Less Hair you are correct - it is the balance between good work and money that has been lost. Further, in the last 30/35 years, there has been a real return to the stock market as casino. The idea that you invest in a company for the long term is an unknown idea. Remarkable developments in computing and telecommunications means that companies can make money in the tinest slivers of fractions - but, when they all land up, they make a pile. They also remove money from companies that need it. I often see reports that a particular stock is down 'because they did not provide the results that Wall Street expected'. They may have made a good profit and be trading well - but let's dump them to get a fraction more elsewhere.
On another point, PPRuNers may be amused to read the advice for Boeing from Mr O'Leary, as detailed in Fortune magazine:
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary shared some words of wisdom on how the aircraft manufacturer should navigate the future of its management.
“The best CEOs and owners are the accountants, the people who do the boring, repetitive, day-to-day delivery, and that’s what you need,” CEO Michael O’Leary told Bloomberg on Wednesday. “They already design great aircraft—you’ve got to make them, but you’ve got to make them on-time and within budget, and that needs accountants.”
He added that so-called accountants have clarity on the vision of a company, while personnel like engineers can lose sight of an overall mission in favor of tweaking what’s not broken.
“It’s like, never put a pilot in charge of an airline,” he said. “They want to buy new shiny toys.”
Right there is the problem of balance. You need the Finance, the Engineering, the Pilots and more to collaborate. He may have made FR successful by being a sole voice - but his business is very different to Boeing. I suggest that his reiteration of the past 35 years of mgmt behaviour adds to the problems.
Fortune Magazine