From what I see more recently, to get round the issue of financial performance many of these companies are setting non profit related targets for their senior execs. In one company I recently contracted for I saw bonuses paid to senior managers where they weren't paid to staff as cost reduction targets (e.g. Redundancy targets) were met so management got a healthy pay out.
To circumvent the bonus system targets are being set which means that the company can actually deplete staff, quality and standards and chief execs still get paid.
This gentlemen (and ladies) is the new breed of religion known as advanced state capitalism. Ironically it's not to different to communism other than whereas in communism the people give up their wealth to the state which looks after them (...ahem!), we pay taxes for ours to do the same for us. The bottom line is, in both models 90 odd percent of the wealth still sits in less than 10% of pockets. Capitalism just presents the illusion of 'choice' to make the model more palatable.
At board meetings these folk sit round and decide what the next years pay rates will look like, as they all want increases, they all agree to each others increases without much in the way of independent adjudication. These people don't often get to the top by good morals and a keen sense of ethical justice, they are suited mercenaries (e.g. Fred the Shred, gives us back your knighthood: well done Labour....not!). Like politics and government, this is now all about self interest as at the top of the food chain life is so far removed from what we know of course they will crave more and more.....
So which is the lesser evil?! capitalism, communism, or something else? I tolerate our system as it will generally reward me if I bust a gut, but thank god there are so few chief execs of these sort of companies in the economy. For me it's not the money they get I care about, it's the people they directly affect in doing so. I guess it's been going on forever behind closed doors, it's just today we get to know about it.
A very sorry state of affairs, and if he hands it back, you KNOW it will be bundled into future earnings or rewrapped into alternative benefits (probably handled offshore!)
