Monthly Archives: October 2012
Margaret Thatcher on the Westland Affair & Libya
On the Westland Affair
This is really about Michael Heseltine’s conflict with Thatcher. Heseltine’s personal ambitions were distorting his priorities. The small helicopter company became the core of this conflict. Westland’s central concern was over whether private sector shareholders and directors almost wholly dependent on government contracts should be free to decide its future without government intervention. Thatcher believed it was an abuse of power to utilize government authority to bend the rules. Heseltine favoured a European solution with four international companies. Meanwhile Thatcher supported an American bid with Sikorsky. After Heseltine attempted to have minutes read into a meeting where Westland was not to be discussed, claiming that Thatcher had promised a meeting but did not allow it. Heseltine was forced to obey Cabinet collective responsibility over Westland when Thatcher wanted to move forward. Thatcher controlled cabinet with an iron fist. The result was the Sikorsky won the bid and Heseltine resigned from cabinet in 1986. He stormed out of Downing Street and had a 22minute statement prepared within an hour of his resignation: a premeditated attack. This affair was widely reported in the media.
On the US Raid of Libya
Yvonne Fletcher’s death in London was connected with Gaddafi’s Libyan terrorist regime. The Rome and Vienna airport attacks by a Palestinian group – Abu Nidal – hardened western resolve. Libya was harbouring, abiding and aiding terrorists in their morally repugnant objectives. Thatcher was asked by Reagan to support the bombing of the Libyan government to send a message about supporting international terrorism. Thatcher feared that American action may signal a new cycle of revenge in a country with over 5,000 British nationals. Reagan knew that bombing wouldn’t end terrorism in the region but what a message it might sent, according to Thatcher. Reagan needed to inflict a cost on Libya. Thatcher supported the attack of specific terrorist related sites. The Labour Party wanted Thatcher to disavow use of British airbases. The bombing killed Gaddafi’s adopted daughter and some civilians. Public opinion of the bombing was negative: it did not achieve its target of destroying the Gaddafi regime’s terrorist reign. Thatcher defended it as a success because 1) it had harmed Libyan terrorism, 2) strengthened US-British relations, 3) strong decisive action is rewarded by the British public. Libya retaliated with more terrorism then before.
Lee Iaccoca: Timing Is Everything In Life
Lee’s ability to concentrate got him through school but he was also a very lucky person. Even bad luck can sometimes be good, for example, his bout with rheumatic fever prevented Iaccoca from joining the war effort as part of the class of ’42. The patriotism for that war was immense but in frustration Lee did not participate while his fellow graduates died in combat. Instead, Lee went to Lehigh for his undergrad where he focused on engineering then shifted over to business; accounting, statistics and labour problems. Instead of going straight to Ford (because he loved the cars and had been accepted), Lee deferred starting out at Ford and went to Princeton for his masters. After graduation, the guy who had recruited Iaccoca originally at Ford was drafted into combat and by the time Lee was finished his masters, no one at Ford knew Lee. Fortunately, Iaccoca was persistent enough to speak directly with the former recruiter’s boss and he got onboard.
Another example of timing is when Lee worked at Chester as a Sales rep, he was working in a booming period between 1945 and 1950 because during WWII car production was very low. All new cars were sold at list price or more, and used cars could be taken in (even if those cars were horrible) and a profit margin could be secured. Fleet sales meant allocating new cars to dealerships…since Lee was in sales, and there was a backlog of car orders, this gave him a lot of power at an early age.
One last example of good timing is that the Chrysler bailout for $1.5 billion would not have happened if it occurred 3 years after 1979 (when Ford and GM were also in serious trouble) since other car makers would have competed directly with Chrysler for attention. Timing matters!
Good timing is everything in life.
This is a synopsis & analysis based on Iacocca: An Autobiography and other miscellaneous research sources. Enjoy.
The Dangers Of Bicycling In The UK
Lee Iacocca: Education is Concentration & Time Management
The ability to concentrate as well as time management is key in business and Lee Iacocca learnt this in school. He had the discipline to say: “let’s get this done in the next 3 hours and then enjoy something else.” He would work hard during the week and set-aside time during the weekend to spend with family and friends. His approach was built from his parent’s experience. His father was an entrepreneur because that was what Italian immigrants typically did in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, the Great Depression destroyed Iacocca senior’s businesses, which he had mortgaged to the hilt.
Lee Iacocca grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania and promised to get the education his father could not have in his native Naples, Italy. The pressure from his father, and the personal drive to success led Lee to get top grades in his high school. He had supportive teachers in debating and mathematics. The core lesson was not to memorize facts but rather to understand how to use facts to position an argument. In other words, he solidified a methodology for attacking problems. He ran for student president and learned (the hard way) that understanding people would help you as a leader. His parents taught him to apply himself, get an education and DO SOMETHING!