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[iski]

Iski, there are myriad ways to reduce costs and improve efficiencies WITHOUT degrading quality or customer service.  Wandell and H-D just did as they always do, they took the easy way that punishes employees, suppliers, and customers.  I don't expect them to not make profits.  I do expect them to treat the customers and employees right.  Both can be achieved if you're willing to work at it.

Jerry

Jerry of course there are different ways to accomplish cost reductions.  HD was stuck with poor efficiencies compounded by higher labor costs due to union contracts.  Wandell was bought in to realign the company's financials, is no surprise how that was accomplished.  People lost jobs, feelings were hurt, investors were pleased.  Rinse, repeat. 

My opinion of Harley on customer service is: spotty.  In most cases I have managed, sometimes with effort, to get issues resolved satisfactorily.  Others have not.  My opinion of Harley quality is the bikes have a good appearance & are so-so as to performance, modifications by owners needed on the latter.  Certain other brands to me look like chit but run like scalded dogs out of the box, nimbly.  My expectations are not high for HD - a comfortable cruiser that gets me there but it ain't no 180 mph rice rocket.  Imn my 20s would not have owned one.  Things change.

As to employees - maybe once upon a time corporations had a soul.  I think that is a myth mostly.  Sure indivdually, smaller sized companies can care for employees ok, depending on the owner.  Multi billion $ publicly traded companies?  Some try to hype it, & even have free chocolate chip cookies in breakrooms.  Clever BS.  But when it gets down to brass tacks they make profit or cease to exist.  Not saying I think that is right or wrong. 45 years working in various busineses changed my expectations as to company behaviors.  Call me a cynic.  Years ago it seemed better, I liked it better. Will not return to that, my opinion.  Nowadays, with HD, I do not see anything retro much except for some of their technology & appearance.  Everything changes.


Anyway, will also take this opportunity to say I enjoy your posts.  You are informative, knowledgeable, & cut through the BS.  If you ran HD QA things would be different.

[sadunbar]

Iski, there are myriad ways to reduce costs and improve efficiencies WITHOUT degrading quality or customer service.  Wandell and H-D just did as they always do, they took the easy way that punishes employees, suppliers, and customers.  I don't expect them to not make profits.  I do expect them to treat the customers and employees right.  Both can be achieved if you're willing to work at it.

Jerry

This will be long winded, but I am sitting in a recliner recovering from a surgical procedure and have nothing better to do...      You are exactly right, Jerry.  It's the responsibility of the Board of Directors, the CEO, the managers, the employees and everyone else employed by any company to make a profit.  It is also their job to produce a quality product and provide satisfactory customer service, but make no mistake, profitability trumps all else, especially in public companies.  And not just profit, but a specific level of profit.  No doubt the boards expectations for Mr. Wandell included things like the restructuring of facilities, manufacturing processes, materials management, labor contracts and even labor philosophy in general.  Given Mr. Wandell's previous accomplishments, I suspect the board had a reasonable idea of the methods he might use to achieve these goals.  And I suspect, like most companies, the measurables of the results of these initiatives were many, but the goal that mattered the most was to meet the shareholders expectation of profit.   However, if achieving profitability goals happens without maintaining (or improving) things like quality, on time delivery and customer service, the results will be short lived for any company.  Harley Davidson has a huge advantage over many companies - an incredibly loyal following that practically worships the lifestyle and product.  Treating shareholders, employees, suppliers and customers fairly while achieving profitability goals is the recipe for continuation of the company's long term success.  My opinion as both a long term customer and shareholder of the MOCO, is quality and customer service has declined during the implementation of the restructuring initiated by Mr. Wandell.  And it's also my opinion that Mr. Wandell exited the company before the long term effects of his initiatives have fully occurred.  My hope is Mr. Wandell's replacement can correct the quality and customer service decline, while maintaining profitability for the company, because I would like to continue to be both a buyer of the product and shareholder of the company.  I say these things as the very disappointed owner of a 2007 SEUC.  I say these things as someone who purchased a new Harley Davidson Motorcycle at least every two or three years for many years up until the purchase of my 2007 SEUC, including a total of 5 CVO's.  I have not purchased a new Harley Davidson motorcycle since 2007, and currently have no plans to do so.  And I say these things as someone who for many years had bottom line P/L responsibility for one of the largest privately held (100+ year old) manufacturing companies in the country, and as someone who also (with partnership) owned and managed a very successful research and development/manufacturing company.  My feelings and my opinions, nothing else...   

[grc]

I've also spent many years in management, although not at the executive or CEO levels, so I've seen many different methods used to achieve the goals Harley set.  I've worked under the worst of the "cut everything and to hell with everyone but me" types, like Jacque Nasser for instance.  It took Ford a decade to recover from that fiasco.  But I also worked under real managers who could get the results without alienating everyone in the process.  One analogy I like involves waging war.  One general chooses to use precision strikes to take key locations with a minimum of collateral damage.  Another general, possibly less bright, just chooses the much simpler scorched earth method, obliterating everything in his path quickly so he can get back to his golf game.  We have the same thing going on in the corporate world these days, and unfortunately it seems the scorched earth crowd is outnumbering the other folks.  It will eventually catch up to everyone, but only those on the lower rungs will actually suffer.

Jerry