Quick Analysis: Preparing for Gates’ SuccessorOctober 01, 2010
 When Robert Gates became Defense Secretary in 2006, he quickly shifted Cold War procurement habits towards purchases that would better help the current counter-insurgency conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was willing to root out inefficiencies and went as far as canceling weapons programs that he thought had limited benefits or were redundant—like the Air Force's F-22 "Raptor" and the Navy's DDG-100 destroyer. Because of these efforts, the industry considered him bad for business. But many changed their minds when they realized that Gates is finding efficiencies and rooting out waste not just as a way to cut spending. Rather, he is using these savings as a way to keep the defense budget from shrinking. And now that Gates has mentioned his retirement—he says he plans to step down in 2011—these same business executives are concerned about a future without him, according to a Reuters' article. "He has been a staunch supporter of stable and predictable growth," Michael Strianese, chief executive of L-3 Communications Holdings Inc., told Reuters. The fear is that once he retires, he will be replaced by a political appointment who has a completely different strategy because the new secretary will be eager to make his or her own imprint. But there are ways to mitigate the impact of change when an effective leader retires, says Wharton management professor Peter Cappelli. "I think in a context like this—which is a political context, of course—it is important to inform the people making decisions about successors," he said. "At a for-profit company, you would hope that the board of directors would understand which innovations made sense and which ones are important to continue." The problem is that, as a political appointment, the successor to Secretary Gates is unlikely to be an internal candidate. But that shouldn't stop Defense officials from trying to maintain the course. "You could certainly lobby hard at the deputy and assistant secretary levels to maintain the policy and practices," he said. "So you have to think about how you would continue the policies, even if someone different comes along." Photo Courtesy of U.S. Army |
|
