Marcela's Musing

Thanks for noticing the little people, WSJ! From today's issue:

While some may say Mr. Kilts, 56 years old deserves every penny for turning Gillette around and adding billions in shareholder value, his big payday after just four years is spotlighting some longstanding issues about CEO pay in general: Are top executives sometimes motivated to do mergers, at least in part, by personal gain? And is it right for the top people to walk away with megamillions while thousands lose their jobs in post-merger downsizing? P & G and Gillette have said 6,000 jobs are likely to be cut in the combined company...Mitchell marks, a San Fransisco strategy consultant says many "people see M& A as a game and as a way to buttress their own wealth and their own portfolio."He dislikes the trend, because he says it demoralizes employees: "People think they are joining a company for the long haul and boom, the rug is pulled out from under them because the CEO wants a quick payday."

Finally, someone who acknowledges the ethics of what's going on. I heard with the ezGov layoffs, they even got rid of the receptionists that answered the phones and greeted people as they came in. What's life like for the people staying behind? I'm reading The Art of Innovation about Ideo's processes and how they should have comfortable environment and free to roam office space that promotes creativity but when it comes down to that, it's such a luxury and most businesses could care less about the comfort or feelings of their employees.