Even Less Gloom?

Bass is a bean-counter, NOT a skilled public speaker

Why do you say he's a bean-counter? Does he have an accountancy
background, as opposed to the engineering one that Mr Boykin cites. Or
do you simply assume that anyone running a corporation must be a bean-
counter?

Although he is an engineer, Mr. Bass' background at Sony Corp. and
General Electric is managerial. It is well known that he was brought
into Piper to "slash & burn" in order to save the company.

From my corporate days in the newspaper world, we had a name for guys
like him: "hit man". These guys are brought in to do whatever it
takes to save the company, and bad things happen in his wake. (If
you're an employee; if you're an investor, he's a savior.)

Mind you, I'm not averse to ANY of this. I fully understand what it
means to run a company, and that Piper needed to be saved. If
building bizjets (or microwave ovens, for that matter) is the way out
of bankruptcy, so be it.

But then don't come to a gathering of piston single owners (I.E.: The
Cherokee Pilots Association annual convention), and trumpet the fact
that we attendees are no longer "Job One" in the company. It was in
poor taste, and made a lot of people angry -- which I'm sure was NOT
the impression Bass (or Dennis Boykin) wanted.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On 6/21/2007 10:39:47 PM, Jim Logajan wrote:

1) The quoted text appears to be the work of Dennis B. Boykin IV, not Mike
Granby. So who really authored this and why wasn't it originally addressed
to the forum on which Jay posted?

No offense intended, but I had no problem immediately detecting that Mike was
reposting someone else's text from another board.

--
Peter

On 6/21/2007 10:55:55 PM, Bob Fry wrote:

Or readers need to brush up on their BS detection skills.

Those of you on the opposite side of the political fence as Jay may believe
all of his posts are BS, but in my case I don't immediately discount his
on-topic aviation posts as BS. I have met him in person and he doesn't strike
me as the type who has the motivation or the time to post pure BS.

Naturally we all see the world through our own personal biases so that is the
type of filtering I apply to everyone's posts, including his and yours.

--
Peter

Jay,

and that Piper needed to be saved


They have been?

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

On Jun 22, 10:19 am, Jay Honeck wrote:

Although he is an engineer, Mr. Bass' background at Sony
Corp. and General Electric is managerial. It is well known
that he was brought into Piper to "slash & burn" in order
to save the company.

First, you're not going to find anyone running a company like that
without some managerial background, so by that token, anyone running a
company large enough to require such experience is a bean counter,
which seems to devalue the term somewhat. Second, while it may be well
known, can you produce some cites to support the assertion that he's a
hatchet man?

In article . com,
Jay Honeck wrote:
Although he is an engineer, Mr. Bass' background at Sony Corp. and
General Electric is managerial. It is well known that he was brought
into Piper to "slash & burn" in order to save the company.

I don't know that he's "slashing & burning," but it appears that for the
first time in years (decades?) Piper may actually have a direction that
doesn't lead to bankruptcy. It should be clear to everyone that the
status quo of building the same 30 year old piston designs year after
year isn't going to cut it.

It also appears that Mr. Bass has fostered good will with those whom he
leads. That is not a typical characteristic of a "slash & burn"
executive.


JKG

Jonathan Goodish wrote:
In article . com,
Jay Honeck wrote:
Although he is an engineer, Mr. Bass' background at Sony Corp. and
General Electric is managerial. It is well known that he was brought
into Piper to "slash & burn" in order to save the company.

I don't know that he's "slashing & burning," but it appears that for
the first time in years (decades?) Piper may actually have a
direction that doesn't lead to bankruptcy. It should be clear to
everyone that the status quo of building the same 30 year old piston
designs year after year isn't going to cut it.

It also appears that Mr. Bass has fostered good will with those whom
he leads. That is not a typical characteristic of a "slash & burn"
executive.


JKG

I don't see how basing their future on a VLJ that will just be one among
many in a yet unproven market is a good idea.

"Bob Fry" wrote in message
...
Or readers need to brush up on their BS detection skills. Which is
easy with Jay, he's kinda like Bill Clinton. How do you know when Jay
is full of BS? When he's posting.

Are you sure you have the right Jay? I don't see how anyone can come to that
conclusion having any meaningful level of participation in this forum.

Maybe you've been saving that Bill Clinton analogy and just couldn't hold it
in any longer...

Marco

It also appears that Mr. Bass has fostered good will with those whom he
leads. That is not a typical characteristic of a "slash & burn"
executive.

Yes, Mr. Bass spent much of his speech telling us how wonderful his
labor relations were now, even to the point of breaking the union.
(They supposedly voted themselves out of existence, because they are
now so happy.)

In the very next segment of his speech, however, he complained about
the absurdly high cost of doing business in Florida (thanks to those
pesky hurricanes) -- and made it quite clear that he was willing (and
planning) to move Piper, lock, stock, and barrel, to whatever state
offered him the most "incentives". (AKA: "Bribes")

Now, you tell me how his wonderful labor relations skills jibe with
the fact that he is willing to rip all 1100 jobs out from under his
employees, and move the company to Mississippi, if they pay him the
most money?

Even *I* was appalled -- and remember, I'm writing this as a
conservative Republican, who (a) doesn't believe in unions, and (b)
believes that customers -- not employees -- come first.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
It also appears that Mr. Bass has fostered good will with those whom he
leads. That is not a typical characteristic of a "slash & burn"
executive.

Yes, Mr. Bass spent much of his speech telling us how wonderful his
labor relations were now, even to the point of breaking the union.
(They supposedly voted themselves out of existence, because they are
now so happy.)

In the very next segment of his speech, however, he complained about
the absurdly high cost of doing business in Florida (thanks to those
pesky hurricanes) -- and made it quite clear that he was willing (and
planning) to move Piper, lock, stock, and barrel, to whatever state
offered him the most "incentives". (AKA: "Bribes")

Now, you tell me how his wonderful labor relations skills jibe with
the fact that he is willing to rip all 1100 jobs out from under his
employees, and move the company to Mississippi, if they pay him the
most money?

It is very simple. A company that is constantly teetering on bankruptcy
or, worse yet as with Piper, continually into and out of bankruptcy,
isn't all that nice to employees. Moving the company to a place with a
better business environment that allows a more stable and profitable
company is better for all concerned in the long run. Sure, it is
painful for those currently at Piper who don't wish to move, but in the
long run it is best for company, employees AND customers.

I think Lock Haven would be a nice location for Piper! :-)

Matt