All the King's Horses, and all the King's men..
I suppose its possible to put Humpty together again, but there had to be a long period of recuperation. Too many insiders in this one, too much spending, nice new buildings, staff in and out like a roundabout. I think above all there was a total failure to integrate the purchased businesses and force through the necessary cost savings which make the purchases attractive in the first place. I still don't think this is one company, its got some prima donnas in different market segments.
Still, no company is perfect, and I think this one might have learned that going public forces some discipline and focus on how the business is run and what the results are. The new Coast Guard is nice, particularly if there are follow-on purchases. They need a few more. I wish they would get more out of the non-government side though. Looking for government sponsored purchases is a losing strategy these days. Sure there are some, but the occasional blockbuster means you have to keep an expensive stable of horses through long lead times, expensive sales presentations and tests etc. |
