"Despite GM's troubles, Mr. Fisher, a former Eastman Kodak Co. chairman, said the board supports Mr. Wagoner and believes GM has the 'best management team to get us through these difficult times,'" reports The Wall Street Journal [sub]. "He pointed to solid products and strong international growth as benchmarks of Mr. Wagoner's success." George Fisher retired as CEO of Eastman Kodak in 1999. From The New York Times on the eve of that auspicious occasion: "Q. There are those who view your tenure at Kodak as a terrible disappointment. Do you feel you've failed? A. Not at all. I remember telling Roberto it would take three years to get Kodak on track. He said it would take five, and O.K., it's taken closer to seven. But the fact is, I've accomplished everything I set out to do. I get angry when I get mail from people complaining about my performance, or when members of the press select the quotes they use to paint negative stories… Q. But you are losing $100 million a year in digital, and shareholders are clearly unimpressed. A. You call it losses, I call it investment." Back to the WSJ and GM: "Another GM board member, Kent Kresa, said in a phone conversation Tuesday night that GM 'management has a handle on the situation.'" Kresa was CEO of Northrop Grumman Corporation from 1990 to 2003. Kresa saved Northrop by merging it with Grumman, buying 15 other defense contractors and instituting ruthless cost-cutting. His faith in Wagoner's unspecified turnaround plan reflects Kresa's seat-of-the-pants, high stakes poker management style, and faith in political influence peddling. So now you know.
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the annual meeting should be very interesting this year. I’ll be there once again attempting to influence the corporation toward changing the disastrous marketing which is at the center of our difficulties. any hope of establishing accountability is dashed by the refusal of the Board of Bystanders to hold Red Ink Rick responsible for the loss of more shareholder value than happened under the Enron implosion.
You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d SWEAR that this was a comedy show. The decisions and rationale is something out of an Ealing comedy! Clearly, Red Ink Rick hasn’t a clue what he is doing, but he must be good at SOMETHING? No-one can ascend to that level of power without knowing something?
what he’s good at is slicing and dicing. he has eliminated tens of thousands of jobs and cut and significantly lowered wages. he has reduced retiree benefits and relocated production to lower cost countries. meanwhile he has paid Billions to the bankers who put in place and that is why they contiune to support him in spite of the overwhelming loss of shareholder value and the ballooning of long term debt.
I just want to know what kind of smokes they pass out at the board meetings. I don’t think they are cigars anymore.
Rabid Rick has himself surrounded with his cohorts and millionaire golf buddies – the bestest bosses in the world! He’s doing such a good job that GM will likely have lost 10% market share since he took over the helm at GM. “Heckuva Job Waggy!”.
In American business the board of directors is typically chosen by the CEO and is almost always a fan club, not an overseer. The idea that the board represents the shareholders is a carefully crafted illusion, but those who understand how things really work know that it is indeed an illusion. Knowing that, this is exactly the kind of bs I expect from board members.
This is a travesty. In this economy many other businesses and livelihoods are intertwined for a “national economy.” When one takes a turn from lack of business management, they all suffer.
Take for instance the petroleum industry. Their gluttonly for $$$ has sunk the rest of the economy that relies on reasonably priced commodities. The farmers raise their prices from the exhorbitant prices their charged for diesel. So do the truckers. So we all are having to subsidize their greed.
To let a board of derelicts that are truly lacking any conscience what so ever, give carte blanche to another of it’s ilk is obscene.
I wish the GM workforce well.
George Fisher is a good match for GM as he pretty much ran Kodak into the ground during his tenure and if you ask him he thinks he did a good job. He is as clueless as GM’s upper management. These people are delusional. They shrug off failure and reward it. Rick Wagoner has the board he wants a bunch of weak has beens that don’t know the retail car business. The upcomeing shareholders meeting will bring forth the next five year plan of restructuring in an attempt to divert heat from upper management. Their excuse now is of course the economy and the loss of total unit sales for the whole industry. They don’t want to talk about how they are declining at twice the rate of the industry.
“He pointed to solid products and strong international growth as benchmarks of Mr. Wagoner’s success.”
You call it losses, I call it investment
In their GM related context, these statements are absolutely hilarious! Early contenders for the Bob Lutz memorial trophy?
Didn’t RF previously speculate that GM’s Board had taken on Clintonista Erskine “Irksome” Bowles to smooth things over (a bailout?) with a President Hillary ?
If so, perhaps Obama or McCain have trusted associates who are currently between projects…
I heard Wagoner speak at a “green” conference in Cal. He did a great job considering Green and GM are really compatible. Plus,
Cal. does not heart GM cars. Wagoner is quite intelligent and articulate then there is that mouth Lutz.