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In the Forum:
Look in the mirror
Thursday, 30-Sep-1999 10:07 AM
One of the first things we need to do is
STOP laundering our (Ocean Spray) problems for the world (especially our
direct competitors) to see on this site. Do the New England Patriots or
Green Bay Packers send their "gameplan" to the opposition
every week? Do you find Pepsi, Coke, P&G, Northland, Motts, Welchs,
Cadbury beat up their own initiatives, strategies, tactics etc on the
web for us to pick apart and laugh at? If so, where can we find it? Of
course Hal Brown would like you (and everyone else) to ignore this
posting, since this "board" is his claim to fame... and all it
really has turned into, is a gossip column primarily talking about OS
problems, concerns, short comings etc... Think about it... If I were
Northland, Decas, etc, I would "hit" this board daily just to
laugh at the ignorance (several employees and or owners) show, by
publicly broadcasting/sharing our faults... We looked for the
enemies...and guess what? They're in the mirror! Hey Mr. B., Mr.
G. and Ms R. now its your turn to say that I'm opposed to "open
communication and free speech" and that the reason we are having
problems is because of people like me... Unsigned
--
Responses to 9/30/99
Forum posting
from the image in the mirror:
I did look in the mirror and have posted items here before. You are
certinaly free to post your feelings also and may have a good point. I
felt all alone in this crisis until I found this board and was able to
vent some of my anger. Immediately I heard from Hal with a personal
message which made me realize that while my neighbor, Don Hatton,
won't give me any facts, Hal and his wife were glad to do so. As a
small part owner of OS, I need good, factual information to help in
decision making. Hal has prvided that, as have other growers who
emailed me personally. I do not intend to be a sheep lead to
slaughter, I will fight back and this is a place where I can do so. My
best to you and yours.
John Gibson
As you hinted... Hal is your buddy therefore I
assume you will continue to launder your feelings here. Its your
choice...
unsigned
The reason people are "laundering"
Ocean Spray's problems on this site is that the internal channels for
grower input are a sure route for suggestions to fall down the memory
hole and be lost forever. Do "Pepsi, Coke, P&G,
Northland" etc. get "picked apart?" The answer is
"Yes," every day. The venues are THE PRESS, internet message
boards and the newsletters and reports of numerous professional
analysts. Publicly traded corporations like the ones you mentioned are
owned predominantly by professional investors like pension funds,
mutual funds and insurance companies who expect and demand
businesslike performance from the executives who run the corporations.
Those professional investors are themselves answerable to their own
shareholders. Woe to any executives who make false promises, fail to
meet sales targets or stonewall stockholders with pertinent questions.
In addition, at most publicly traded companies, key executives own
stock or stock options that give them incentives parallel to that of
the other stockholders. Public companies, in short, have a chain of
accountability that drives performance, requires broad-based,
intelligent input and prevents, for the most part, management running
the place for their own benefit at the expense of the owners. Private
companies like Ocean Spray, in theory, can duplicate the
accountability and performance standards of major corporations, but
since Thorkilsen retired, Ocean Spray clearly has not. It has
developed a corporate culture where management is running the place
for its own benefit and shareholders are being stiffed, not only on
profits, but also on information, legitimate input and future
prospects for success. When a private company is run like a secret
society for the benefit of management, woe to the owners!
The public scrutiny on Coke, Pepsi, etc. is a BENEFIT to stockholders.
For example, one of the biggest mistakes Coke ever made, the
introduction of "New Coke," was largely set right by an
outpouring of loyalty by Coke consumers who preferred the traditional
flavor of "Classic Coke." The people who were paying for the
product also saved the company by giving them billions of dollars
worth of free advice in the popular press. Compare that to the way in
which Wellfleet Farms was introduced and later dropped.
Do sports teams send gameplans to the opposition? Not in the sense of
announcing that the next play will be a handoff to the fullback, but
they certainly announce overall strategy. Baseball teams announce the
next game's starting pitcher. It's all over the sports pages when
teams annnounce such-and-such a draft pick or trade in order to beef
up the backfield, bullpen, etc. and they announce how much they're
going to pay, and why they think it's worth it.
Do I think you are opposed to "free speech?" No I do not,
but I think you are overly fearful of exchanging ideas. A free
exchange of ideas stimulates thought; makes us smarter; helps us make
better decisions. Secrecy at Ocean Spray, in addition to permitting
irresponsible treatment of grower/shareholders, is like a codependent
family enabling a drunk -- if Junior runs Granma's errands at three
different liquor stores and we hide her empty gin bottles in the
woods, then nobody will know there's a boozehound in the house. What
is more likely to make Granma straighten out -- hiding the truth from
the garbageman, or getting her into rehab?
And no, I don't think people like you are "the cause of our
problems." But people who won't sign messages are not improving
accountability. A relative handful of self-serving executives refusing
all input have had their chance and failed. We have a great brand
name, high-quality product line and unrealized potential, but these
assets are being abused and devalued because insiders are afraid or
unwilling to adapt to reality. It's going to take people with names
coming forward with well-thought out suggestions to bring the needed
changes. If we owners, with everything at stake, don't care enough to
move this company ahead, we can't expect anyone else to do it for us.
Tom Gelsthorpe
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