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- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 4 years ago by Ken Garrett.
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- August 6, 2019 at 6:15 pm #526470
Hi Ken,
Both Argenti and Ross and Kami warn against the “one man rule”.
But some of the best know businesses in the world “break” this commandment. Here are some examples from a quick google search:
1. “During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions of chairman, CEO and chief software architect, while also being the largest individual shareholder until May 2014.”
2. “Steven Paul Jobs was an American business magnate and investor. He was the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), and co-founder of Apple Inc.”
3. “Jeff Bezos… is the founder, chairman, CEO, and president of Amazon.com, Inc.”
4. “Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, speaker and philanthropist who serves as the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.”
So this “commandment” is clearly wrong?
How am I supposed to reconcile this pervasive theoretical fallacy with answering ACCA questions to gain/not lose marks whilst not forfeiting integrity? Both theories are wrong, but I have to pretend they are correct if they come up in the exam in order to gain marks?
August 7, 2019 at 8:28 am #526509Its a bit like gamblng on the stock exchamge. You could put all your money into one company and it could do really well. But for every comapny that does well there will be at least one that fails.
You have listed business leaders who turned put to be successful, but could you have picked them in the early 1990’s? These are the ones left standing high and lots of other businesses have failed.
The ‘one man rule’ sometimes works either by luck or by great individual vision and conviction. However, often the vision will be wrong and the unchallenged conviction of the ‘one man’ leads the company to disaster. So, for safety, several heads contributing to management are better so that a diverse range of skills and outlooks contribute to decisions.
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