Citigroup (C); Pandit’s Pipe Dream

Posted: July 15, 2008 at 4:22 am

Citigroup’s (C) CEO, Vikram Pandit, wasted the time of three dozen or so of his top executives. He took them on a retreat and laid out what he called “Rules of the Road." a seven-part guide to managing Citi in the future.

According to The New York Times,Those rules include items like “client connectivity,” “transparency” and “product excellence.” The program is simply a stack of cow pies and cliches. It is another indication of Pandit’s lack of skill to run the big financial services company.

What Pandit has not done is go to his management and the market with an overall plan for what assets Citi wants to keep and how it will put its still-considerable muscle behind them. He has not made it clear which assets are "non-core" and should be auctioned off to the highest bidders. Without the road map available for all to see, Pandit’s approach will be perceived as unfocused and unproductive.

The white board is empty. Pandit needs to get himself a black marker.

Douglas A. McIntyre

Read more: Banking,
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