BILL I understand you have a few minutes...

BILL I understand you have a few minutes.

JERRY Sure, Bill. What’s on your mind? (motions to chair across from desk)

BILL (crosses to desk and sits) As you know, a special meeting of the board has been called for next Tuesday.

JERRY Seems to be the case. So?

BILL I assume you know the agenda?

JERRY Yep. I don’t suppose you plan to rush to my rescue. Of course, you realize I have a long history with the majority of the board members.

BILL You’ve also accumulated a lot of reasons for them to dismiss it.

JERRY They all know I have a turnaround plan in place.

BILL Been there for a number of years, hasn’t it?

JERRY You can’t turn the Queen Mary around on a dime.

BILL I think we’re now talking about what looks more like the Titanic.

JERRY I’m not the one who got us into financial services or saw international competition heat up the way it has.

BILL How about the brilliant move of buying MC Mortgage when the subprime crisis was on the horizon?

JERRY It was not on the horizon at the time I acquired it.

BILL And what about acquiring an insurance business with a portfolio dominated by policies in long-term care, while longevity continues to increase?

JERRY Even Babe Ruth didn’t bat a thousand.

BILL Take it from me. You’re not Babe Ruth. And what about the power business you acquired and insist on retaining? It’s a money pit.

JERRY The fact remains that I’m also the one who put the financing in place that saved the company.

BILL What I know is you were put in charge of one of the world’s most consistently successful companies and the largest conglomerate in the world. Now, even with the cutbacks and spinoffs you’ve been able to engineer, you’ve accumulated 134 billion of corporate debt. That’s 75 percent of the total value of the company.

JERRY I’m getting us back to our core competency -- heavy industry.

BILL Seems to me your plan is based on dismantling everything Jim built. I just don’t buy into it, Jerry.

JERRY (leans forward) What don’t you buy into?

BILL That you’re the person to get the company out of the tailspin it’s gone into during your tenure. Slash and burn -- cutbacks and spinoffs. That seems to be your answer to every challenge the company is faced with.

JERRY We all know what’s behind your position. You knew what the numbers were. I had to make the cutbacks in R & D.

BILL What I know is Jim hired me away from a great career at Boeing, and my innovations in aerospace technology have been invaluable to this company. When you let me go, I was fifty-five years old. In this ageistic society, I was made to feel like Father Time. Thankfully, I finally connected with a fellow researcher at Lockheed Martin who worked with me at Boeing. He took me off the street. And like the cream I am, I floated to the top. Best of all, I got onto the TE board.

JERRY Good for you. And I OK’d it.

BILL Two f#%king years, Jerry! I went through two f#%king years of financial hell. And you think “good for you” works?

JERRY (looks at watch) I’m running short on time. Got any constructive suggestions?

BILL Yes, I do. Let me say it in the most thoughtful way I can. I’ll do whatever I can to bounce you the hell out of here.

JERRY Thanks. If you’ll excuse me, I have to prepare for another meeting.

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