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Dan
Just a few comments if I may about
management.
You say in your first paragraph a large part of the
rationale for Privatisation is poor management.
Well that seems to me to be a good argument to improve
management and keep the business in public hands thus keeping the assets and any
future profits in democratic control.
I know this is an old fashioned idea and perhaps it is the
old socialist coming out in me but having seen the disastrous results of
privatisation in many cases, I believe it has some merit.
Some incompetent managers have been in the right place at
the right time and have made millions of pounds in a short space of time when
the company is inevitably sold on.
In one instance an advisor friend of mine was told by one
manager of a London bus Company that he didn't want the workers to risk too much
of their money on a buyout and persuaded them to have only 10 % of shares, he
promptly mortgaged his house and raised cash to invest a substantial amount of
money in shares and 2 years later when the company was sold on (under his
control) he became a multi-millionaire while the workers received a few thousand
pounds each. This case was the norm rather than the exception in
the UK privatisation programme.
If however Governments are hell bent on Privatisation
then everything you said about management is relevant and I agree
with.
I would add to say that to appoint experienced Non
executive Directors who have managed in the commercial environment would be
another way of ensuring a newly privatised EO company gets off to a good start
by initially assessing and monitoring performance of the senior
managers
Regards Dave
Dave Wheatcroft
01246 233438
-Tel
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