Business Leaders Committing Suicide
January 28, 2009 by Will Marre
I think we know by now that one of the biggest obstacles to an economic recovery is an off-the-cliff fall in consumer spending. This is leading to lack of investment in new plants, equipment, research and development, exporting or any other growth producing activity. Of course as more people lose jobs the more the fear contagion spreads so the more consumption and investment shrinks and the more jobs are lost.
All I hear and see from business leaders is hand-wringing panic. By now we hear from idiot economists who didn’t foresee the sustainable bubble bursting that the world wide global economy is being “reset” at a lower level. Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, recently said while he announced the layoffs of 5000 smart productive employees that his economic analysts don’t see a recovery in demand for personal computers for many years, if ever. Meanwhile Microsoft made $4.17 billion in profits, which is enough to pay the people laid off for a decade even if they did no productive work. What Ballmer did, of course, is what business leaders are doing all over the world. He made sure the 5000 people he just fired and the millions that watched him do it would be too scared to buy a new computer or upgrade their software to Windows 7.
Yes, we are seeing the rotten cycle of short-term, me-only leadership. Most CEOs today earn bonuses based on stock price increase based on maintaining high-as-possible short-term profits. The easiest way to do that is cut expenses. And the big expense target is always the same…employees and now product development. What’s insane is that this kind of myopic leadership accelerates the decline in consumption and insures that few exciting or improved products or services will be developed.
The problem is our business leaders literally don’t know how to think differently. They behave like sheep in a panic stampede. Now is the time for leaders to lower the cost and time for consumers to buy their product by removing waste and all non-valued features. Now is the time to invest in new solutions to the problems we face or the joys we desire. Now is the time to remove the dysfunctional or obnoxious aspects of our workplaces. Now is the time to dream of ways of creating sustainable abundance and attack the worldwide market with better ideas. Most of all, now is the time for business leaders to step up to their social responsibility to creatively employ their workforce in producing value.
The needs of the world have not changed. In fact they are growing. The only reason leaders of profitable business are laying off people is that they are scared to think differently. They are scared to lead. They need to get out of the way and let someone with courage and imagination lead. Next time a leader of a profitable enterprise layoffs hard working, value producing employees, he (or she) ought to lay himself off.
Oh yes, I am off to Washington D.C. I am trying to get a certain Senator to support the 1% Percent Solution. Let’s create jobs by unleashing our entrepreneurial energy toward socially strategic enterprise.
What utter tripe, how about you do some research and try and understand whats going on before you march of with you empty sloganeering.
Americans have been borrowing money from the Chinese to buy stuff they dont need for a decade while they ship their own jobs overseas.
Consumption for consumption sake is pointless, if the only way you can stimulate the economy is borrowing more to put your country further in debt to consume stuff you dont make, then you need to re think your values.
Folks are loosing jobs because of their values, your grand parents would be ashamed of our values, what we should be thinking about is thrift, hard work, lowering our debt, balancing our trade we have folk like yourself so petrified of a down turn they want to set us off on another course of pointless consumption
Americans dont need anymore stuff and they certainly dont need anymore debt. Taking another sedative so you pass on the structural issues to your children is disgusting. Is this generation so afraid of hard workj that is willing to drive t he country ot permanant ruin so it can sustain the delusion of debt based prosperity for a few more years?
Stop blogging and start reading
start with Steve Keen
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2008/11/29/can-the-usa-debt-spend-its-way-out/
It is very troublesome to see how we have developed the mentality among our business leaders which makes them believe when the profitability of their company is hurting, the first avenue they look to is the reduction of employees. This is the easiest approach for them to take rather than to look very hard at the business and determine what needs to be done to get the company back to profitability over the next 5 to 10 years. Employees should be terminated only for poor personal performance, not for poor executive leadership performance.
Will and Larry, you said it all. How we as a country can keep putting these ignorant people in charge of business and government is beyond me. I listened to man on radio once talking about the dumbing down of America, it seems to have come to pass. I hope the people of this country wise up one day, I really don’t know what will change them, but i do not see that happening.
Just Me, if what is happening now is not a wake up call to the dumbed down people then we are in even bigger trouble than is already evident. We are in a veritable tsunami created by a convergence of so-called perfect storms created and perpetuated by the pure, unadulterated and excessive greed of the homebuilding industry, the banks, the investment banks, and the mortgage brokers. The greed and arrogance blinded them and erased their common sense.
But then look back in general over the last 5 years or so. This country lost its way in total excess in every area. All you had to do was take a trip to the mall and look at all the stores and all the “stuff”. Anyone in their right mind would ask, “Who is going to buy all of this crap?” There was always ten times more of everything than anyone could use in three lifetimes. In many ways as a society we deserve what we are getting because everything that was done in excess always comes back to a point of equilibrium. It is natures way.
Now if we could only get the idiots we elected in Washington to start acting above the three year old level we could start to figure it out and take decisive and corrective action instead of watching them throw around our money like it was a food fight from the movie “Animal House”. Baby we have really got us into a beaut this time. Anyone got any sure fire ideas?
I hear you Will, and I raise you two ideas. First, challenge the economic “analysts” and political pundits to cease (even for a day) describing their erudite interpretations of “What IS” and their incredibly pessimistic prognostications of what things are going to be like…if…. Then ask them to put that same energy and air time toward suggesting something that (with the aid of those watching or listening who care and who can make a difference through numbers) might help some segment of society or some business sector or some aspect of the “financial crisis” begin to uncloud this mire. We need to look ahead to what can be, and work together to get there, not stand in paralysis because of what the nay-sayers tell us is likely to be. The media seems to me to be (unwittingly?) fanning the flames of fear in the name of “reporting”. Crisis makes good news.
Second, we need to challenge corporate America to seek out suggestions and potential solutions from their employees when such huge layoffs loom. In their unilateral decisions that affect so many, corporate leadership appears to me to address only the symptoms and not the cause. I suspect that if employees were given leave to present ideas about how to make the bottom line rather than let go of 5,000 of their fellow employees, some very creative and perhaps novel “solutions” would be presented for consideration. It would be interesting to see if, given the opportunity, people have reached the stage of evolution yet where they may be willing to cut back their own hours, or rearrange departments, or take a small paycut or do without some particular benefit etc. for a finite period of time to save their fellow employees from going without entirely.
Bottom line: leadership can come from many, many places other than corporate officials and government, and I believe that the more people there are who have input into an issue, the more likely one is to find a solution that is enlightened and in the highest good of all…if that’s what is really sought.
I love your perspective and I think you are all right on. We have become a nation of short term thinkers. As the research is saying we get interupted every 3 minutes and the speculators greatly contribute to this. It is amazing the things that get cut during times like these. No more training for employees. No more investment in the sustainable high performance of the leaders or their teams. No more investment in research and development. The list goes on but they all lead to the same place. A dumber workforce, lower performance, less creativity and innovation and less personal and corporate sustainability.
The problem is, all they care about is the short term returns so they can collect their bonus and be a great prospect for the next company that wants immediate returns. I hope we can turn this all around but I fear it will take a true mindset shift and a real change in the way the market functions.
Welcome back! I was getting worried as your past few blogs seemed to be Obama doom and gloom messages. You know ” the world is gonna crash unless we do as I say and even though it will be bad we can have hope”! I believe in the Ronald Reagan angle, “heck this is America damn it and we will not just endure but we will lead and be better than ever!!!” Great Men and Great Fortunes have been made in times like this!
Good ideas Ginny !
Ah come on Will. Your title was a bit over the top! Perhaps you could have used a modifier for suicide - like ethical suicide, or economic suicide or something else - you choose. Even though I usually do read your articles, that word definitely got me to read this piece. It might not be surprising that we would have a recreation of 1929.
Granted, the consequences of some business leaders’ decisions can be tragic and a kick in the gut, (which I know about), but 32,000 annually (ref. http://www.afsp.org ) actually complete suicide, so the word and issue thoughtlessly bandied about in the media is plenty enough without having it used in otherwise good thought-provoking pieces.
This is a little more than just being p.c. To those of us who pick up the pieces of our own lives from the loss of a loved one by suicide, or from those many others of us who live in question whether someone close to them will finally complete suicide, ignorant use is a bit much. Let’s be careful with it’s use.
Good luck in Washington.
the ego mania of Americans astounds me , you folk really think you are above the rest of humanity, more virtuous, more exceptional, you lack the ability for self evaluation, its all about your own greatness , instead ask yourselves why you are here today, what beliefs and values contributed to the collapse, its not dumb businessman thats created this its every American thinking that their grandfather values dont apply anymore
and what are you afraid of publish my other comment, or doesnt that fit your self grandiose intent?
Maybe the business leaders are scared of the new President’s tax policies?!?!?
“now is not the time to be making a profit” -B.Obama
Americans have been borrowing money from the Chinese to buy stuff they dont need for a decade while they ship their own jobs overseas.
Consumption for consumption sake is pointless, if the only way you can stimulate the economy is borrowing more to put your country further in debt to consume stuff you dont make, then you need to re think your values.
Folks are loosing jobs because of their values, your grand parents would be ashamed of our values, what we should be thinking about is thrift, hard work, lowering our debt, balancing our trade we have folk like yourself so petrified of a down turn they want to set us off on another course of pointless consumption
Americans dont need anymore stuff and they certainly dont need anymore debt. Taking another sedative so you pass on the structural issues to your children is disgusting. Is this generation so afraid of hard workj that is willing to drive t he country ot permanant ruin so it can sustain the delusion of debt based prosperity for a few more years?
Stop blogging and start reading
start with Steve Keen
http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2008/11/29/can-the-usa-debt-spend-its-way-out/
“where there is no vision the people perish”