Comments on: The oracle http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/02/07/the-oracle/ The strategic role of the senior executive Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:35:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jim Stroup http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/02/07/the-oracle/comment-page-1/#comment-3034 Jim Stroup Sat, 09 Feb 2008 13:21:25 +0000 http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/02/07/the-oracle/#comment-3034 Hello Cam, Yes, this is a good point you make: not only does price fluctuation usually not indicate ownership-style activity in the context we mean the term, here, but even more stable, enduring positions don't necessarily mean it, either, given the multiple mechanisms for investing today, for multiple purposes. This is a good catch. A problem remains, though: even if many - or most - owners are inattentive, or just not interested at all, it remains the case that owners are the only legitimate source of corporate direction. So the problem for boards is how to sort that out. Thanks! Hello Cam,

Yes, this is a good point you make: not only does price fluctuation usually not indicate ownership-style activity in the context we mean the term, here, but even more stable, enduring positions don’t necessarily mean it, either, given the multiple mechanisms for investing today, for multiple purposes.

This is a good catch. A problem remains, though: even if many – or most – owners are inattentive, or just not interested at all, it remains the case that owners are the only legitimate source of corporate direction. So the problem for boards is how to sort that out.

Thanks!

]]> By: Cam Beck http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/02/07/the-oracle/comment-page-1/#comment-3027 Cam Beck Fri, 08 Feb 2008 22:46:56 +0000 http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/02/07/the-oracle/#comment-3027 "But an important problem here is that the fluctuations in share price that are perceived as this sort of communication are actually generated by a small percentage of people who may have the least real interest in the company as a business entity." Yes! And as Enron and the Dot-Bust bubble taught us, even they can be fooled some of the time. As you mentioned before, the increasing adoption of 401(k) accounts is one of the things that has contributed to the divorce of ownership and interest in the company's policies. “But an important problem here is that the fluctuations in share price that are perceived as this sort of communication are actually generated by a small percentage of people who may have the least real interest in the company as a business entity.”

Yes! And as Enron and the Dot-Bust bubble taught us, even they can be fooled some of the time.

As you mentioned before, the increasing adoption of 401(k) accounts is one of the things that has contributed to the divorce of ownership and interest in the company’s policies.

]]> By: Corporate governance must be grounded in ownership despite the difficulties | Managing Leadership http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/02/07/the-oracle/comment-page-1/#comment-3012 Corporate governance must be grounded in ownership despite the difficulties | Managing Leadership Fri, 08 Feb 2008 12:10:28 +0000 http://managingleadership.com/blog/2008/02/07/the-oracle/#comment-3012 [...] Over the past few days we’ve seen how difficult it can be to identify who really owns today’s publicly-held and traded companies, what they truly want from that ownership, and how they actually communicate that intent and interest. It must be said that, for those of us who argue that the owner’s rights must be given active primacy in the scales of power for corporate governance to function properly, the results of our review do not bode well for that actually happening. [...] [...] Over the past few days we’ve seen how difficult it can be to identify who really owns today’s publicly-held and traded companies, what they truly want from that ownership, and how they actually communicate that intent and interest. It must be said that, for those of us who argue that the owner’s rights must be given active primacy in the scales of power for corporate governance to function properly, the results of our review do not bode well for that actually happening. [...]

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