To Thread; The Blame Game;
I've owned this stock off and on for two years and overall it has been a major disappointment to say the least. I don't need to repeat the events over the course of twenty-four months which have raised my ire to new levels. However, we are all sitting here and wondering - should our paper losses be converted into real losses or should we sit tight and wait for a savior to come along and bail us out of this mess? Some of you more familiar with the inner workings and personnel of cpq praise Rosen as the guy who will do the right thing for the shareholders. Well, I hope you're right but please understand that there is another view of this fiasco - one which is not so forgiving of Rosen.
CPQ has managed to lose market share, see profits cut in half and apparently in Q1 dropped to third place (behind Dell and IBM) in the small business pc segment (It was in first place not so long ago). CPQ lied to its shareholders while at the same time showed extraordinary favoritism to a few analysts through selective disclosure of material facts. Top executives have been fired or resigned. The dec merger has not added a single penny to profits as yet (supposed to have been accretive by now) and Kumar comes out today suggesting that cpq is swamped with obsolete inventory and could very well see losses in Q2!!
Well fellow shareholders - can you answer this mind bending question? Who was chairman of the board of directors during this period of ultimate neglect if not stupidity? Yea - you got it - Mr. Rosen. The last time I checked, officers report to the board and the board's role among others is to elect officers. The board owes a fiduciary duty to the shareholders and they exercise that duty in part by demanding constant, credible facts, reports and data from the president and ceo. Where was Rosen when EP was spending corporate assets to finance parties? Where was Rosen when the stock dropped from 51 to low thirties after selective disclosure by EM to a few analyst cronies? Where was Rosen when cpq was caught stuffing the channel in 97/98? Where was Rosen when the DEC merger got stuck on first base? Where was Rosen during the infighting and personnel turmoil among upper management? Indeed, where was Rosen in Q199 while cpq lost market share and half of projected profits evaporated in thin air?
And where is Rosen now? He is one third of a temporary ceo. Is this because cpq is so large and complex that three heads are necessary to solve its problems (Although apparently only one head is expected to do the job after the new ceo is hired)? Hardly! Is it an admission that the three are not capable individually to do the job on a temporary basis? Not likely! Or is it because, as I submit, to be ceo right now is not only a more than full time job but one with intense pressure and innumerable headaches - a job that neither Rosen nor his two cohorts want to tackle on their own. In other words they want their play time. They don't want to crimp their time on the links or the courts or wherever they find pleasure. In a nutshell they don't want to spend 60 hours a week exercising the duties of ceo! Can anyone out there tell me honestly that Rosen is the first one in the office in the morning and the last one to go home at night? Go ahead make my day!! If he is, then great and my apologies for criticizing. However, that is how it should be during these times of crisis!
And so shareholders. Some of you can tell me 'till the cows come home all the positives about Mr. Rosen. But please understand that the majority of shareholders have not had the benefit of your experiences and what we see is someone who has been asleep at the wheel. Show us some concrete facts that Mr. Rosen is pulling out the stops and doing everything in his power (including putting in 60+hours/week) to turn this embarassment around. |
