Chief Executive (U.S.) articles from April 2004

Chief Executive (U.S.) archives from April 2004

What it takes to win.(Editor's Note)(CEO of the year)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... Our annual CEO of the Year selection meetings are short but fascinating. They are off the record, so I can't tell you who said what about whom when we met at the headquarters of American International Group in New York to go over our list of...

Shaping tomorrow's boards.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... Joe Queenan is always amusing and thought-provoking. In "The Feat of the Master" (Flip Side, January/February 2004) he is also right on target. While Mr. Queenan had his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, we nevertheless take quite seriously...

Global indeed.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... I read your recent cover story on the growing importance of international experience for chief executives of U.S. companies ("The Global CEO," January/February 2004) with great interest. I could not agree more. Many CEOs in the United States...

Integrity matters most.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... Your January/February issue contained two articles that have moved me to write. First, in "Succession Planning: Still Broken" (Thought Leader), I believe Roger M. Kenny missed one of the key ingredients in succession planning and board...

Let's remember the young.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2004... I'm fortunate enough to have had ample training in manufacturing. Whether it was learning about procurement and supply-chain strategies from China while at CVS or maintaining strategic partnerships in Asia and Europe while serving as CFO and...

Darts & roses.(CEO Watch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... ROSE... * KEVIN ROLLINS, newly appointed CEO of Dell. Nice move, Michael. Anyone who read our November cover story could have seen this one coming. DART... * COCA-COLA'S BOARD, including Warren Buffett, for bungling a CEO...

Management: Boeing's next Airbus dilemma?(CEO Watch)(European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company enters tanker market)
April 1, 2004... THE STORM FINALLY seemed to be clearing for Boeing last December when Harry Stonecipher replaced Phil Condit as CEO. That seemed to end one of the bumpiest chapters in the company's history, including allegations of fraud in a deal to convert a...

A passion for the business of accounting.
April 1, 2004... There is a select group of individuals in this world who have a passion for accounting. Yes, accounting. And that group happens to be the accountants at Grant Thornton. Our passion for what we do for our clients, our expertise and partner...

Darts & roses.(ECO Watch)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... ROSE... * IBM'S SAM PALMISANO. For his new "premium price plan" covering stock options for his top execs. Shareholders have to gain before the top brass does. What a sensible way to align interests and repair trust. Who said Sam was...

Follow-up: DuPont's Teflon woes.(ECO Watch)(C-8 investigation)
April 1, 2004... DUPONT MAY NOT BE the Teflon company after all. A long-simmering class-action suit, brought by residents of the Ohio River Valley, where DuPont manufactures Teflon, may be coming to a head. As we reported in November, the suit alleges that,...

What Ed Zander must do at Motorola: he must use hidden strengths to go for greatness.(Thought Leader)
April 1, 2004... Analysts are offering advice to Edward Zander, the new chief executive of Motorola. Sell off most pieces of the company, they say, and concentrate on cell phone handsets. They argue that handsets, which account for 40 percent of sales, need...

Good citizenship builds strong cultures: companies that give back also win in the marketplace.(Chief Concern)
April 1, 2004... Businesses that are good corporate citizens distinguish themselves as the most successful businesses. My experience has been that, in premier companies, employee values and shareholder value are inseparably linked. One of the factors in my...

Towards a new definition of service: service providers have to do more than ever.(Chief Concern)
April 1, 2004... When Tom Wolfe wrote in his 1998 novel A Man in Full that "the only thing considered duller, safer, and less adventurous than working for a bank was working for some old-line can't-miss industrial firm... which only needed caretakers," he was...

Is something wrong at Microsoft? It isn't fending off an emerging challenge to its monopoly. And it can't extend its dominance into new sectors. Is this the AT & T syndrome?(Special Report)(Company Profile)
April 1, 2004... Pity poor Mike Rowe. The 17-year-old high school student and part-time Web site designer in Victoria, British Columbia, cleverly registered his personal site as www.mikerowesoft.com. He couldn't have anticipated that this would incur the wrath...

A fragile recovery: the economy may be able to keep growing, but CEOs have big worries--and they aren't convinced that jobs will rebound.(Cover Story)
April 1, 2004... The U.S. economy is growing, interest rates are at rock bottom, and inflation is quiescent. Massive layoffs are mostly a bitter memory. Companies are seeing their sales improve and profits, too. It looks and feels like a recovery. But does...

Japan bounces back: partly thanks to China, Japan's economy is growing.
April 1, 2004... It's been several years since many American CEOs started writing off Japan and zeroing in instead on China as a gold mine of profitability. With the exception of a Starbucks Coffee shop here and there and a few specialty ambulance funds for bad...

Burying the past: audit firms have gotten tougher--and board audit committees have, too.(Finance)
April 1, 2004... When Isolagen, a Houston-based biotechnology company, recently sought to replace its external auditor with a larger, more national accounting firm, the company's board felt the process needed to be as transparent as possible. Isolagen's...

Should audits be graded?(Brief Article)
April 1, 2004... NOT ONLY are accounting firms doing more fraud detection in the wake of Enron and other scandals, there is also a movement afoot to replace the current pass/fail audit with a more detailed grading system. The idea was first suggested by...

Korea's broadband: revolution; What Korea is doing will have global impact.(Technology)
April 1, 2004... Adimly lit staircase leads down to the vast basement of an office building in Seoul's Shinchon district near Yonsei University. Inside, there are five long rows of personal computers. "The Knock." as the dungeon calls itself, is a PC baang, or...

World class: non-American CEOs are having a big impact at traditional U.S. companies.(Global)
April 1, 2004... In the middle of winter, the fact that Carlos Gutierrez isn't from the Midwest is evident in the contrasting appearance of the tall, debonair, Latin chief executive officer of Kellogg and the palefaced natives who work for him in down-town...

Digital CEOs: no longer "digitally homeless," savvy execs are putting tools to work for them.(Technology)
April 1, 2004... When Matthew Rose graduated from business school in 1981, he owned exactly two items that could be considered high tech: a desktop computer and a calculator. He didn't really need anything else. Rose was embarking on a career in the railroad...

Creative learning: how dyslexic CEOs have turned a weakness into a leadership strength.(Personal Challenge)
April 1, 2004... The determined Stanford University freshman was struggling miserably to keep up with his studies. Hampered by dyslexia, he had flunked English twice, not to mention French, and was on the verge of being asked to leave the school. Math and...

Staying healthy: more and more CEOs are getting in-depth physical exams to detect problems long before they occur.(Health)
April 1, 2004... David Goode, chairman and CEO of Norfolk Southern, had been getting thorough physical exams every year at the Sentara Executive Evaluation Center in Norfolk, Va., where his railroad company is headquartered. Like many chief executives, he was...

Members only: high-end vacation clubs transform time-share model.(Travel)
April 1, 2004... For years, when Dale Anderson and his wife, Kim, needed an escape during the colder months in Canton, Ohio, they stole away to their vacation house in Hilton Head Island, S.C. But idyllic as their Low Country retreat was, with its ocean views...

I've had it with cultural sensitivity: if we must do as the Romans, let's make demands of our own.(Flip Side)(cross-cultural training)
April 1, 2004... There's been an awful lot of talk lately about "cross-cultural training," which basically describes a kind of crash course for executives who frequently work in other countries. One item that caught my eye was a New York Times profile of Dean...

How bashing CEOs hurts the economy.(Editorial)(public perception of chief executive officers)(Editorial)
April 1, 2004... THE PERCEPTION GAP is widening between chief executives and their detractors among politicians, regulators, journalists, shareholder activists and academics. The popular mood appears to be "hang all CEOs." The legal proceedings against Bernie...

Succession management: filling the leadership pipeline; Succession management ranks high on CEOs' priority lists, yet many companies have no formal program in place. Here's how to turn talk into action--and competitive advantage.
April 1, 2004... A few years ago, executives at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center recognized that a rapidly evolving business would require some changes in their ranks--and they set out to do something about it. "When you look at the changes in...