Change of management
THE BOARD of the Businessman’s Lunch Restaurant (BLR) is still evaluating a short list of candidates for CEO. The incumbent is retiring without leaving a clear succession plan or giving any clear endorsement of his preference.
The list of possibilities has been trimmed down to two, including the incumbent COO.
The outgoing chief was obsessed with ridding the place of rats as it became almost a single-minded strategy… until the food poisoning scandal kept the patrons away for a long time. They’re starting to come back after the drop in cases made the whole issue moot. Finally, “heard” immunity to rumors has taken hold.
The board is due to make its decision on a new CEO soon.
The newcomer, who is the son of a former chef in the restaurant, has declared through his agent that he will not subject himself to any face-to-face job interview. His CV is enough, including his college credentials. Enough for him to lay down his strategy of unity and accepting all types of cuisine, with a big nod to Cantonese fare. The restaurant next door offering this menu is already poaching customers from BLR — why not merge with or sell to the competition?
As to the old chef’s indiscretions and rumors of poaching beef stock and secretly acquiring the supply chain company? Those controversies have all been raised and come to an inconclusive judgment when the chef flew off to Honolulu to introduce pork rind and vegetables popular in his region. Does he still have unpaid taxes? The job applicant refuses to tackle that question—the culinary sins of the father should not be applied to the son.
Is his too-visible agent also applying for the job? Does he really speak for him on all points? Even these simple questions are shrugged off by the applicant. He can’t be bothered. One director asked why he is even looking for a job. (The other directors ignored this.)
And what of the survey of customers who still remember the old chef? They seem to put their trust in the son now. They claim that anyway he won’t be in the kitchen.
Is the COO too well known to the board already? Not really. The CEO made sure she was relegated to the warehouse and invisible to the patrons, and even to management. What did she do in the warehouse? The auditing group found no anomalies in requisitions and storage of supplies. The COO got high audit ratings, even if her role was marginal.
Insiders are supposed to have a clearer understanding of the situation. And the COO has some ideas on handling competition. She is not for accommodating the neighboring restaurant. The Restaurant Association of Manila (RAM) already ruled on the unethical practice of the Cantonese outfit, putting up tables and stalls infringing on the dotted line separating the two establishments. The COO wants to assert the spatial integrity of the sidewalk — this is our restaurant, and we will fight for its space — “No to Cantonese cuisine.” (Even if it has a bigger kitchen.)
There are patrons supporting the COO in food festivals that promote Filipino cuisine and highlighting its under-appreciated dessert offerings like macapuno cobbler and watermelon seeds dipped in mango sauce.
One stockholder voiced his concern over the selection process that allows one of the applicants to dodge interviews and answer questions. There are also tax issues that need to be addressed.
And do the patrons have a say on what kind of restaurant they want BLR to be? Of course, they can just switch restaurants and go for Maine lobsters and steak, or even kangaroo meat pie which is supposed to have small pockets, just as good as pork cracklings.
Where a CEO intends to bring a company is a matter of concern. The very survival of the enterprise and its continued ability to employ waiters, receptionists, chefs, and bookkeepers affects the whole street.
A change of management should highlight priorities and programs. As to the question of integrity and transparency of operations, who can argue with the importance of those? The fate of one restaurant seems to be a minor hiccup in the scheme of things.
What if this leadership issue involved a whole country?
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
