Crisis leadership – not for the chicken-hearted

Succession plans would be crucial during a pandemic. Some organizations may want to name co-CEOs or co-presidents. And every CEO will want to build a team of top-notch people to share responsibility for solving the novel, complex problems that will inevitably arise. This team will be better equipped to solve problems, and will provide bench strength, in case the leader becomes ill.

Abraham Lincoln is the great American model for this collaborative approach to crisis leadership. As Doris Kearns Goodwin describes in her biography “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln” (October 2005), Lincoln draft ed a wartime brain trust of former political rivals. He knew that Edwin M. Stanton had dismissed him as a country bumpkin, but he also believed that Stanton was the secretary of war the nation needed.

Rape/Kill @ $1600!

For the US administration, it has always made a politico-economic sense to bomb nations, but ironically, it has never made sense to them when it comes to duly compensate them. Their rationality, emanating from geo-politics & neo-con economics, has reduced them to a gang of charlatans, thoroughly obsessed to seek a rent out of every bomb bombed under the guise of restoring peace. And this has had far reaching effects not only on the innocent victims of US war crimes, but also on their own soldiers (those yet not killed in the war).

To measure the magnitude of US administration’s rent seeking appetite, one just needs to view the compensation paid by them to civilians killed in Iraq; and the figures are crying. While the death benefit granted to the family of American soldiers killed in any combat zone is $500,000, the amount paid to innocent civilian war-victims are chicken feed in comparison. In Iraq, the Associated Press, after surveying Iraqi hospitals, contended that in one month of their survey period, the total Iraqi-confirmed civilian deaths were 3,420, which even to them was an extremely conservative estimate. Comparable figures of around 43,000 are reported by the alternate media; but even these figures were not enough to make a blip on the screen of the US administration, as the maximum compensation that has ever been assigned to any Iraqi has been a measly $11,000 (given to an eight month pregnant woman whose husband and three children were gunned down in Baghdad).

Gott; wonder

An unusual resort with an even more unusual name was to be my next port of call. Most sightseers are pleasantly surprised to see that the little lakeside town of Zellam- See nestled in the mountains is as kindly disposed towards summer as it is towards winter. Leisurely and laidback, this is the archetypal Austrian getaway. The panoramic views on offer make it seem as though picture-perfect postcards have been brought to life, echoed alike by Julian’s informed interjection that came by way, “This is what most holiday-goers tell me, Gott; wonder of the mountains towering over the landscape in the distance and the lake lying the other end.”

Eurocopter hovers over the Indian sky

Eurocopter, the fully owned subsidiary of European aerospace major EADS, plans to invest more than $1 billion in India over a period of two years. Globally, Eurocopter is the largest manufacturer of civil and military helicopter. The company intends to open a subsidiary, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre as well as a training school for helicopters. It is believed that the company is partnering Hindustan Aeronautical Ltd. to bid for the helicopters for the Army, Navy & Air Force. Eurocopter would also bid for contracts for VIP helicopters.

Apple’s movie download proposal is a world beater; but unless Jobs negotiates well, movie houses won’t budge

Trust Jobs to keep one guessing. The latest news is that the man at the helm of affairs is going to launch a movie download service on the iPod. Yes, that means that perhaps by the end of this year, from Tom Cruise’s gun totting action, to Catherine Zeta Jones’ alluring oomph, the little few inches worth of screen on the new iPod could be witness to momentous history in the making. But the issues facing Steve Jobs’ download proposal go much beyond the visible.

The major ones being pricing and competition. Movielink, a leading movie download website with equity stakes of various production houses, offers downloads for around $20 to $30. Despite the initial euphoria, the site has got a dismal response because of the pricing, and some studios are actually reconsidering their stakes. But Steve Jobs is reportedly wishing to allow the download of all movies – whether old or new – for only $9.99 per movie! Then again, Hollywood production houses are miff ed with the idea, as at that price, they claim, making profits seems completely infeasible.