Bloomberg today published an expose on self-driving vehicles that confirmed my worst fears and doubts about executives who champion the technology and Wall Street money managers duped by the hype.
GM On My Mind – October 6, 2022
My thoughts on GM’s illegal payment demands of U.S. military personnel, the $102.6 million a California jury has awarded the company to pay for allegedly selling faulty engines, and why newly hired “chief people officer” Arden Hoffman strikes me as someone who can inspire beleaguered employees to return to the office.
Mary Barra Singing Kumbaya Won’t Save GM
When Elon Musk says jump, Tesla and SpaceX employees ask, “How high?”
When GM CEO Mary Barra says jump, she promptly apologizes to GM employees for making such an onerous request.
Here’s why it takes a giant leap of faith to believe Barra’s claim that by mid-century she will sell more electric vehicles than Tesla.
McKinsey & The Triumph of Corporate Sleaze
The New York Times’ latest McKinsey expose serves as a reminder that lack of business ethics and morals once sparked outrage in America, but sadly that’s no longer the case. Therein is McKinsey’s true genius.
Beware of Back, Stent, & Sinus Surgeries
The Providence hospital system’s recent $22.7 million settlement with the DOJ for performing unnecessary back surgeries reaffirmed the wisdom of Dr. John Sarno, who decades ago warned that most back surgeries were unnecessary. If Sarno were alive today, the medical establishment, the legacy media, and social media censors would rally together and dismiss him as a quack spreading “misinformation.”
Regretfully, back and spine surgeries aren’t the only medical procedures patients must be wary of.
The Genius of McKinsey Consultants?
A recent New York Times expose on the Providence “nonprofit” hospital system served as yet another reminder that McKinsey consultants might not be the business geniuses they are cracked up to be, particularly in healthcare and media.
Revenge of the Nerds & The Terror of Lapsus$
Reading up on who was behind Uber’s and other major corporate IT breaches I’ve come to appreciate the prescience of the 1984 film classic ‘Revenge of the Nerds.’
Kitty Genovese & NYTimes’ BYU Racism Hoax
In 1964, the New York Times published what still ranks among the most damaging false stories in U.S. media history: 37 witnesses heard the screams of a bartender named Kitty Genovese being stabbed and not one of them intervened or call the police. The story sparked what became known as the “bystander effect,” a theory that held that when multiple people witness a crime or acts of wrongdoing, they are less likely to intervene than when a single witness observes a crime.
Here’s a modern-day twist on the bystander effect: When someone is accused of racism and dozens of persons know that the allegations are false, they are less likely to intervene than if only one person knows for certain.
Centene’s Sarah London: A Do-Gooder Gone Bad?
When Centene’s brainiac CEO Sarah London went into healthcare after graduating with an MBA from the prestigious University of Chicago it appears unlikely that she imagined herself eventually leading one of the industry’s most ethically challenged companies.
Why Hospital CEOs Are Running Scared
The American Hospital Association last week began priming the PR pump for another taxpayer bailout. This time the AHA faces some formidable opponents to the business practices of the association’s leaders and members.
Said one industry critic: Hospital prices are “indefensible” and “unsustainable.”