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[iski]

https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2019/10/25/harley-davidson-removes-president-of-global-brand.amp.html?fbclid=IwAR3lb3cxd2e5lBPKNwr6wg8iXrT4DCNuMOxRig4PyvuW1DrMea0ezKiKZkQ

Harley-Davidson removes president of global brand development Neil Grimmer

"His departure comes after an internal inquiry along with a third-party investigation into concerns that his judgement and conduct as a senior leader did not align with our culture and the values we expect all our employees to demonstrate," a Harley-Davidson spokesperson said via email.

"Grimmer had most recently worked as CEO of Habit, a personalized nutrition life science company he had founded. Grimmer was a direct report to Levatich, and his duties ranged from product planning, marketing and retail to communications."

"Based upon our internal inquiry along with the findings of this third-party investigation, we determined that Mr. Grimmer leaving Harley-Davidson was the appropriate course of action. Harley-Davidson takes all matters related to workplace conduct and our Valued Behaviors very seriously. All Harley-Davidson employees, regardless of level, are expected to follow our Code of Business Conduct and Valued Behaviors," a Harley-Davidson spokesperson said via email.

[Phreakyz]

Well he sure didn't last very long!

[Ironhorse]

His judgement and conduct as a senior leader did not align with our culture and the values we expect all our employees to demonstrate.
All Harley-Davidson employees, regardless of level, are expected to follow our Code of Business Conduct and Valued Behaviors.

Sounds like good reasons.

[bbrown]

Must have been something pretty bad. 

[naitram]

maybe a case of #metoo

[JCZ]

maybe a case of #metoo

That was my first thought.  Sounds like it was multiple complaints for the same type of behavior.

[RoadTrip]

Perhaps they found out he once owned a BMW K1600 and a GoldWing...or, worse yet, was shopping for one.

[RivRaptor]

Someone had to pay for the Livewire disastor!

[ultrarider123]

Grimmer was caught with his hand in the cookie jar....

get it?

[iski]

Grimmer was caught with his hand in the cookie jar....

get it?

 

[charles05663]

https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2019/10/25/harley-davidson-removes-president-of-global-brand.amp.html?fbclid=IwAR3lb3cxd2e5lBPKNwr6wg8iXrT4DCNuMOxRig4PyvuW1DrMea0ezKiKZkQ

Harley-Davidson removes president of global brand development Neil Grimmer
...

"Grimmer had most recently worked as CEO of Habit, a personalized nutrition life science company he had founded. Grimmer was a direct report to Levatich, and his duties ranged from product planning, marketing and retail to communications."

...

I am sure running a "personalized nutrition life science company" made him fully qualified to sell motorcycles.

When is HD going to return to their roots and bring in real motorcycle lovers.
 

[mark]

Is this the guy HD recently hired that at one point worked for a soup company? 

[iski]

Is this the guy HD recently hired that at one point worked for a soup company?

Yes he sold his organic baby food company to Campbell Soup. His background includes Cliff Bar, that organic baby food company, a human food for pets company, and most recently a personalized nutrition company.  Of course he was considered with his background to be a perfect match for the leading manufacturer of heavyweight motorcycles in the world. Am guessing he was working on a line of HD Syn 3 organic soup that did not turn out as well as expected.

HD apparently is managed by a confederation of dunces, and as such they seem to be attracting more of the same.

[mark]

Yes he sold his organic baby food company to Campbell Soup. His background includes Cliff Bar, that organic baby food company, a human food for pets company, and most recently a personalized nutrition company.  Of course he was considered with his background to be a perfect match for the leading manufacturer of heavyweight motorcycles in the world. Am guessing he was working on a line of HD Syn 3 organic soup that did not turn out as well as expected.

HD apparently is managed by a confederation of dunces, and as such they seem to be attracting more of the same.

I agree.  You'd think when a multi-billion dollar MC company needs to fill a top management position, they'd conduct a world-wide search...and a food guy wouldn't be their pick.   

[iski]

I agree.  You'd think when a multi-billion dollar MC company needs to fill a top management position, they'd conduct a world-wide search...and a food guy wouldn't be their pick.   

Sometimes experience in another industry is good, other times it is not.  I worked in the food business for almost 40 years.  Some of the very worst & disastrous management decisions were made by upper management with no food back ground.  Usually after the damage was done they would move on to their next victim company, occasionally they lasted long enough to get fired.  But the damage was done and the customers were already gone.

My guess is this Grimmer guy was some misguided pipe dream by HD to attract millennial customers.  Trouble is, his replacement could be even worse.

[harleychef2011]

Y'all seem to be short sighted...

Look at the task of the position... "Global Brand Management".  His job isn't to build or sell motorcycles or be a "biker"...his job was to manage the brand.  Take a guy who "built" several brands into internationally known and successful brand recognition... seems perfect for the job.  I'd want a guy like that in my corner.

Now vetting personality and being a douche... different story.  That's bad on the MoCo leadership.  Behavior in a company culture is just as vital as talent.

 

[iski]

No doubt Grimmer looked to be the best guy to build Harley into a more well known nutritious and healthful soup and/or baby food brand worldwide. 

 

To build a brand it helps to understand what that brand is, was, & it's potential.  Grimmer understood nutritious and healthful soup.  I saw guys like this wreck companies.  They used wonderful charts & graphs & Powerpoints & the most modern of business methodologies to do so, but they did not have a damn clue about the actual company they were working for.  Some management skills are transferable across industries, have seen that as well.  But that requires intellect as well as understanding - 2 qualities that are almost impossible to learn but can be mimed rather well.

[Para Bellum]

Y'all seem to be short sighted...

That could be, but what depth of HD product knowledge did he have?  Never saw anything to indicate he knew Harley culture or products...yet something he did wasn't fitting in well at HD.  Of course, that might even be due to HD being run by a bunch of snowflakes now.

[scottt]

Have never understood why companies hire people without any experience in the industry they are stepping into?

The hire generally has "the look". Appears to be a CEO or similar look, they have a big degree and talk real good. They impress the company CEO and board.

One of my past experiences was with a Vice President that wore a pin that said "break it". We were doing well, he decided we had to "break it" start new to move to a new level.

He broke it alright, business dropped dramatically, never recovered, lotta employees lost jobs, he was finally fired. It was a huge loose, loose.

The only way to get employee buyin is to understand them, know the product and customer. Work with your team to achieve goals. Thats how the original take over team at Harley grew the company after buying from AMF. Hopefully they figure it out. Willie G understood the Harley buyer, the motorcycle market. He visited dealerships in the early 90's, talked to dealers and customers. He signed owners manuals, he did one for me. I loved that man.



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[mark]

scottt, I agree.  This guy had no experience even related to motorcycles, not even experience marketing anything mechanical.  Soup and cereal bars seemed to be his forte.  It would be like hiring a senior MoCo executive to be the Global Brand Manager for Merle Norman (that's a makeup company for all you knuckle draggers).

[ultrarider123]

It would be like hiring a senior MoCo executive to be the Global Brand Manager for Merle Norman (that's a makeup company for all you knuckle draggers).

Well, that could be an interesting business model change

[bbrown]

I wonder if he was a avid motorcycle enthusiast??

[mark]

I wonder if he was a avid motorcycle enthusiast??

Not anymore...