That is the most amazing statement ever given by a leader. Lol
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"If I could land a private company gig, I'd be thrilled."
They have shareholders too
Hock can afford to provide terrible customer support because the demand for the products is so large, customers are trapped. I expect mass firings and mass migrations to “best cost countries” across all roles.
Why hire people in costly regions when we have established centers in India and Egypt?
Because those people are awful at the job.
Dell learned that lesson when they moved their call centers to India, then had to move them back in the face of massive customer complaints.
We see it here too. In GS, the APJ and MENA teams consistently close fewer cases, get lower satisfaction scores, follow internal procedures less, etc.
Companies that choose to outsource are mortgaging their future. A short term gain that will only be a massive long term loss.
The mantra "increase shareholders wealth" was drilled into us in a finance class in business school. Always hated hearing it! If I could land a private company gig, I'd be thrilled.
All have a legal fiduciary responsibility to make money for shareholders
within the legal constructs of how their business is run.
No, they do not.
If your statement were true, no business would ever be allowed to fail under the law.
If I own a coffee shop and employ a manager, I'm going to be pretty miffed if I find
out he's doing things that aren't in my interest.
If your manager re-uses coffee grounds three times to increase profits, but drives aways customers due to really bad coffee being served, will you be miffed at lost business or happy with short term profits?
Why hire people in costly regions when we have established centers in India and Egypt?
All mechanics know the cheap tools from low cost developing countries are of a lower quality than those made in developed countries with a history of producing long-lasting products.
What about customers, partners and employees?
Best for the shareholders DOES include all that, if you are a smart leader. The founders of companies generally know this. The good ones foster a culture of great products, great quality, great employee relations, good marketing and fair terms with partners. Profits and success follow.
When "fidicuiary responsibility" means "make as much money for institutional investors as possible on a quarterly basis" to the exclusion of all else, the company is on the Fail Train rails, and it's only a matter of time. Federated Departments Stores, a canonical example, shows how it's easy to destroy old brands in favor of making quarterly profits.
Post ID: @xhg+1ou2ur1j
"If VMW really had shareholder’s interest at heart the would have shared the profits by issuing dividends."
You mean more than the $23 billion in dividends paid over the last 5 years? VMW is still paying off the debt of the last Dell dividend pay out.
If I own a coffee shop and employ a manager, I'm going to be pretty miffed if I find out he's doing things that aren't in my interest.
If VMW really had shareholder’s interest at heart the would have shared the profits by issuing dividends. At least Broadcom shares the profits with shareholders. Without the sale, VMW share would be in the low seventies/eighties (I.e. the same as they were 10 years ago). No wonder Michael Dell is dumping this company asap.
What about customers, partners and employees?
I’d say the OP’s point is that such statements are so obvious that it doesn’t need to be mentioned.
Yet our great leader can’t effectively communicate to the company what is going on with any trace of empathy or intelligence. Nor can he appear to wash or dress himself. Also amazing that no can take the poor man aside and let him know that he is failing in the most basic of ways as a leader.
So we are left with “focus on the main thing” and “blah blah blah shareholders”.
To add insult to injury, he will be paid $50M for his past 1.5 years of doing nothing.
On the plus side, I found a dollar on the sidewalk! Let’s put that in the COBRA fund.
I love when college grads join the workforce for the first time. Welcome to corporate life!
All publicly traded companies are responsible to shareholders first. It su-ks when you start out in a new job to hear that, but it's a quick lesson to learn.
It is literally written into the requirements for being a publicly traded company. I am not defending the behavior, just stating the facts. CEOs, CFOs, the board, etc. All have a legal fiduciary responsibility to make money for shareholders within the legal constructs of how their business is run. It is a result of the broken system of the global stock market. You aren't rewarded for just being profitable. You have to exceed profits every quarter forever or your stock will drop. It is stupid as heck. It doesn't allow companies to do real long term planning if that planning won't accelerate profits for the quarters in between because they will take a beating in their stock price.
The focus consistently revolves around finances and cost savings. India offers cost-effective solutions, and VMware now has a greater presence of Indian professionals in leadership roles than ever before. Indian colleagues are actively leading and participating in numerous projects. Attending one of our Town Hall meetings will provide a clear illustration of this trend. Why hire people in costly regions when we have established centers in India and Egypt?
Why is that amazing to you? A CEO has fiduciary duties to the shareholders, the duty of loyalty requires that a CEO always acts in the best interest of a business's shareholders, which is one of the reasons the shareholders were given a vote on agreeing to the acquisition (yeah, yeah, Michael Dell and Silverlake owning the majority share basically made it their decision).
But the statement shouldn’t be ‘amazing’ to anyone. That doesn’t work for you, that’s fine try to find a company that aligns to your ‘values’, but the inconvenient truth is that statement will always ultimately be true no matter where you work where the company has shareholders.