Final Word from Friday, June 10, 2011
If you can't get to work on Mon. because the city-transit or rail workers are on strike,send your taxi bill to CEO Martin Roman of ČEZ. He could have done more thanperhaps anyone, even PM Petr Nečas, to prevent the strike. As a member of CzechRailways' supervisory board until the end of 2009, he was well-positioned to get tothe bottom of who owns Škoda Transportation, which supplies tens of billions ofcrowns in rolling stock to DP Praha and Czech Railways. Škoda had net profit of Kč2.6bn in 2009 on revenue of Kč 5.1bn, including an operating margin of 39%. With amargin like that in heavy industry, you'd think Škoda Transport's beneficial ownerswould write a management book that outsells Jack Welch! Instead, they are merelythe authors of a crime story of the kind that, while not the immediate cause of Monday'sstrike, is usually just below the surface whenever the money starts running out.
Glossary of difficult words
to skid - (of a vehicle) to slide on slippery ground or as a result of stopping or turning too quickly;
to get to the bottom of something - to find an explanation (for a mystery);
rolling stock - locomotives, carriages, wagons or other vehicles used on a railroad;
DP Praha - Dopravní podnik Praha, the Prague transit company;
beneficial owner - the ultimate owner of a security;
to outsell - to be sold in greater quantities than;
Jack Welch - former CEO of General Electric.