FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - How does Parker still have a job?
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Old Jul 7, 2019, 8:34 pm
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Antarius
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Originally Posted by redtop43
I'm reminded of Tim Armstrong, the former CEO of AT&T, who was rewarded by the board with a big bonus for his brilliant strategic move to buy NCR, and was then rewarded by the board with a big bonus for his brilliant strategic move to sell NCR.

The reality of senior executives is severalfold. First, if the board fires the CEO, it means they made a mistake in hiring him in the first place. Second, the CEO has a huge staff available to prepare presentations for the board about how wonderful everything is. Third, some of the board members are senior executives of other companies, who think "There but for the grace of a few activist investors go I." Fourth - yes, the responsibility of the CEO IS to maximize profits. If this means good, mediocre, or bad, relationships with employees/customers/vendors, so be it.

Dougie's job is to maximize profits, and sometimes that means doing things that make pax (like us) unhappy.

Look at what it takes to get a CEO fired. John Stumpf and Timothy Sloan (Wells Fargo) had to literally pick their customers' pockets. Jeff Imelt had to take the 200-watt lightbulb that was the GE that Jack Welch built and turn it into a nightlight. Roger Ailes not only looked the other way while Bill O'Reilly et. al. chased skirts but did it himself. I won't even mention Travis Kalanick of Uber, because his misbehavior makes Ailes' look like hiding copies of Playboy under the mattress.
Your bolded point is spot on - the issue is that Parker is not delivering shareholder value. The stock is down despite the sector posting large gains. If they were making money, then this thread would be noise around the edges. The question more is why are stockholders not looking to oust Parker and the board. You are correct that barring shady Smisek level stuff, the board will not act on their own.
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