Unfortunately it was long enough ago that I can't remember the exact speech, but the meaning was very clear at the time. And he never seemed to care much about the company or products, merely about the revenue it was going to add to their bottom line.
I think that 'good' businesses, or at least 'good' senior execs, care about more than the bottom line. Note that they still care about the bottom line because, hey, they have to make payroll.
But there are businesses out there that care about more than the bottom line.
'Good To Great' and 'Start With Why' are good books that document such businesses.
Businesses that can't manage both at the same time should not exist at all. Bankruptcy and liquidation is a perfectly fine solution for businesses that can only break even by screwing their customers and/or employees. I wish more of them would take it.
