Efficiency ratio for global markets business is not good. Many shareholders tend to agree.
The simple trick is to layoff more middle level management to make reporting structure more flat.
Less managers, especially less Director and Managing Directors will boost productivity and efficiency of organization. I can see a lot shareholders will like my idea to them.
Reducing management overhead will create a lean and profitable business. Having too many managers like right now will lead to more bureaucracy problems.
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"Later, you hire [more managers] to analyze why the cow has dropped dead." < This is called consulting.
Managers will review the small book of proposed changes in the use, effectiveness, and proper care of the cow. 18 months of meetings shall be held to properly assess the consultants findings. Said meeting will result in a catchy project name like Beautiful Bovine. Next have someone create a 20 page PPT in 24pt font describing Project Beautiful Bovine [PBB].
Send emails loosely detailing how PBB will reduce risk and improve productivity across all LOBs. Next, PBB timelines will be created and cut by 50%. Expect 6-9 months to get funding. Unbeknownst to anyone, Project Automated Beautiful Bovine [PABB] has been outsourced to another company. PABB has set a goal to fully automate all functions detailed in PBB. Unfortunately, PABB outsourced the right two legs to Company X while developing the left two legs in house. PABB now needs to correct the 15 degree tilt of the cow. Engineering develops 2 wooden supports to correct the list. Procurement found an alternate yet somewhat equal solution, Styrofoam.
Due to the record high price of oil, Styrofoam is in demand and short supply. The wood has been rejected due to our "green" stance on global pollution. Operations is complaining because the cow smells. The supplier will not accept the dead cow. Ops has put said cow in the closet.
Suddenly a brilliant idea comes from the masses... Do not rely on cows due to lifespan and greenhouse gasses. Goats! Goats are the solution and seemingly equal to cows, yet they are faster and easier to care for. Problem solved!
Damn it! Who ordered sheep?
[Laugh a bit]
That is BOA at its finest! At least under the structure coming out of the direct reports under Chicago. I actually got a $0 promotion right before the onset of the pandemic. I was told “Congratulations! We’ve given you a title change, but so sorry, BOA no longer promotes within financially. Therefore, if you wish to earn more outside of the annual performance raise then you will have to apply for a higher-level position”. After the fact, I was given nearly twice the workload, because I am a top performer in the group and then I felt a little used as I watched my co-workers who did enough to get by make the same income.
Fast forward to a pandemic having weekly/monthly conference calls made by an executive who did nothing on the call but speak of herself and all of the things she is doing (making Italian “sauce”, cooking Chrissy Tiegen recipes, meeting her daughter’s new puppy, celebrating an adult child’s birthday, ordering take-out throughout Chicago and so on for weeks) while people are dying all over the world from a virus. Each call I would think, oh yeah let’s see what she did this week that she’d like to brag about while I do twice the workload of my peers and smile because I need a paycheck🙄. Over it!
This comes back to executives and managers tweaking working models to justify their paycheck. Often only adds perceived financial value and quite often destroys value in reality. For example when a corporation takes a high value brand and quality product and replaces it with a lower cost version that does not perform as well. This shows short-term financial benefit on paper, but long term product brand loss. Sears is one example.
Slightly altered for context here.
"AN AMERICAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire [more managers] to analyse why the cow has dropped dead."