Is there anyone out there who has seen/knows details of the boards 3 year plan. The standard talking points of the board is "We inherited a terrible situation" and "We are working towards a 3 year plan".

We all know about the situation they inherited. No need to expand on that.

All I currently know about this 3 year plan is that it aims to have the club in a revenue neutral situation by the third year.

Can anyone give some of the details about how the board will achieve this target? Are the details publicly available?

- To be cash neautral by the end of 2007.
- To redevelop Princes Park into elite training facilities in conjunction with help from the AFL, State and Federal Governments.

Thats about it. Nothing further to how they are going to achieve it.

_________________
Mjonc signing off at 8888

Welcome Napoleon. Unfortunately, all we know is what you have posted. It was asked a couple of times at the AGM & we didn't get a response. All they told us what exactly what we read in the papers last week & the week before.

_________________
Witty signature required.

Well its just beyond the horizon, just keep walking...

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

I've actually been Secretary to a Board of a $30 million business. My first response to Napolean is this: is there anything in the club's constitution which requires disclosure of the business plan?
If the answer is no, then it would not in any way be unusual for an organisation such as the Carlton Football Club to fail to disclose its business plan. Those of you who are shareholders in Australian or overseas companies, consider for a moment the Business Plans you receive from them. I am a shareholder of nine Australian companies (incl. BHP, Woodside, Coles Myer, ANZ Bank, and Wesfarmers) and can assure you that I have not once receieved a business plan from any of them. Remember, a business plan is not an Annual Report. In most instances, the Annual Report will contain an overview of the Business Plan, but that is the most depth you will usually receive. The reasons for this are that the Business Plan usually contains information that is commercial-in-confidence. In the instance of the business that I worked for, the only recipients of the business plan were the Industry stakeholder group with whom we were associated, and the Minister in charge of the relevant portfolio. Under no circumstances would other stakeholders have been permitted access.
So at the end of all this, what I am saying is that it is not unusual to only have a snapshot of the business plan. The only meaningful way in which shareholders of major corporations typically have input into the Business Plan is through the election of Board members. That is why there seemed to be a level of support on TC for Lee - the fact he would bring marketing experience to the table and have the opportunity to provide his own specialised input into the Board. In effect, you, the Members, have helped in the development of the Business Plan by the election of Lee. But under no circumstances should the Board be placed into the position of forced disclosure of their Business Plan, unless it is a requirement under the terms of the Club's Constitution.

I wouldn't expect the club to provide a detailed plan as this information could be commercially sensitive however I would expect them to publish the key strategies and targets for each of the business sectors for the next three years.

Once again Phoenix, is this information in the annual report? And I don't mean extensive information either. Returning to the major corporations, you will most often find the extent of the disclosed information to be one or two pages - maybe a mission statement, or values, or targets. In the instance of Carlton footy Club, the target of 'revenue neutral' or whatever people have quoted is probably no less than what half of the corporations in Australia provide each year. The reason for this is that Board members are typically appointed / elected to provide Corporate Governance over a long-term time-frame ie. 10 years. Yet shareholders (or in this case members) have short-term horizons based on their own personal interests. The statutes of disclosure are in place in the interests of promoting long-term health, and sound corporate governance. You still have the right to hold the Board responsible at the AGM, as many of you did in electing Lee.

Molly, i agree with Phoenix.
We dont want a detailed business plan.. but there needs to be some kind of guide about the kinds of markers and targets were looking at achieving with the club.
If the club folds alot of us would have to come up with a small amount of cash for the creditors.Whilst it is almost insignificant we still have a responsibility
That should mean a board that was elected on a platform of transparency should have a responsibility to communicate an outline of a BP to the members.

If you talk to any member that was there.. i doubt one who attended was more optimistic when exiting the meeting than they were going in.

The meeting was a void to any Carlton supporter that was hoping the club is working towards succees.

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Think one of the initiatives is the fund-raising major raffle. $300 a ticket, only 1500 tickets to be sold, a members only raffle, blah, blah, blah!

An off-field marketing team is selling the tics by making calls to members.

Molly, whilst there are some accounting entries.. they mean nothing to the average person.
Not only do they mean nothing but they sound rather fuzzy.
I always had a problem with them saying the ground costs were 1.8 million dollars.. and then at the AGM it was discovered after some pushing that Collo said it was 700/800-k but if we improved it , it would be more...
Then someone else from the board mentioned yet another figure...

With most clubs you know what theyre attemptiong to do by the vibe of what theyre doing .. and what they say.

What we get are a series of somersaults.. so there is no consitency about what theyre doing at board level.
this concerns me because i like to think i can tell the jist of what were doing... but how can we as supporters follow what theyre doing when they dont even know what theyre doing???

Its an on off yeah no....

Caroline wilson last night again REITERATED that she was told we would go for assistance and again said TWO board members told her so.. after the story in the AGE.. the club went into damage control because of the heading 'BLUEBEGGERS' forced a meeting and came out of that meeting with a denial .
she said they had no problems with the story itself originally...the problem was with the headline 'BLUEBEGGERS'.. which the club thought would be hurtful to its image.

So what they did is went out and called Caro a LIAR!!.. which does not go well with how she and others will be treating us from this point on...Caro was on Collos side prior to this.. make no mistake.

PS WE have the HEarld Sun already hating us.

Were just digging ourselves a hole in the media.

Another example of not knowing what the hell youre doing is the Fev balls up!!!.. Face of the club one week .. leper the next!!!.. thats just stupidity!!!
The Kouta Collo Allison situation...


If theyre @#$%&! up the simple things.. how are they getting the big things right..????

considering the big things really depend on the little things...

Companies dont invest money on losers who have no clue.. and neither do the fair weather supporters...

Sure we will get sponsors... (Not enough)

Sure we will sell boxes..(Not enough)

Sure we will have coterie members.. (not enough)

Sure we will have members... (not enough)

People need a message sold to them.

Thats why not enough jump on board...(pardon the pun)

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Molly, I understand the sort of information that's in annual reports. Most of the info in the CFC report deals with historical info, there's very liitle about the future. And I know that annual reports deal mainly with historical info but they also focus on the future as well

What I would expect to see is perhaps half a dozen or so bullet points summarising key strategies and targets. No need to worry about coperate goverance issues or stuff like that. Just a simple outline of where the club wants to be in three years time.

Yes Phoenix and Synbad,

I actually am hearing you. And I don't blame you for wanting more. Just like the shareholders of AWB want more too.
What I am trying to say is that in terms of statutes and regulations, I suspect that the Board is being totally compliant. By not providing extra information they are in fact demonstrating a consistency with the vast majority of corporations Australia-wide. The fact is we are not hard done-by here, unless everybody else is too (shareholders and members of other corporate bodies). And to moralise about the fact is pointless - we'd be better off going to Johnny Howard with a petition to change the Corporations Law, because that is where the blame would lie.

Yes Synbad,

look all of what you said may be relevant. I'm just keen not to let the story outweigh the facts here. The facts are:

1. Unless the Constitution directly compels the Club to disclose its business plan, then it is under no compunction to do so
2. The fact our Board has chosen not to do this makes it no different to the vast majority of (in some cases very) large corporation domestically and globally
3. If the Members feel there is a dereliction of duty regarding the substance of information coming from the Club then they have a right to remove the Directors via vote at the AGM

What I am saying is that the Club has not demonstrated a legal or fiscal deriliction in this instance. They have complied by what is required of them. To all those members who feel more is owed to them by the Board then they have the right to remove Directors at the AGM. Given one new member was elected at the expense of a sitting Director then the members have made clear that they are holding the Board accountable, and that more is expected of them. At next year's AGM the members will have further opportunity to express their views. But let me reiterate that the Board is under no obligation to disclose its Business Plan. You as a member are allowed to hold them accountable for this. But can we just keep the emotion out of it please?

Molly, we dont want a detailed business plan.
We just want some pointers outlined.

Now of course they dont have to give them to us. there is no legal obligation for them to give us anything except what the accountancy bare minimum.. (Like Jack was obliged to give us)
But they must understand were burnt.. and were still hurting.. we see nothing ... and by playing their minimalist game it will catch up to them...

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Thank God for Molly!

Just ignoring bullistic.
Its a footy club.. its a club that belongs to the people... its not selling wheat the the iraqis.. or manufacturing cars.. or selling mobile phones..

Were in the business of people...and a sport for people that belong to a CLUB

I think the bean counters in charge of the club at the moment have lost sight of this.

_________________
Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

I start to wonder that even if they give you said information Synners, whether you'd leave it at that, even if it was satisfactory.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Bottom line:


Win games = money.



Thank you

Muzza

Molly,

Disagree, most companies will outline what there strategic targets are and outline their ambitions for the future. they'll do this quite often. It's the "how" that that won't disclose and that's fine because it's usally commercially sensitive.

Yes Phoenix,

I agree that most companies will outline a target - but what exactly is 'revenue neutral by 2007' if it is not a target?
Look, I just think it is really important that people on here understand that just because a vision has not been provided does not necessarily (read that word) mean there is something rotten in the state of Denmark. To the people on these message boards who are undecided about the competence or otherwise of this Board, I simply believe they deserve to understand that this Board is not doing something different to that required by law, or to the practices of other organisations. You may feel you want something more from them and hence you are able to exercise this option through your vote at the AGM.
As for the argument we are in the business of people (not selling wheat to Iraqis, etc) and that therefore our board owes us more. Well run the argument past the wheat growers of AWB who now have limited chances to continue their livelihood through the incompetence of their Board. I reckon that's a pretty personal business. Tell it to the pensioners who had their cash in Westpoint and now have to return to work. As a footy club, we are not different - that's life. If we wish to place extra expectations on our Board (repeating ad nauseum) then we have the opportunity to do so through the election of fresh Board Members at the AGM. In the meantime, I'd suggest that running a campaign of 'we don't have a vision in front of us, so therefore we are stuffed' is more than a little misleading to those good members who have yet to make up their minds on the competence or otherwise of the current board.