A working analogy

Please could you answer this question honestly –

Q) You own a major motor manufacturer, say Toyota for example, making toyota and lexus cars (the lexus cars being the more luxurious variant of the toyota cars that came into being after years of building toyota from the bottom, being laughed at when you said it was going to be a major player, but still keeping the faith, and developing the business. During your ‘pre lexus’ days, you had a regional Manager type who was popular, steady, reliable but did not have any experience or signs that he could perform above this pay grade, at say National, or International or Board Level. He becomes jaded, he leaves, moves on to say Nissan just selling the Bluebird model.

Toyota move on, up and up, Lexus is created, more success, more plaudits, more domination of world markets, however your Chief Exec moves on to say Ford.

What do you do

a) Recruit a proven leader, qualified, experienced and with the respect to develop and drive Toyota and Lexus into the future?

b) The dependable ‘regional manager’, who has no experience of running a major corporation, or the respect of the existing senior execs, but he is cheaper, and hope that he will develop into a role that takes someone of far more experience and stature to successfully complete?

If Wigan Athletic where Toyota, Martinez would be our Chief Exec, the chairman would be sectioned and the company would implode – but before that happened, the rest of the board, shareholders, senior management would step in and take decisive action.

Football – the only major business in the world that is not run like a major business.