Invisible wrote:
> 
> Indeed, when our hard-hitting new interrim CEO joined the company, his 
> goal was not "increase profits" or "reduce debts" - it was "increase our 
> share price".
> 
> Uh, WTF?
> 

Officers are appointed by the board of directors for a company.  Board 
members are elected by the shareholders.

Guess what shareholders want....  usually an increase in share value, or 
dividends.

Those who are officers in a company are very close to the shareholders, 
and therefore that's their focus.



> As far as I'm aware, a company's share price is an arbitrary number 
> decided by a bunch of people who know nothing about the company in 
> question. In other words, it's not actually possible to control share 
> prices; they just vary at random. In particular, a share price is in no 
> way related to how well a company is or isn't doing.
> 

Yes, share prices can be misleading - it's mostly an indicator of how 
much people want the stock.  If it is in high demand - share prices tend 
to go up - if it is in low demand, share prices go down.  By making a 
company 'look' more desirable one can cause share prices to go up - but 
that all can be a sham - look at Enron, MCI Worldcom, etc....

> Most specifically, raising your share price doesn't stop you from going 
> into liquidation. :-P I would have thought keeping the company trading 
> would be a far, *far* more important target than raising some arbitrary 
> number that nobody actually cares about. But what do I know?
> 

No, it doesn't.  But it can make a company look more valuable, 
especially if another merger is possibly coming up.  The shareholders 
are the ones that usually win.  In the end the paid worker just gets a 
check - if they are lucky.

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