Small Steps

The only thing worse than a bad cup of coffee
is losing your company.

Business is profoundly unforgiving.  Fortunes rise and fall every day.  The pages of the business press are filled with stories triumph and bitter failure.  What makes these stories interesting is that often the moral character of the businesses leader is inconsequential to story.  People don't make moral judgments about products and services.  This is why people who most of us would consider morally aberrant somehow wind up in corner offices.  They are insulated from customers and they make the difficult decision necessary to run the business.

This is why last Tuesday's story from Reuters is so unique.  The founders of Green Mountain coffee were fired from their own company by the board of directors.  It seems that Robert Stiller and William Davis were barrowing money against the share price of their company and when the share price fell thanks to over-expansion Stiller and Davis were forced to sell to make good on the loans.   This put them into direct conflict with board of directors and the owners of the business.

This is how corporate governance is supposed to work.  It is not fair or pretty but it works and this promises that the shareholders are not going to be holding the bag for bad business decisions.  We should see more stories like this in the business world but alas J.P. Morgan Chase is going to forgive its CEO for losing 2 Billion dollars.  I suppose small steps in the right direction are better than no progress at all.

Next time we are going to talk about how we can help you stay on top of your inventory.

Until next time.