Just like Lee Iacocca, Sergio Marchionne was intimately involved in making his auto company profitable, to increase its impact in the marketplace. Except Marchionne did it with two car firms- for both Fiat AND Chrysler. Unfortunately, he died last month at the relatively young age of 66- at least a year before he planned to tun over the reins of the company to someone else. (He had chosen Mike Manley- the head of Jeep and Ram- to be that person- just not at this time.)
Tag Archives: turnaround
Get Out of Debt
I recently “met” this interesting fellow, just entering what used to be called middle age. He writes about some interesting stuff. Last week (as of this writing; so by the time this is published, it’s probably last month), he wrote about turning his fiscal life around.
Stocking Levels?
The life blood of a small business is cash. (Bigger firms also need solvency, but their ability to garner credit is far simpler than for smaller entities.) And, for startups, it’s not only the lifeblood, it’s the air that it breathes.
Shading the truth?
I mentioned the other day that Dupont appointed a new CEO- one that agreed to merge with Dow. And, Edward Breen was chosen as the interim CEO because he was thought to be the perfect one to turn the company around. After all, he was the one who turned around Tyco International- as long as you recognized that he did so by selling off the company piece by piece. (Oops. Maybe that’s why Dupont chose him, for real, since in essence the Dow-Dupont merger is a process whereby the merged company will be split up into three new companies- and will shed a slew of businesses, to boot.)
The first 100 days.
It’s an off-year, this year. Yes, I love that expression.
You see, there is no such thing. But, living in the metropolitan DC area, I understand that if it is not a Presidential election year, then it’s considered to be an off-year. And, if there is no national election, it’s almost moribund.
Telecommuting?
I am tired of hearing that Marissa Mayer made a mistake. For those of you who live under a rock, she’s the head of Yahoo that was hired to turn the company around. And, when she came off her maternity leave, she decreed that working from home is not in Yahoo’s best interest. Her ostensible reasons? Yahoo needs to move quickly, it needs to focus on collaboration and communication. And, in her mind, that means working remotely full-time doesn’t work. That also means that some of the Yahoo employees are going to have to move- or quit. Immediately, many folks (in and out of the company) began complaining, citing that there is data that folks are more productive when working from home. That folks need to balance life and work- and this move does not fit that model. Cali Ressler and Jody Thompson, the creators of ROWE (Results Only Work Environment), took tremendous umbrage at Ms. Mayer’s approach. Their site posted this letter… Continue reading Telecommuting?
Don’t wait until it needs a “turnaround”!
Have you ever had the “opportunity” to be driving on a country road and seeing a car’s headlights seemingly aimed directly at you… Yes, the drunk is using your lights as a beacon. What do you do? Turn off your head lights? Slam on your brakes and pull off the side of the road? Or switch to the opposing lane of traffic (hoping no one is behind him)?