THE president of the Santa Gertrudis Society has denied bullying his former general manager, Bill Dunlop, out of the position.
President Dennis Moxey said Mr Dunlop's dismissal was a deliberate decision by the board to review his position, and the decision was unanimous to seek a different management style.
"I suppose when Bill was employed there was emphasis on publicity and lifting the profile of the breed, and now we have questioned that and wonder if the focus should be on just good business management," he said.
"Some of the breed societies are operating under tougher conditions, with drought and a lack of membership, so this may be of greater importance than having flair and publicity."
Mr Dunlop was axed from his position three weeks ago, and recently wrote an opinion piece in Queensland Country Life, taking a thinly veiled swipe at the society.
"What has happened to our societies? Why are they riddled with self-interest and abusive behaviours?" he wrote.
"It feels time to remind each other of our responsibility for our actions, and to speak up and call out when we something is not right, as I am doing here."
Mr Moxey said he had been working closely with Mr Dunlop to try to change direction.
"We found we couldn't so we needed to take those steps."
Mr Moxey said he had been reluctant to comment on the issue until now because he did not want to create any hardships.
"So I was letting it all die down, and I think it's at the stage where we can now move on and create something positive."
While the society has gone through three general managers in almost as many years, Mr Moxey played down the impact of the instability.
He said there had been a different set of circumstances for each general manager leaving, but the past three years had seen Mr Dunlop move "in a different direction".
"Hats off to the Angus Society for their marketing, but we might run ourselves into a hole if we try and follow suit," he said.
Instead, Mr Moxey said, the society had plans to focus on people management and support its members.
"In reality a lot of publicity is in the hands of the bull sellers and not really incorporated in our membership fees."
He said the committee was drafting a job description for the next general manager.
