Have you seen “Undercover Bosses” on Channel 4 ? (9pm Thursdays)
In the series a number of company Executives go “undercover” to see how their business really works.
Last week it was David Clarke’s turn. David is the C.E.O of Hotel chain “Best Western” which doesn’t actually own any hotels but acts as an “umbrella brand” and booking agent.
David explained to his rather bemused board that he was going undercover for 5 days and would report his findings on his return.
David grew a beard and assumed an alternate identity.
He needn’t have bothered really because, despite a 1 million pounds marketing campaign, none of the staff had any clue what Best Western did or who they were.
David met a number of staff most of whom were extremely dedicated despite having to work extra hours unpaid and generally receiving just above minimum wage.
The funniest was the maintenance guy who clearly didn’t give a sh*t !
“Aren’t we going to fix that properly” asked David. “Nahh we’ll just move it to another room” – so that when the Best Western Inspector returned and checked the same room the offending item would be elsewhere and replaced by one from another room. Other shenanigans involved changing the room numbers on the Inspector’s report to confuse him on his return.
David, quite understandably, was not amused.
David returned to the boardroom to announce his findings – The Marketing Director was visibly shocked to hear that the advertising campaign had been particularly ineffective.
At the end of the show David anounced (in Secret Millionaire style) his true identify to the staff he had met during the show.
One Lady had worked for Best Western for 20 years. She earned around 6 pound per hour as a Cleaning Team Leader and regularly worked well over her standard shift for no extra recompense. During the show it transpired that her Son had spent some considerable time in Great Ormond Street Childrens hospital. Consequently David, in best philanthropist style, got out his chequebook. The Cleaner’s lip trembled and a loose tear rolled down her face as he wrote out a cheque for…….two and a half thousand pounds.
Best Western is part of the Interchange & Consort Hotels Group Ltd which is a private limited company and as such its accounts are not readily available in the public sphere in the same way that a PLC’s are. It is however one of the largest hotel chains in the Western world. One would have thought that a more generous donation would have been in order from such a “prestigious” organization rather than this rather tawdry sum.
The program highlighted a number of issues prevalent in many companies today:-
- A boardroom in the bunker mentality – completely out of touch with it’s own workforce and the issues it faces on a daily basis.
- A CEO living in a “bubble of bullshit” provided by his fellow Directors.
- Workers being exploited on minimum wage and working excessive hours.
- Workers with such dedication compared to their highly numerated counterparts in the boardroom it makes you seeth.
There is an old Management technique called “Management by walking around” which is exactly what it says on the tin.
Executives need to extract their heads from their own orifices and get out there on the shop floor and find out what the hell’s going on in their own organizations. Get out there and talk but more importantly listen to your own workers.
Whilst the football may not have lived up to the hype so far we have still seen a couple of excellent team performances. So what is it that makes for a 
Recent data from the IMF supports the view that China and Africa are becoming increasingly entwined as trading partners as China exploits the vast mineral and material wealth of the African continent in return for Capital Investment, machinery and technological know how.
Whilst the U.S and Europe have been mired in recession the Chinese rescue package has ensured that growth in that country continues at a rate of around 10%.
We are conditioned to fear failure. We must succeed at all costs. Throughout our schooling we are expected to pass our exams with flying colours and to fail is to be labelled as useless.
The planes are flying again over Europe as the restrictions imposed due to the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud have been lifted. But are the scenes experienced over the last few days a bleak glimpse into our collective futures ?
1) Oil is like any other commodity and as demand exceeds supply price will increase. This was seen before the financial crash of 2008 when Oil peaked at $147 per barrell. It is current around $82 per barrell.
Today in the UK all flights are grounded as a dark cloud spreads across the evening sky blotting out the light. We’re not talking about the Ash cloud eminating from an Icelandic volcanoe but the dark cloud of our first Television debate involving the Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Leader of the opposition David Cameron and another Public schoolboy representing the Lib Dems.
inform debate. In fact it will further stifle true discussion and replace it with endless microscopic analysis of our leaders “performance”, mannerisms and ticks.
If it looks like a turd & smells like a turd…
Sunday, July 25th, 2010Libyans celebrate the return of Megrahi
As the row over the release of convicted Libyan Terrorist Abdel Baset al-Megrahi rumbles on oil giant B.P is preparing to commence drilling off the Libyan coast in waters slightly deeper than those which have been so grossly polluted in the Gulf of Mexico.
Fueling the controversy this weekend it was reported by the Financial Times that “Michel Williams told a U.S government investigator that an important alarm, which could have detected the build up of natural gas, was disarmed so as not to wake people up at night”
In 2007 B.P signed a $900 million deal with the Libyan government allowing it to begin exploration in Libyan waters.
Megrahi was released in August 2009 on compassionate grounds by the Scottish Government having being convicted in 2001 for the bombing of PAN AM flight 103 in 1988 and the murder of 270 people.
He was given only 3 months to live before release but has made a remarkable recovery since returning to Libya, it is rumoured that he has taken up Highland dancing with gusto and is often spotted out and about wearing a kilt.
Interestingly Megrahi abandoned an appeal which would have disclosed a lot of evidence to the public shortly before his release on compassionate grounds.
The debate about whether there is any connection between the release of Abdel Based al-Megrahi and the commercial deals struck between Libya, B.P and the U.K Government will rumble on but……..
If it looks like a turd and smells like a turd……………………..
chris@projectsguru.co.uk
www.projectsguru.co.uk
Tags: Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, B.P, business, democratic debate, Libya, Oil, politics, social commentary, U.S.A
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