OK for these people to defraud others then? ... as long as you personally are bright enough, or you are lucky enough to not lose out yourself by their actions?
You don't feel your society, government or legislature should have an opinion on their behaviour?
Michael Markey
Mentor
semilog
curmudgeonly optimist
Right, because all governmental interventions are functionally equivalent, no matter what, and the Market is never driven by perverse incentives. </sarcasm>
Sparrow
Mentor
... where is Red Robbo when one needs him ................ :angel:
................ :angel:
Bob Michaels
nobody special
I do not want anyone restricting my option to make my own decisions. Here in the US, the securities law only says the companies must make complete disclosure of all material facts. Decisions are those of the individuals with no other opinions or restrictions. Don't know what the situation is there in Perfidious Albion