EditorialThe future must be now 7/30/99 One reason public corporate boards hire new CEOs who aren't prepared to lead a company through and out of a crisis is that these boards tend to be weighted in composition toward retired chief executives. Often these executives unconsciously favor applicants who are like themselves and not up to the task of strategic planning for a future very different from the era during which they presided over a company. Ocean Spray's board, composed as it is, exclusively of successful cranberry growers, doesn't have that problem, but they are human beings and are just as prone to unconsciously selecting someone they're comfortable with rather than someone with the skills to lead the cooperative into the 21st century. A 1997 article in Industry Week about selecting CEOs bluntly states: "board members lack the skills and knowledge necessary to make sound and savvy selection and development decisions." The authors of the article state that few corporations even have a director with expertise in management development, organizational design, and strategic change management. Boards frequently hire outside firms to conduct searches for likely candidates, but ultimately make the final decision themselves. In point of fact, Ocean Spray directors couldn't sort through and rank the resumes from scores of applicants for the position without hiring outside help. But if the past is prolog, those who depend on cranberries to earn a living should give pause. Ocean Spray's board should study Dr. James Tillotson's article "Juices in the 21st Century: A Futuristic Vision of the Global Fruit & Vegetable juice Industry" (below), and hire a CEO with true "vision". Otherwise, they may so focus on regaining market share lost to Northland and other independents that they will miss the boat sailing into the millennium. In fact, to spend any of the grower's dwindling treasure on regaining market share is counterproductive. Ocean Spray will either lead the cranberry industry into the future by opening new markets, or through it's preoccupation with brand protection, and its use of bully tactics against companies that it perceives as a threat, will sink the entire industry. Is the cooperative up to the task to break into emerging markets alone? Can a CEO be found with a stellar track record who wants to leave corporate America and lead a cooperative like Ocean Spray into emerging markets? The Board of Directors of Ocean Spray must seriously consider the two options to going it alone. One is "going public" with all or part of the company. This is a tempting option for directors who don't want to relinquish total control. The other is being acquired by a corporation like Pepsico, which has the ability to assure that ten or twenty years from now the entire world will be drinking not just orange juice, but cranberry juice products as well. The Board must do this now, not next week or next month. Because the Ocean Spray board is composed of fellow farmers, they cannot in good conscience allow statements like ''.... speculation about Pepsico is inaccurate...we look at companies from time to time, companies look at us. But we're moving forward as Ocean Spray.'' (Chris Phillips, in The Boston Globe) to represent cooperative planning. Whatever strategic advantage may come from withholding information from grower/ owners should be carefully weighed against the consequences with the grower / owners. Who can forget the annual meeting a mere six months ago? The growers leaving on a high after hearing the rosy predictions for the future. They returned home to the news that prices were dropping precipitously. Cranberry farmers economic survival depends on one simple law of economics: supply and demand. Again, as Tillotson points out, the demand will be there for those companies with the vision to successfully market to the world. To paraphrase a quote from the movie "Field of Dreams", if we grown them, they will drink.
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