Your point is well made.  There have been quite a few "outsiders" who came to Hawaii and failed for the reasons you stated.  Coach Dick Tomey and June Jones took over a failing football program, brought in their own people and turned the program around in short order.  Larry Ellison came in and bought Lanai and from what I can see so far is making progress turning Lanai into a world class experiment in agriculture and healthcare.  However, there are more examples of failures than success.  Such is life and politics in Hawaii.