pat you don't have to apologize. NN should have hired you as their PR and to run
the company's morale dept. and the " how to get things done " dept.
Unfortunately I believe that TM has run this co a little like " an Englishman's hobby ",
where you spend endless hours in the garden gardening roses oblivious to time and obligations.
Obligations such as those to your shareholders not just your birthplace and workplace, hotels, and
various other social activities. This is the primary responsibility of the CEO of a publicly traded co .
Other people have entrusted him with their hard earned earnings with
the understanding of seeing the money grow.
TM has not delivered to that account.
Unless he moves fast to resolve these issues he will loose his most loyal supporters.
I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all the great info you provided this thread
and hope that you continue to do so,
TA
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To: len grasso who wrote (14286)
From: pat mudge
Wednesday, Nov 3 1999 9:31PM ET
Reply # of 14315
He presided at Unisys, Compaq and now Newbridge.
He did not preside at Unisys nor Compaq and at Newbridge he presided with handcuffs.
Unfortunately Alan will be the scapegoat for every fault the company has and those who stay on will perpetrate the myth because of their loyalty to TM. That's okay if it gives
comfort, but if the company's destroyed in the process, what's gained?
There were mistakes made on both sides but don't forget Alan took over a failing company and was terminated when he didn't turn it around in 18 months. Someone had to
take the rap and he was the obvious choice.
Terry's a born leader with enormous charisma and he can rally the troops like few others. If I were he, I'd hire a CFO from hell and give him absolute power over everything I did
--- including affiliates, personal investments, golf courses, hotels, jets, charitable causes, and every expenditure under the sun. I'd hire this guy's brother to run operations ---
with equal powers. And another brother to keep track of orders and sales. Clearly, someone can't count.
I've never run a company in my life, so you can take all these suggestions with a grain of salt. But since I'm started, I'll continue. If I were he, I'd invent some way to get
honest feedback from my employees. Not praise --- that comes without asking --- but the dirt. It could be done anonymously, but it would be required. There are a lot of
Emperors running around without clothes simply because no one has the courage to speak the truth. I'd fire half my board and bring in outsiders with ruthless track records.
No yes men. No yes women. Oh, forget the women --- when hell freezes. . .
If I were an employee, I'd demand the company regain respect on Wall Street. I'd demand that realistic expectations be set and be met. I don't know how you do this, but
there has to be a way to know what the hell's going on before the sky falls in. Were salesmen telling Alan they had XYZ numbers just to make him happy? Were they bringing
in orders taken at gunpoint that were later cancelled? Was everyone smoking something?????
And going further back, who let the company get so far down the wrong path before they decided all-ATM wasn't the way the world was going? Why didn't someone stop that
train before it went so far? Was it hubris? If so, will it happen again?
If this were a war, the general in charge would bring out a map and go over the battle step by step. Look, guys, we lost 100 men in that last skirmish. We did this this this
and this, and we're not going to do that again. Mistake by painful mistake the analysis would be done. Will TM do that? Will he drag out UB Networks and Research &
Development and excesses with affiliates and a long list of other sins and see what can be learned?
The company has some fantastic technology --- the 50/320, DSL, LMDS --- and equally fantastic people --- in part (maybe large part) because of Alan's leadership. The
company's balance sheet is respectable, the affiliate program has been cleaned up (and a few made accountable for expenses), Asian operations are more efficient, a
strategic acquisition has been initiated (and now put in jeopardy), and key managers appointed (some from outside, some from within) who can be credited with many of the
improvements.
I'm on a roll, so hold on. . .
I know there were problems. Rome wasn't built in a day. Estimating earnings and keeping expectations in line was the killer. And there are no excuses that will wash. Terry
was never good at it and clearly, Alan wasn't either.
But when you stand back and realize how devastating a management shake-up is at this point, you have to wonder if it was the right action. I honestly don't know. I don't
think anyone on the outside has enough information to make that call.
At this point everything is hindsight. If the quarter had come in on target, the bears would have gone back to their caves and all their prognostications forgotten. As it is, the
quarter didn't come in and even if the company should eventually pull its way out, it won't change the present. Right now the longs are wrong. A painful truth.
I have lots of unanswered questions. What exactly went wrong? Product transition? Vexatious orders and receivables? Expenses out of line? Missed contracts?
And if I were still a shareholder on November 18 I'd ask some hard questions. I'd grill TM on every contract every announced. I'd want to know its status and if it's likely to
change. Especially US contracts. I'd be wary of generalizations. I'd want an explanation for the quarter's shortfall and I wouldn't accept easy answers.
And, finally, I'd ask TM if Newbridge is his hobby or if it's a public company with shareholders who deserve accountability.
I have a lot of respect for Terry and enormous respect for Alan. But I don't respect the actions that resulted in this week's tragedy.
My only regret is that anyone might have lost money because I believed Newbridge could be great. For that I deeply apologize.
Regards,
Pat
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