Being organized and focused in your approach to presentations will help you get your point across much more effectively. The automakers request for an immediate $25 billion loan from the $700 billion financial bailout money isn't going well. Why? They don't appear to have their act together. Yes, GM took out a full-page ad in the Detroit dailies – and possibly other papers — detailing cost-cutting actions and including a Web site (gmfactsandfiction.com). That was a good move.
Yet, after reading today's Detroit News, it looks like they all have egg on their face. The CEOs are raking in millions in pay and bonuses, and took their private jets to Washington D.C.. Couldn't they have at least rode together in one private jet? This is not really the point though. My boyfriend works at a GM transmission plant. To his credit, he could articulate why GM needed a bridge loan far better than the head of the company.
My boyfriend rattled off all the jobs that would be affected. He noted that well-paid workers buy decent houses, send their kids to college, go out to eat, go on vacations and spend their money in ways that help other sectors of the economy. They are good consumers. Also, their solid health care benefits have helped southeast Michigan's health care system grow bigger and stronger. By paying autoworkers decent wages: $26 or more an hour vs. $15 an hour, it also brings up the pay of other non-union workers. Without an industrial base in the U.S., who will make the tanks if we need to go to war with a bigger power? Should we outsource that job to China? Perhaps the auto execs should have brought some of the autoworkers to D.C. with them to explain the need.
Interestingly, Maryann Keller, an auto analyst, noted that when lee Iacocca went to Washington D.C. in 1979 to save Chrysler from bankruptcy, he had a plan. He described how the loan would work for the company and how it would be paid back.
While I believe there is definitely a need for a bridge loan to the Big 3, the CEOs should have done their homework in articulating their plan. It starts with organization and focus. Leave out the arrogance.
