(UPDATED, approx. 12:45 p.m. 3-19-07: See end of post.)
Sunday’s Toledo Blade Business Section has a great story about a cat fight going on at Tecumseh Products, a Fortune 1000 company based in Tecumseh, Mich.
Essentially, the Herrick family (who started Tecumseh Products and still have a good deal of say) doesn’t like what the board and a consulting firm (AlixPartners) are trying to do: take control of the the company. Tecumseh is a old U.S. industrial manufacturer of engines, compressors and related items, and employs 19,000 people (about 70 percent of them outside the U.S., according to the Blade article).
The power struggle is over financial trouble for Tecumseh in recent years, and differing opinions as to who should run the company to try to steer it toward better times.
All in all, it sounds like good corporate drama. But, a couple items caught my eye. According to the article:
“Mr. Herrick has blamed the company’s problems, including financing issues that some feared could push it into bankruptcy, on globalization and competition from cheap foreign imports.”
It sounds as if Mr. Herrick is blaming everyone else for the company’s problems. Wah. Wah. Wah. What U.S. manufacturers need to do is stop complaining about globalization, and compete where we have an advantage: technology and innovation. Keep evolving our products to do more. Help customers improve their productivity by designing and building better machines and products.
A couple quote outs the Blade used (in print) made me laugh and shake my head:
“The record will show that Tecumseh’s financial position - largely as a result of Todd Herrick’s poor leadership - has greatly deteriorated,” lawyers for the board wrote last week in an initial response to the lawsuit.
Todd Herrick, who succeeded his father as CEO in 1986, declined an interview request. But in a written statement, he said, “My actions have always been guided by serving in the best interest of the company.”
Okay, so the board’s lawyers blame former CEO/Chairman Todd Herrick for Tecumseh’s financial problems.
And, does Mr. Herrick directly address the board’s statement with any evidence or comment to refute it? No. He simply states that his actions “have always been . . . in the best interest of the company.”
Though sincere, his actions can still be wrong! That was a pretty piss-poor response.
Now, I don’t want to be taking sides in the Tecumseh Products corporate squabbles as I’ve not explored who is right and who is wrong (though I’m sure there’s blame on both sides, as that’s usually the case). But, I do know the PR counsel for Tecumseh and the attitude of the company — if the blame-game is prevalent — needs to change or the company will continue to see some rocky times ahead.
For good manufacturing comment, see the ShopFloor blog by the National Association of Manufacturers. (No, that’s not a commercial for NAM. Just, if you’ve read this far, you likely have some interest in manufacturing, and you’d do well to check out the NAM blog.)
– Mike
Despite what was noted in the Blade story regarding Tecumseh’s apparent attitude toward media — He (Todd Herrick) rarely granted media interviews. In 1995, the firm’s then-advertising director said of the news media: “We hate them.” — it does seem to somewhat monitor online media as I’ve had five visits from the company’s IP address as of this update.
Now, so it doesn’t appear that I’m bashing Tecumseh Products, the Herrick family, again as the Blade story pointed out (toward middle of story), does a great deal of good through its Herrick Foundation (see #27 in the linked pdf).
