Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 5th Edition by Raymond Noe, John Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, Patrick Wright

Exercise 11

Embarrassed by an Executive Exodus
Usually, when executives leave an organization, they make polite statements about new opportunities and a desire to spend time with family. In that context, the statements made by some former executives of Pabst Brewing Company are startling. Within about the first year after the company was purchased by C. Dean Metropoulos and his two sons in 2010, more than two dozen of its executives quit. Former chief executive officer Kevin Kotecki told a reporter, "Just about everything that I'd been working on or trying to accomplish ended up not being part of the plan going forward." And Bryan Clarke, former vice president of marketing said this about the new owners' strategy: "I want it to fail."
What was behind this public embarrassment? The Metropouloses haven't commented publicly on the leadership situation, but some information offers clues. Former Pabst executives including Kotecki, Clarke, and former marketing director Kyle Wortham had for several years enjoyed a sense of mission as they resurrected tired beer brands by talking to former customers and researching old brewing methods. They restored beloved formulas for brands such as Pabst Blue Ribbon, Schlitz, and Old Style. As beer drinkers reacquainted themselves with the brands, sales and profits soared along with the brands' reputations.
Pabst Brewing became an enticing target for the Metropouloses. However, after the acquisition, as the new owners expressed their goals to the company's executives, they didn't talk about learning the tastes of the regions served by each brand. They instead laid out ideas for promoting the brands more vigorously through advertising and celebrity endorsements. In what some saw as a sign of lack of commitment to local communities, the new owners moved the corporate headquarters from Woodridge, Illinois, near Chicago, to Los Angeles. As they pushed forward, sales growth slowed, and executives say their past contributions were devalued. One by one, they began leaving the company, with the departures including the chief executive officer, chief operating officer, and a series of two chief marketing officers. Some were so frustrated they publicly aired their difficulties in dealing with their new bosses.
Based on the information available, could the new owners of Pabst Brewing have prevented this high level of turnover at the top? Should they have prevented this employee turnover? Why or why not?