3/30 Poll: GM's Rick Wagoner

[Frank Chloupek]

Current Poll Question:

Should GM's Rick Wagoner have lost his job?

• Yes
• No
• Not Sure

Vote Now at:

http://www.industryweek.com#Poll

After you have voted, post your comments in this thread

[dmcgan]

While Wagoner personally is probably no more culpable than many CEO's, perhaps his "firing" might serve as a warning shot across the bow of many other corporations. Many Boards of Directors seem to be heavily weighted on those focused only on short-term financial gains instead of operating a healthy, progressive company. In reality, many corporate boards might step up to the plate and resign, also, as an admission that they have become ineffective and out of touch with today's economic reality. And while they're at it, implement Board policies that ensure that Board members "go to the Gemba" and talk with those on the front lines.

[rbrooku]

Duh, why no CEO should be fired for gross incompetence. That's just the American Business Model to maximize quarterly profits for the sake of short term stock gains while maximizing big compensation packages and long term driving the business into a ditch. So what else is new?

[Abogle]

I am of mixed feelings on this issue.

Sure that some of GM's more boneheaded moves have come under Wagoner's watch, and i suppose this is reason enough, however the flip side of this is that Wagoner is a "car guy" One of the only with the only possible exception being Bill Ford, of the Big 3 CEOs to have worked his way up thru the ranks of the industry. Wagoner knows the business and about cars, the other guys are simply bean counters from other industries with little clue how the industry works.

If anybody should have got the boot, it should have been Nardelli at Chrysler, yes, that same fellow who drove Home Depot into the ditch and pocketed 210 million for his trouble.

But I think the larger issue is the clear white collar vs blue collar, east coast vs midwest, financial vs mfg whatever you want to call it class bias in washington and amongst the "elites".

Again the populist rage is misdirected at the productive sector - manufacturing and its workers, while the finacial class gets off scott free.

Wall street gets all the money they want, without need to payback, without wage concessions, without embarassing spectacles in front of congress and so forth.

[bradintx]

When a team fails someone has to go - not saying it is fair or right just saying that this is how it happens. The change here is that it was not his bosses that forced Wagoner out but the President! That is a scary precedent for me to see.

It then begs the question of why not force out some of the bankers and financial company leaders? If suddenly the executive office powers include firing CEO's why pick on only Wagoner?

Why not also fire the head of UAW, he has as much culpability in this mess as Wagoner?

Let me be clear - I oppose the government interferring with the running of a company like this. I suggest that our President look in his own backyard to clean house first. There are plenty of poor performers in Washington that he could force out (on both sides of the political spectrum).

[pedu]

Rick should have gone long ago. But we're on a slippery sloop when the president can fire a non government employee. I find that more troubling.

[Frank Chloupek]

Should GM's Rick Wagoner have lost his job?

• Yes -- 53.67%
• No -- 36.10%
• Not Sure -- 10.22%

Vote Now at:

http://www.industryweek.com#Poll

Personally, I'm surprised that the percentage wasn't higher in favor of firing. Though being fired by the President is unorthodox.

[Abogle]

talking to my Michigan contacts last week, they were commenting that they were finally starting to see some glimmers of hope for the auto supply industry.

However as soon as the Rick Wagoner thing went down, and talk of bankrupcy ratcheted up, it sent a shock wave thru the supply base and quickly snuffed out the positive news.

The last thing an automotive supplier wants to hear right now is talk of bankrupcy.


Most of the automakers problems have more to do with the economic meltdown brought to us by Wall Street than anything they did to themselves.