Category Archives: Seven Signs in Action

The story is always the same. A new company, a darling with double-digit growth that brings the IPO, and more growth. Annual recurring revenue (that magical measurement that software companies love) went from $1 million in the company’s starting year … Continue reading →

The stunning indictment and guilty plea of Roosevelt Hairston Jr., the former general counsel and executive vice president of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia(CHOP), for embezzlement gives us pause. The pause comes from the fact that the embezzlement amounted to $1.7 … Continue reading →

Dr. Atul Gawande gave a terrific address to the 2010 crop of new docs graduating from Stanford University. You can read that address, “The Velluvial Matrix” in the June 16, 2010 issue of The New Yorker. The graduating docs at … Continue reading →

One of the Barometer’s most frequently asked questions is, “How can you screen rogues out of your company when you are hiring?” The first response is that you can’t always screen them out – you hope that you have the … Continue reading →

Robert C. Pozen proposed “A New Model for Corporate Boards” in a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece on December 30, 2010.  Add to the dashboard school yet another feeble quantitative measure that promises to provide the glorious solution to the … Continue reading →

The conduct is different from McNeil’s 1982 recall when the 8 cyanide poisoning deaths occurred in Chicago. In that situation, McNeil earned the praise of the president, the loyalty of customers, and a get-out-of-jail free pass on everything since that … Continue reading →

Gary Aguirre, a former SEC lawyer, was right, the agency was wrong, and he has had the last word.  In 2005, Mr. Aguirre tried to get the agency to move on Pequot Capital Management for insider trading in Microsoft stock.  … Continue reading →

The Seven Signs of Ethical Collapse documents the phenomenon of the precursor in companies that find themselves in legal and ethical difficulty.  The precursor can be a lawsuit that is dismissed, a regulatory agency investigation that finds nothing, an employee … Continue reading →

Minnesota businessman, Thomas J. Petters, was sentenced to 50 years for his $3.7-billion Ponzi scheme that claimed to be selling appliances to Costco.  What a ride he had!  He purchased Polaroid, Sun Country Airlines, and part of Fingerhut Cos.  He drove … Continue reading →