Frank -
Yes, that was a long post. I agree with many of your comments. Most importantly, I believe that Jodie Glore should be given more than 4 months to complete a turnaround.
Your post helped me to distill a thought that's been knocking around my head.
The thing is this: Kim Edwards did a great job of launching Zip and Jaz, and making the computer buyers of the world aware of them. Basically, he made data storage sexy. While he was at the helm, Iomega created an entire new market segment, dominated it, and reaped the benefit of spectacular growth.
There were two main problems. Costs were too high, and quality was not high enough.
After KE left, the interim management set about dealing with both of those problems. They did an admirable job. Jodie Glore, since taking over as CEO, seems to have continued to work on improving product quality and reducing costs.
Now, as many people here have pointed out, the biggest remaining problem is a lack of revenue growth. Iomega needs to increase the top line. Of course, increasing the top line means staying ahead of the competition.
Well guess what? Jodie Glore knows that. He knew it before he took the job. The rest of management knows it, too. I've seen them deal effectively with costs and quality control. Now, I'm looking forward to watching them deal with improving sales.
They may succeed, and they may fail. You pay your money and you take your chances.
- Allen |
