Archive for the ‘Ford’ Category

Innocent Hummer Assaulted

July 18, 2007

I don’t like Hummers.  They’re ugly and kind of road hogs.  But I like this even less.

Perhaps the pundits are right; civil discourse is fraying in this country.  The last time I looked, in America you could drive any car you dreamed of that was street legal and you could afford gas for. 

But if you really can’t contain your righteous opinion, rant about SUVs on your blog, buy something small and Japanese so you’ll feel good about yourself (if not your fellow American workers), or, if you must, stick a note under a Suburban’s windshield like the irrepressible Amy Alkon.  Don’t mess with people’s hard-earned property.

Hybrid technology is promising, and maybe I’ll get a Ford Escape for my next car.  Now, I drive an 8-cylinder Mustang GT.  And if I catch someone vandalizing it I will vandalize them.

Posted in Amy-Alkon, Ford, MSNBC, civil-dialogue, political-correctness | No Comments »

From the SF Chronicle to Chrysler: Dislocation at Internet Speed

May 23, 2007

The San Francisco Chronicle is making one of the biggest newsroom cuts yet; 25%, writes a Chronicle reporter(!)  Eighty reporters, photographers, copy editors and others will be laid off.

“Analysts predicted the reductions at The Chronicle could have repercussions for readers. While an increasing number of people get news from online aggregators such as Google News and Yahoo, those stories are most often originally reported by print journalists. “

Then there’s the news website in Pasadena, that has unrepentently (and to great publicity) outsourced its city council coverage to India to reporters paid $7500 a year.

While I have sympathy for those cutback or outsourced, I’m not going to cry crocodile tears.  As my Dad told me more than 30 years ago, you’ll never see pro-labor sentiment in a newspaper because they’re an employer.  As the last person I know who owns three American cars, (a Ford, a Lincoln and a Jeep) where were these people and their publications in terms of supporting U.S. industries?

Still, it’s tough times, and for a communications person, the whirling scythe dumps more competitors into the pool.

Posted in Ford, Journalism, Public Relations, Publishing, death-of-newspapers, newspapers, sf-chronicle | No Comments »

Evelyn Y. Davis and Proxy Season Follies

April 26, 2007

If it’s spring, the proxy-season circus is in town.  At this time of year, public relations and IR (Investor Relations) pros prepare for their corporation’s annual shareholder meetings.  Shockingly enough, these meetings are often stage-managed to cheerlead for the CEO and avoid controversy. 

But even when IR folks try to keep things under control, often the meetings turn into bizarre theatre.  At a Ford shareholder meeting in Irvine, California, I watched noted shareholder ‘gadfly’ Evelyn Y. Davis fawn over then-CEO Bill Ford with an unsettling mix of maternal concern and lust.  Later, he personally delivered her new Jaguar.

Whether it’s Citibank or among the restive shareholders of the New York Times, Evelyn is on the case.  I’ve written about her, and she always has a lot to say: When Safeway’s general counsel implored “Miss Davis” to be quiet, “It’s Mrs. Davis,” she insisted.  I’ve had three husbands.” At Morgan Stanley, Davis threatened, “When I’m gone, my ghost will appear at the meeting.”  Replied Chairman Philip Purcell, “We look forward to your ghost.”

Purcell and Ford show the right way for CEOs to respond to gadflys like Evelyn; listen patiently, act when their suggestions are appropriate and reasonable, keep your sense of humor. 

It’s easy to snicker at the gadflies.   But often dissident stockholders have a point.  Unchallenged, bad corporate leadership can damage even the strongest company—like this software architect whose biggest innovation appears to be creating the 35-day month and 100-day quarter for booking revenue and making numbers.

Posted in Evelyn Y. Davis, Ford, Investor Relations, Journalism, Public Relations, Shareholder Revolt, evelyn-davis, morgan-stanley | 2 Comments »