Talk:Bob McDonald (businessman)

Excessive edit requests
In the past 2.5 years there have been nearly 80 edit requests, most of them bullshit polishing of minor stuff. It's gotten really ridiculous. This really needs to stop. Wikipedia is not LinkedIn. —valereee (talk) 19:51, 29 April 2021 (UTC)


 * I have started working my way through this article to check that sources actually support the assertions they're being used for. So far I've checked two, and they don't. —valereee (talk) 20:13, 29 April 2021 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure whether -- or indeed how -- the number of requests might be throttled, but it would surely be a small boon to the talk-page reader for them at least not to be filed under "== Some Proposed Changes ==" every single time. Repeated often enough, it starts to read as maybe a step or two above "I'D LIKE TO TALK TO WIKIPEDIA's MANAGER".  109.255.211.6 (talk)
 * Yeah, it would be good to have the section headings be unique, as when they're not they screw up the search function. Maybe "Edit request 1 April 2021" or something. And only once per quarter, maybe. How can we need 80 edit requests in past 30 months for someone who is basically retired and doing board work at this point? —valereee (talk) 21:50, 29 April 2021 (UTC)
 * If it’s determined that the idea of quarterly proposed changes is agreed upon for this article, then I’m happy to work within that structure. Thank you.Tsmith47 (talk) 14:29, 30 April 2021 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes (7-13-21)
I am proposing the following changes. Specifically, the content below regarding VA is being provided because it pertains to the subject’s direct involvement in helping to address and solve known critical issues at VA. The other updates include a new event for the Personal Life section and a correction to the last sentence in the first paragraph under the Career section.

Personal Life

Please incorporate the following update into the Personal Life section as the first sentence:

In 2021 McDonald funded a Cincinnati startup hub for entrepreneurs called Cintrifuse.

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Please add the following content as the sixth paragraph under U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs:

Another important decision by McDonald was the creation of the Veterans Experience Office which addressed the critical concern of how Veterans received better service from the VA. One of McDonald’s first acts under the new office was the hiring of Tom Allin in 2015 as the agency’s first ever chief veteran experience officer to address the agency’s treatment of Veterans.

The decision by McDonald to bring private sector experience to VA in the hiring of Allin, and, his realignment the agency under 12 breakthrough priorities created organizational change that led to a reduction in disability claim backlogs for the agency, its lowest since 2009.

Career

Please change the last sentence in the first paragraph to:

“As chief executive officer, McDonald oversaw a $10 billion restructuring plan.”

In all the citations provided, the subject is referred to as CEO or chief executive officer and not the chief operating officer.Tsmith47 (talk) 14:43, 13 July 2021 (UTC)


 * Aside from HBR, these all seem tremendously low-grade sources, and in context it's hard to see them as being neutrally gathered collections of uncontentious facts with clear relevance such that we'd overlook that to include them anyway. The COO -> CEO edit I would however concur on -- as far as I can see that's just an error in the present text.  More broadly though I'd wonder if the available clearly reliable sources -- WaPo, NYT -- are being fully reflected in the current gloss that he was fired from H&G for being a managerial genius, too loyal to the business, and personally pained by every layoff.  "My greatest weakness is that I'm an overachieving perfectionist", per the job-interview tactic.  Other available analyses include:  "'At no time during our employment can any of us recall such intense, widespread concern about the leadership and strategic direction of the Company as is currently being openly expressed'" and "A hedge fund head, William Ackman, who owned 29 million shares of P&G stock, blamed the company’s problems on its “convoluted” organizational structure — a charge frequently leveled at the VA — and said that McDonald, who served on 21 boards, was too often away from the headquarters and out of touch."  (Both from the former, "Robert McDonald, Obama’s VA nominee, faced own challenges at Procter & Gamble", article.)  109.255.211.6 (talk) 06:57, 24 July 2021 (UTC)
 * Yellow check.svg Partly done: Cintrifuse is not notable. Tweaked promotional language elsewhere. PK650 (talk) 22:05, 12 October 2021 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes (12-16-21)
I am proposing the following updated be added as the first paragraph under the Personal Life section.

In November 2021, McDonald received the President’s Award for Lifetime Achievement from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation.Tsmith47 (talk) 18:30, 16 December 2021 (UTC)


 * ❌ If this award is notable, there would be a wikilink to the award and coverage of the award in a secondary source. As there is neither, I do not think this is important to add to the article. Z1720 (talk) 03:41, 19 December 2021 (UTC)
 * User talk:Z1720 I completely understand your comment on this. If there becomes credible, secondary sources for this update, I'm happy to provide them and re-submit this suggestion.Tsmith47 (talk) 20:07, 20 December 2021 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes 8-30-22
I am proposing the following updates and changes.

Personal Life

Please add the following sentence as the first sentence in the section.

In 2020, McDonald was selected for membership to the Horatio Alger Association.

Career:

Please add the following sentence as the second sentence to the second paragraph.

However, in his final 12 months at P&G, McDonald refocused the company on its core markets and products and cut costs to which the company's shares reacted by rising 26% and the company earning $11 billion in profits.

Board Work

Please add the following sentence as the last sentence in the section:

McDonald also served as the board chair of Cintrifuse following is retirement from P&G. Tsmith47 (talk) 16:17, 30 August 2022 (UTC)
 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: This is an article, not a resumé. Quetstar (talk) 22:12, 30 August 2022 (UTC)

Some Proposed Changes 4-15-24
I am proposing some changes to the Board Work section of the article that better reflect the subject's current roles.

McDonald is the Chairman of The Board of the West Point Association of Graduates and the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, and is also on the board of Every Cure and Audia International. Tsmith47 (talk) 18:03, 15 April 2024 (UTC) Tsmith47 (talk) 18:03, 15 April 2024 (UTC)

❌. All of these are press releases. Valereee (talk) 21:01, 15 April 2024 (UTC)


 * I've removed the Board Work section. It changes too often. Tell your client he can keep his LinkedIn updated for that. Valereee (talk) 21:04, 15 April 2024 (UTC)
 * @ValdoLex, these board positions change constantly, and all of those sources are from press releases. IMO this isn't important enough to try to keep updated. Valereee (talk) 17:01, 14 May 2024 (UTC)