On Fiorina - Here are the facts"

[kpete]

Why I Still Think Fiorina Was a Terrible CEO
She can diss me all she wants on live TV, but personal attacks won’t take her from colossal business failure to leader of the free world.
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld
September 20, 2015


Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/carly-fiorina-ceo-jeffrey-sonnenfeld-2016-213163#ixzz3mNdn5XCn



Here are the facts: In the five years that Fiorina was at Hewlett Packard, the company lost over half its value. It’s true that many tech companies had trouble during this period of the Internet bubble collapse, some falling in value as much as 27 percent; but HP under Fiorina fell 55 percent. During those years, stocks in companies like Apple and Dell rose. Google went public, and Facebook was launched. The S&P 500 yardstick on major U.S. firms showed only a 7 percent drop. Plenty good was happening in U.S. industry and in technology.

It was Fiorina’s failed leadership that brought her company down. After an unsuccessful attempt to catch up to IBM’s growth in IT services by buying PricewaterhouseCooper’s consulting business (PwC, ironically, ended up going to IBM instead), she abruptly abandoned the strategic goal of expanding IT services and consulting and moved into heavy metal. At a time that devices had become a low margin commodity business, Fiorina bought for $25 billion the dying Compaq computer company, which was composed of other failed businesses.

........................

During the debate, Fiorina countered that she wasn’t a failure because she doubled revenues. That’s an empty measurement. What good is doubling revenue by acquiring a huge company if you’re not making any profit from it? The goals of business are to raise profits, increase employment and add value. During Fiorina’s tenure, thanks to the Compaq deal, profits fell, employees were laid off and value plummeted. Fiorina was paid over $100 million for this accomplishment.

At the time, most industry analysts, HP shareholders, HP employees and even some HP board members resisted the Compaq deal. (Fiorina prevailed in the proxy battle, with 51.4 percent, partly thanks to ethically questionable tactics, but that’s another story.) But rather than listen to the concerns of her opponents, she ridiculed them, equating dissent with disloyalty. As we saw during the debate when she attacked me, rather than listen to or learn from critics, Fiorina disparages them. She did so regularly to platoons of her own top lieutenants and even her board of directors—until they fired her.


Read more: http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/09/carly-fiorina-ceo-jeffrey-sonnenfeld-2016-213163#ixzz3mNdPr2f5

[dembotoz]

1. keep this handy she is being bill as a better version of trump

[Octafish]

2. Carly is the Military Industrial Complex's Stealth Candidate

She once chaired CIA’s external advisory board, nice place for those interested in getting the inside information first.

[LongTomH]

7. I'm sure you picked up on the Cold War Redux rhetoric during the debate......

Calls for "modernizing the nuclear triad," implementing missile defense in Poland, more ships.......basically everything on the MIC Xmas wish list.

Two decades since the fall of the old Soviet Union; we're outsourcing some jobs to former Soviet Union (FSU) countries and we still have missiles in the ground and on submarines targeting Russian cities.

[Octafish]

9. Dog Whistles for the Carlyle Group

The Pitfalls of Peace

The Lack of Major Wars May Be Hurting Economic Growth

Tyler Cowen
The New York Times, JUNE 13, 2014

The continuing slowness of economic growth in high-income economies has prompted soul-searching among economists. They have looked to weak demand, rising inequality, Chinese competition, over-regulation, inadequate infrastructure and an exhaustion of new technological ideas as possible culprits.

An additional explanation of slow growth is now receiving attention, however. It is the persistence and expectation of peace.

The world just hasn’t had that much warfare lately, at least not by historical standards. Some of the recent headlines about Iraq or South Sudan make our world sound like a very bloody place, but today’s casualties pale in light of the tens of millions of people killed in the two world wars in the first half of the 20th century. Even the Vietnam War had many more deaths than any recent war involving an affluent country.

Counterintuitive though it may sound, the greater peacefulness of the world may make the attainment of higher rates of economic growth less urgent and thus less likely. This view does not claim that fighting wars improves economies, as of course the actual conflict brings death and destruction. The claim is also distinct from the Keynesian argument that preparing for war lifts government spending and puts people to work. Rather, the very possibility of war focuses the attention of governments on getting some basic decisions right — whether investing in science or simply liberalizing the economy. Such focus ends up improving a nation’s longer-run prospects.

It may seem repugnant to find a positive side to war in this regard, but a look at American history suggests we cannot dismiss the idea so easily. Fundamental innovations such as nuclear power, the computer and the modern aircraft were all pushed along by an American government eager to defeat the Axis powers or, later, to win the Cold War. The Internet was initially designed to help this country withstand a nuclear exchange, and Silicon Valley had its origins with military contracting, not today’s entrepreneurial social media start-ups. The Soviet launch of the Sputnik satellite spurred American interest in science and technology, to the benefit of later economic growth.

SNIP...

Living in a largely peaceful world with 2 percent G.D.P. growth has some big advantages that you don’t get with 4 percent growth and many more war deaths. Economic stasis may not feel very impressive, but it’s something our ancestors never quite managed to pull off. The real questions are whether we can do any better, and whether the recent prevalence of peace is a mere temporary bubble just waiting to be burst.

Tyler Cowen is a professor of economics at George Mason University.

SOURCE: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/14/upshot/the-lack-of-major-wars-may-be-hurting-economic-growth.html?_r=0

I seem to remember they were more discreet, back when people actually read newspapers and such.

[vankuria]

3. Why has Carly gotten so much media attention?

Not just from her current political run, but she has made the rounds on political shows giving her opinion, being a part of panel discussions on MTP, why was she so sought out? I mean she obviously had a terrible run as a CEO of a major company, hasn't had a job since, so what makes her so popular in politics? I mean who cares about the opinion of a failed CEO??

[jeff47]

4. She has two X chromosomes.

The media would really, really, really like a female Republican in the horserace. And she's willing to be "generic female Republican".

[vankuria]

11. But even before she announced she was running for prez

she would show up on all the Sunday morning talk shows and be a part of political discussions, panels, etc. Why, I wonder did her opinion matter, why was she so sought after?

[jeff47]

13. Because she has two X chromosomes.

There isn't exactly a wealth of female Republican pundits who can sound coherent.

[vankuria]

14. Ok, got it!

I guess an unemployed CEO who ruined a major company is the best the GOP can do for a female pundit.

[jeff47]

15. Nononono. Experienced Businesswoman!!

Did you hear how she worked her way up from secretary? (Just don't look too closely into that story)

I really wish I had the family connections to get appointed CEO. Do a decent job, and you rake in millions. Do a terrible job, and you rake in millions. And then people offer you more CEO jobs because you are Experienced!! (Just don't look too closely at that experience)

[randome]

5. She kept Hewlett Packard safe!

In the same way that Bush, Jr. kept the nation safe, according to JEB!
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Aspire to inspire.[/center][/font][hr]

[Gothmog]

6. Carly is a liar

[ryan_cats]

8. She cost a corporation half its value?

She cost a corporation half its value?

Why isn't this a positive thing? After all, companies aren't people so wasn't she doing God's work?

Those selfish workers and stock holders can't grasp that Fiorina is operating on another plane.

[mercuryblues]

10. dealing with Iran

during sanctions and this:
Carly was at HP from 1999-2005

http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370541453075

The SEC’s order instituting settled administrative proceedings finds that the Palo Alto, Calif.-based technology company’s subsidiary in Russia paid more than $2 million through agents and various shell companies to a Russian government official to retain a multi-million dollar contract with the federal prosecutor’s office. In Poland, Hewlett-Packard’s subsidiary provided gifts and cash bribes worth more than $600,000 to a Polish government official to obtain contracts with the national police agency. And as part of its bid to win a software sale to Mexico’s state-owned petroleum company, Hewlett-Packard’s subsidiary in Mexico paid more than $1 million in inflated commissions to a consultant with close ties to company officials, and money was funneled to one of those officials.
<snip>
According to the SEC’s order, the scheme involving Hewlett-Packard’s Russian subsidiary occurred from approximately 2000 to 2007. The bribes were paid through agents and consultants in order to win a government contract for computer hardware and software. Employees within the subsidiary and elsewhere raised questions about the significant markup being paid to the agent on the deal and the subcontractors that the agent expected to use. Despite the red flags, the deal went forward without any meaningful due diligence on the agent or the subcontractors.

more at link

[City Lights]

12. Bookmarking! Thanks, kpete!

[olddots]

16. the repukes are having an Ugly American Poster Child Contest

can tRump and Carly share the honors ?

[smirkymonkey]

17. K&R. Great article!

Some interesting comments as well on Politico.