Outsource the CEOs|Dweebs at ZNET think outside the Box again.

I just love it when liberals get concerned about issues that they actually oppose. Take for instance the article:. Outsource the CEOs April 06, 2004 By Kevin Danaher. Kevin is basically a "concerned troll". He knows that no company will follow his advice so he posts it on Znet as more tongue in cheek than anything. But since Liberals run around repeating something silly such as this, then maybe I should respond. {Title link to the thread at Thom's forum.}

April 1, 2004 -- As veteran corporate accountability activists, we both have spent years challenging big business to be more responsive to the needs of workers, communities, and the environment. We have picketed outside corporate headquarters, organized sit-ins, sponsored shareholder resolutions and bird-dogged company executives. When it comes to pressuring Corporate America, we've done it as much as anyone.

But the protesting thing is getting old. We figure it's time to give up our placards and trade them in for some PowerPoint presentations. We've decided to drop our commitment to advocacy and adopt a more lucrative career -- consulting.

Haha. Not likely, as otherwise they would have to turn in their "progressive" credentials.

In recent years, hundreds of U.S. companies have generated significant savings by sending high-skilled, well-paid positions to countries such as Singapore, India and the Czech Republic. The economics are clear: If a job can be done equally well somewhere else for less money, then it should be sent abroad. Our consulting firm takes this concept to the next logical step by outsourcing all the way to the top of the corporate ladder.

Why not? After all, equally skilled and experienced chief executives in Europe and Asia earn a fraction of what U.S. executives take home. The average chief of a major U.S. company receives $10.83 million in compensation per year. The typical CEO in Europe receives about $2.7 million. Japanese CEOs are a downright bargain: Your company can expect to pay as little as $300,000 to $500,000 per year for an executive based there, with year-end bonuses averaging just 10 percent. Even if you exclude the value of stock options and bonuses -- which account for the bulk of American CEO pay -- CEOs in the U.S. on average receive twice as much as executives in other industrialized nations.

Well, if the economics is "clear" then I am sure no more Libs will bring up contrary points of view and that outsourcing is good. But we are talking different labor markets so to rectify the fact that once you bring people here for the job then how would you discriminate based on citizenship? ...

We understand that your company may be concerned that off-shoring the CEO could impact performance. That's why we have a Two-for-One Plan. For the same salary you pay one American CEO, you can get a CEO in Europe and one in Asia. By having an executive on each side of the globe, you get uninterrupted service, corporate management around the clock. Instead of putting your back office in Bangalore, you put your front office in Berlin and Tokyo.

Interesting idea but CEOs do not necessarily run the day to day operations like a micromanager. I have more to say about the "front office" later.

The benefits to your company go beyond cost savings alone. When you offshore the boss, you get rid of the person that hourly workers and management employees alike love to hate. Just think how it will boost worker morale to see the CEO booted out the door. The resulting increases in worker productivity will pleasantly surprise you.

Maybe love to hate but also have a vested interest in them so the relationship is not of hate fest but of mutual respect {at least in organizations I have been in}. Not likely that the "workers" really would be more productive since there is less clear indication of who is running the company.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. If it makes sense to increase profits by outsourcing skilled labor, let's save big money by outsourcing the most uncompetitive worker in the U.S. corporate hierarchy -- the CEO.

Well actually CEOs are quite competitive. It was already mentioned that US CEOs earn a lot more and this will definitely attract more applicants. A person at CEO level would also be eligible for some special immigration status of someone with unique abilities or unique talents. Wish I could find out more about this, but I do not believe companies have any problem getting some CEOs recruited to the USA for work. Here is some articles that talk about immigration of CEOs.
Foreign-born CEOs cite U.S. merit-based system By Del Jones, USA TODAY

"In many companies in Europe and Asia, family connections very often take precedence over performance," says Taurel, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1995.

Just as I was saying, you pay more and open up opportunities to more people and then you would expect more applicants.
Send Us Your Tired, Your Poor, Your Business ExecutivesWhy are big American companies hiring foreign-born CEOs?
Señor CEOMore executive-suite imports.

OK, now going back to the basics of what this entails, the writer of "Outsource the CEOs" seems to want to not only outsource the CEOs but also noted above the front offices. Even in middle size corporations that can be a lot of middle level managers and office staff. I am sure all the small and medium cities that have corporate headquarters would love to have their town die because of outsourcing the front office. It also has to be practical since hiring a CEO in another country also means that he/she needs to be close to a variety of staff and support personnel. It is not like you would dismember the head and all other functions would work out. Also the question of the board would need to be considered since they meet and then you would end up outsourcing the Board Members also.

From my experience of Radio Shack, Fort Worth would practically dry up without its headquarters there. Basically it is just a crazy idea and that if any company followed though would actually be protested by Jason Mark and Kevin Danaher. I might even be there to join them on that protest. Or at least to laugh at them.

Links:
Corporate Donations Increasingly Benefit Left-Wing Causes Monday, February 07, 2000