Every corporation that has been profitable for a number of years, although every person is very valuable, none are replaceable. The practice is as people leave, the corporation  will continue, having said that, every once in a while investors attach themselves to the President. This person through time has earned the respect of investors from his/her actions and they will be missed. The example today is not because the writer is a car guy, but some of the products from Ford the writer likes. The President of Ford Allan Mulally is retiring and the succession plan will take 6 months afterwards. From what the writer knows, it sounds Ford has a good plan in place, which Mr. Mulally deserves extra credit for as President. The writer has seen too many people leave with a really poor succession plan as it evolved into stalemates and infighting.

Linking to dividend producing stocks, one of the reasons why you should buy stocks that have a long history of paying dividends is the good companies have managed to figure out succession planning. Poor companies do infighting and losing the edge they have over their competitors. The President of the organization matters when there is more time spent on building the internal profile and living off the corporate perks than serving the people who pay the bills. The business publications often have a story or two about the effects of infighting in the corporate suite, the end result is not good for investors. Being human, the infighting for the spoils of victory are bound to continue and while it makes interesting reading, as an investor you may wish to be on the sidelines till it is sorted out.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.