4 ms·

It boggles my mind that in MBA circles Welch is still considered "one of the greats". He took an innovative company and destroyed it with finance shenanigans. I

It boggles my mind that in MBA circles Welch is still considered "one of the greats". He took an innovative company and destroyed it with finance shenanigans. In a properly-functioning society he'd have been tarred and feathered, and business schools would use his name as a warning example of what not to do.

jimt1234 4y ago
I really think the story of Percy Miller (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_P https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_P) should be taught in business schools. Dude started out as a street-level drug dealer, and ended up becoming one of the most successful recording industry execs ever. He once paid Michael Jackson's lawyer $25K just to have lunch with him, so he could learn. He's not without controversy, but honestly, I'd rather learn about a true rags-to-riches story than a story about a slash-and-burn corporate tycoon.
- 7speter 4y ago
  Why not both?
DebtDeflation 4y ago
>He took an innovative company and destroyed it with finance shenanigans. How many times have we seen this exact thing play out? Xerox, Kodak, IBM, HP, etc. Some of it is due to technological change, but even that isn't necessarily the problem but rather the company's response to it (failing to invest, focusing on financial engineering rather than innovation, asset stripping, enriching executives at the expense of everyone else, etc.) is.
- linuxlizard 4y ago
  Boeing.
  - sitkack 4y ago
    If you want to kill an engineering org, out the MBAs in charge and reward them over a quarterly time span. Never fails. What isn’t apparent, is that at most orgs you can get a short lived lift in revenue by burning a technical asset for pennies on the dollar. 10% more revenue by reducing quality 50%, but the reduction in quality lags the revenue bump by a couple quarters. You look amazing and then move on.
masklinn 4y ago
> It boggles my mind that in MBA circles Welch is still considered "one of the greats". Why? It’s the MBA dream to make out like a bandit and leave a trail of despair and destruction in your trail: any joy left over is value you failed to extract.
- ijidak 4y ago
  > any joy left over is value you failed to extract One of the greatest lines ever

jimt1234 4y ago

I really think the story of Percy Miller (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_P https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_P) should be taught in business schools. Dude started out as a street-level drug dealer, and ended up becoming one of the most successful recording industry execs ever. He once paid Michael Jackson's lawyer $25K just to have lunch with him, so he could learn. He's not without controversy, but honestly, I'd rather learn about a true rags-to-riches story than a story about a slash-and-burn corporate tycoon.

7speter 4y ago
Why not both?

DebtDeflation 4y ago

>He took an innovative company and destroyed it with finance shenanigans. How many times have we seen this exact thing play out? Xerox, Kodak, IBM, HP, etc. Some of it is due to technological change, but even that isn't necessarily the problem but rather the company's response to it (failing to invest, focusing on financial engineering rather than innovation, asset stripping, enriching executives at the expense of everyone else, etc.) is.

linuxlizard 4y ago
Boeing.
- sitkack 4y ago
  If you want to kill an engineering org, out the MBAs in charge and reward them over a quarterly time span. Never fails. What isn’t apparent, is that at most orgs you can get a short lived lift in revenue by burning a technical asset for pennies on the dollar. 10% more revenue by reducing quality 50%, but the reduction in quality lags the revenue bump by a couple quarters. You look amazing and then move on.

masklinn 4y ago

> It boggles my mind that in MBA circles Welch is still considered "one of the greats". Why? It’s the MBA dream to make out like a bandit and leave a trail of despair and destruction in your trail: any joy left over is value you failed to extract.

ijidak 4y ago
> any joy left over is value you failed to extract One of the greatest lines ever