Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The Official Motorola Response to "Plan B"


Perhaps it should have been expected. But, 2.5 weeks after receiving our letter representing 130 Motorola shareholders with a combined ownership stake of 600,000 shares which detailed a "Plan B" for the company, we received a 4 sentence brush-off response from the board.

It was sent by regular mail.

Here is the Motorola response:

August 13, 2007

Dear Mr. Jackson:

Thank you for your letter dated July 30, 2007 to the non-executive members of the Board of Directors of Motorola. We appreciate your sharing with us your views concerning the issues raised in your letter. As a Board we regularly review Motorola’s performance, strategy and governance and make decisions based upon what we believe is in the best interests of the Company and its stockholders. We are actively engaged, and we have been and will continue to be proactive in implementing changes that we believe will enhance value for all Motorola stockholders.

Sincerely,
Douglas A. Warner III
Chairman, Governance and Nominating Committee

In our letter to the non-executive members of the Board, we specifically asked for a meeting to further discuss our ideas in "Plan B":

"I request to meet with you at your earliest possible convenience to discuss our plan and the merits of implementing it. We must move past the mistakes of the past and take the steps now to make a better Motorola."


There was no mention of this in their response. I've recontacted Dean Lindroth to express my displeasure with this position and restated our desire as a shareholder group to meet the non-executive members of the Board. You can reach Mr. Lindroth directly to express your views at investor-relations@motorola.com .

For all Motorola shareholders, the Board's response is disappointing. It says: "We know what we're doing. Scram."

We beg to differ. The company's results are there for all to see. There has been no substantive argument put forward by them as to how what their actions are going to be beneficial to shareholders. We have. The burden of proof here should be on the Company's Board and Management - not its shareholders.

They want us to go away and be quiet. We won't.

We believe solutions to major organizational problems come through open dialogue with key stakeholders - not by closing ranks, eschewing others with alternative views, and pretending that shareholder complaints will pass like a summer shower.

If you're dissatisfied with this result, we need to work even harder. Collective shareholdings count. I ask you to spread the word of your unhappiness by joining our group at: http://www.youchoose.net/pledge/motorolaplanb

Thanks again for your support to help make this a better company for its customers, employees, and shareholders.

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1 comments:

Anonymous said...

unfortunatly in huge companies the capitalism as pure, I decide as I own stocks is dead. The companies are kidnapped by the boards with very few stocks and only ruling for their own interest "in name of shareholders", it is the same with banks.