

If Richard Branson Ran GM - steveplace
http://www.graduatedtaste.com/2008/11/20/if-richard-branson-ran-gm/

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bprater
This whole taking a private jet thing borders on completely stupid and shows
how inept some folks are in understanding how companies work.

CEOs are any companies most important human asset. That asset has a finite
amount of time he can work in any given day.

Standing in line at an airport, waiting on layovers, not having access to
communications -- are all wastes of time if you are a CEO.

Especially NOW, when the big 3s are about to enter bankruptcy, you can't
afford to waste a minute of the big 3's CEOs time.

(Nobody is bitching that the US President rides around in the air's biggest
fuel pig -- a 747.)

EDIT: I just noticed a news clip where a senator was making the point, too.
I'm embarassed. It's harder to build a broom closet than a nuke plant. Wasting
anyone's time to talk about a $20,000 plane trip versus dealing with the $50B
bailout is sad.

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jimbokun
"CEOs are any companies most important human asset."

Please explain to me how these CEOs who have managed to bankrupt an entire
U.S. industry constitute an "important human asset." The empirical evidence
seems to suggest they are a net negative asset, and maybe filling up their
schedules with unproductive activities will mitigate the further damage they
could do by actually trying to make decisions and taking actions.

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netcan
That is really missing the point. If they want to make calculated decisions
that are unpopular but rational, taking into account the importance of the
executive team, go do that. Go make your businesses profitable. Go arm wrestle
with unions. But ask for no quarter.

They are asking for bailouts. Asking for unions & employees to cut them a
break. Asking for help & understanding. If you go to a bank to ask for a loan,
you better not show up wherein banana leafs & a feathered top hat. Where a
suit. Shut up about air flow, weather & being more productive in a banana. If
you don't need the bank, you can wear what you want.

They want unions to cut them a break (or someone else to cut the unions). They
want tax money. They need to meet the expected terms. The public doesn't like
executive jet CEOs. Neither do unions or ground floor employees. A CEO that
meets with a banks in a banana is not showing good judgement. Neither are
these CEOs. It's not a good sign.

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mxh
"They want unions to cut them a break"

Sort of. It would be at least as accurate to say that the UAW wants the US
gov't to hand over $25B (or $50B, or $75B) to the big 3 s.t. all 4 entities
(Ford, GM, Chrysler, UAW) can carry on with business more-or-less as usual,
and stay out of bankruptcy court. Chapter 11 would likely mean bad things for
the UAW.

It seems (and, of course, w/o seeing the books, it's awful hard to tell) that
the big 3 just can't make money - despite making some pretty nice cars - due
to labor costs that are perhaps 150% of market, and a bloated dealer
infrastructure that can't be trimmed due to franchising laws. Plus, a lot of b
------t mandates (CAFE, etc.) to make products people don't really want.

The Detroit bailout isn't about saving the jobs of the executive teams (who
can always get other jobs, and hell, who tend to be highly incentivised to
stick around through Chapter 11) or saving the US manufacturing base (it's not
like all those factories will go _poof_ overnight, or all those cars will stop
being built and sold) or avoiding shocks to the economy, or preserving
shareholder value (which has already been largely wiped out). It's about
propping up an uncompetitive cost structure in order to serve special
interests, with a side-order of do-gooder power-tripping meddling.

And none of it has a g-----n thing to do with how the big 3 CEOs travel around
the country.

Sorry about the rant. But the idea that the unions are gonna get all huffy
about the private jet angle, or indeed that this is some sort of "suits-
vs.-line-employees" drama strikes me as wrong-headed; if the bailout doesn't
happen, no one is going to be more unhappy than the UAW.

~~~
eru
Your post would have been easier to read (for someone not entirely familiar
with English curses at least) without the ----.

~~~
cabalamat
It would also have been in better style. Either use expletives, and spell them
out, if you think that best gets your point across; or don't use expletives at
all.

~~~
mxh
Nice to see that the <http://bikeshed.com/> is alive and well.

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sanj
What amazes me about the CEOs of the automakers is how tone-deaf they are to
the PR debacle they're creating.

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antiform
It's hard to escape your environment, strip everything away, and see your life
from 10,000 feet. It's hard to see what it's like at the bottom if you're on
top and there's dozens of layers between you and the people that actually get
their hands dirty. It's even harder if you've done this job for years and have
no idea how things have changed since you rose in the corporate structure, if
you were even at the bottom to begin with. It's a perennial problem in large
groups with hierarchical structure, and GM is one of the largest and most
hierarchical groups out there.

What may seem to them as being a "go-getter" and exercising earned corporate
privilege just makes them seem even more elitist and out-of-touch to the
general public.

It reminds me of the importance of the consigliere in the Italian Mafia (or at
least in the fiction surrounding it). You need a close friend that you can
trust to tell you what is right rather than what you want to hear. If you
don't have a way to back up and see the big picture, you won't be able to see
trouble until it's staring you in the face, no matter how dangerous it may be.

Every time I hear of something like this, I remind myself to always be aware
of the echo chamber that may be surrounding my own life and its affairs. What
I think is real could very possibly be wishful fantasy.

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ErrantX
Tongue in cheek perhaps but very true! Never underestimate the power of
publicity stunts :D (hmm).

Although of course if he did run GM then they wouldn't be in this mess in the
first place would they (though Im not sure I'd want to drive a care branded
"Virgin".. only comes in white :P).

Sharp commentary.

~~~
jedc
And he clearly has a very good eye for how Richard Branson promotes his
businesses!

Definitely concur... very sharp commentary.

~~~
steveplace
Thanks. I read his book about a month ago.

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aaronblohowiak
And undercar kits would be standard.

All jesting aside, this blog author makes a good point about the lack of
panache and poor PR of American auto manufacturers to coastal Americans.

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jonknee
If he ran GM they wouldn't need a bailout in the first place.

~~~
ErrantX
Take it further: he is probably not running GM because you cant make it
profitable.

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jonknee
I think he could make it profitable. He's making cash in the airline business
($90m last quarter), which isn't exactly an outperforming sector. The car
business isn't hard to make money in, it's just the big three that are fuck
ups.

~~~
ErrantX
fair point I suppose (making Virgin atlantic pay was certainly no mean feat
:D)

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vaksel
thats the problem isn't it? GM/Ford/Chrysler CEOs just don't get it. If they
got it, their companies wouldn't be in the crapper like they are today.

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fredBuddemeyer
he would bundle an alternative energy source with the car and deliver it as
one product. he would realize the dealers are the prefect distribution system
to establish a standard. he would mobilize the retirees who still somehow love
the company and make them an asset instead of a liability (to say nothing of
the perpetuity the old, loved cars represent). he would make an opportunity of
the customization trend that has been going on for years and listen to his
customers. he would have one more than model of a brand like corvette he
would....

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aagnihot
These guys are not entrepreneur. They are executives(read PHB's). They might
not even be good leaders. Henry Ford would have done things differently....

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corentin
These guys just need to get hit in the face with a copy of Atlas Shrugged.

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kqr2
What if pg ran GM? :-)

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jrockway
We would be reading an essay about people painting cars?

