Chief Executive (U.S.) articles from April 2007

Chief Executive (U.S.) archives from April 2007

The Clint Eastwood question.(EDITOR'S NOTE)(Financial report)
April 1, 2007... It's Wall Street's version of Texas Hold 'em. Like the proverbial cattle drivers descending on a Kansas cow-town of the Ole West, dealmaker investment banker cowboys are celebrating their bonanza fees--$4.6 billion in the first quarter of 2007...

Joe nails it.(FEEDBACK)
April 1, 2007... Joe Queenan's commentary "Tempus Fugit" (January/February 2007) actually hits the nail on the head! One of my clients is a member of an organization in Southern California that is chartered to do exactly as Mr. Queenan suggests--provide interim...

Six [SIGMA] vs. MVT.(FEEDBACK)(multivariable testing )
April 1, 2007... Holland is correct in asserting that most companies that "announce broad Six Sigma programs" do not gain much benefit in the long term, and often, not even in the short term. However, he is incorrect to state that MVT, or any other...

A rose for Cyprus.(FEEDBACK)
April 1, 2007... Your January/February 2007 issue handed a thorn to Europe for their stalling on Turkey's accession to the EU. Perhaps assessing the over 30 years of illegal occupation of one-third of a sovereign nation is not stalling but taking a hard look at...

Enterprise evolution.(CEO CHRONICLES)(Interview)
April 1, 2007... Critics predict a tough year of industry consolidation and fierce competition in enterprise software, and argue that SAP dropped the development ball by going too long between product upgrades. Unfazed, SAP is plotting to maintain its rapid...

Blog fever?(CEO CHRONICLES)
April 1, 2007... David Neeleman of Jet Blue used one to publicly apologize for a rash of "unacceptable delays, flight cancellations, lost baggage and other major customer inconveniences." Bill Marriott wrote about adding an inch (of height) through Pilates...

Northern exposure.(CEO WATCH)(Interview)
April 1, 2007... Bill George, former CEO of Medtronic, recently teamed up with coauthor Peter Sims on True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership, a book based on leadership research and first-person interviews with 125 of today's top leaders. CE talked to...

Thorns & roses.(CEO CHRONICLES)
April 1, 2007... ROSE... To DAVID NEELEMAN, for creative groveling in taking his campaign of publicly apologizing for the misery his carrier Jet Blue caused delayed passengers to YouTube. THORN... To former Federal Reserve Chairman ALAN...

Market turmoil shakes CEO Confidence.(CEO CONFIDENCE INDEX)
April 1, 2007... ON THE HEELS OF THE RECENT DIP IN THE STOCK MARKET, Chief Executive's CEO Confidence Index fell by 10.9 points, according to 213 executives surveyed. All component indices, composed of questions about specific parts of the economy and used to...

The numbers.(CEO CHRONICLES)
April 1, 2007... Who should provide health care insurance? [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Government to individuals 21% Companies to individuals 26% Insurance companies to individuals 53% Note: Table made from pie chart.

Filling the talent gap: companies must assess--and address--the coming talent gap.(CHIEF CONCERN)
April 1, 2007... In both developed and developing countries, the evolving workforce is creating a talent shortage. In developed nations, retiring baby boomers will drain the talent pool. Meanwhile, developing countries are growing rapidly but lack experienced...

Cognitive bias in the boardroom: how to avoid the trap.(THOUGHT LEADER)
April 1, 2007... Recent upheaval in several boards of directors, including Hewlett-Packard, provides a window into "board culture"--the prevailing set of values, beliefs and unstated assumptions that shape the way directors relate to one another and their...

A world too tightly wired: what does it mean when a minor market movement triggers a worldwide plummet?(UNCOMMON WISDOM)
April 1, 2007... That a drop in the Shanghai Stock Market could trigger a worldwide sell-off exposes, I now believe, a deeper and more insidious problem. It's suddenly clear. All the efficiencies and luxuries of a tightly wired world have come at a price. The...

New CEO boardroom survival guide: CEOs who ignore the importance of board relations do so at their peril.(MANAGEMENT)
April 1, 2007... New CEOs typically inherit the boards of their predecessors--boards that today have become far more actively engaged than those of a decade earlier and have little hesitation in making changes in the corner office. The New York Times reports...

The economics of the melting pot: how have the 25 million immigrants arriving in America since 1980 affected the employment equation?(ECONOMIC POLICY)
April 1, 2007... No issue on the congressional docket this year will incite more passion and controversy than immigration policy. Polls show Americans ranking immigration reform as one of the five most pressing issues for the nation--but there's widespread...

Who's on next? Why do so few private firms tackle the succession planning task?(PRIVATE COMPANIES)
April 1, 2007... Marv Soiland, president and founder of Stony Point Rock Quarry, was in his 70s when the issue of a successor for the business he had owned and run for more than two decades first arose. Like many entrepreneurs, Soiland envisioned his company...

The dark side of CEO succession: all transitions are tricky. When planning one, here's what to avoid at all costs.(LEADERSHIP TRANSITION)
April 1, 2007... Pop the champagne cork! The new leader has been anointed. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] His smarts and nearly flawless ability to land on his feet won him an impressive reputation. He "managed up" flawlessly, provided clear and credible...

The art of the deal: integration strategies that work; Mergers have always been risky business. But in the current M & A mania--fueled in part by a raging private equity market--the buyer must truly beware.(Company overview)
April 1, 2007... Late winter snowstorms aside, February was a particularly cold month on Wall Street. After the former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan mused about a coming recession, the Asian markets tanked and panicky investors sent the Dow spiraling....

The double whammy: regulation beats litigation. Unfortunately, CEOs must contend with both.(REGULATION)
April 1, 2007... Modern CEOs spend much time fending off the dual threats that regulation and litigation pose to their companies. It is tempting for CEOs to place these two problems in separate compartments on the grounds that regulation calls for one sort of...

Cruise control: get prepped to take the helm with a private sailing course.(EXECUTIVE LIFE)
April 1, 2007... When not at the helm of HD Brown Enterprises in Ontario, Douglas Brown is likely to be found steering--literally--a very different ship. Last spring, he captained a 47-foot catamaran to island-hop in the Caribbean with his family. A few months...

Get a real job: a work force of hobbyists? Bad idea.(FLIP SIDE)
April 1, 2007... In a piece of genuinely alarming news, The Wall Street Journal reports that baby boomers reaching retirement age are increasingly taking jobs as "hobbies." Some are early retirees who lack the wealth to exit the work force entirely and instead...

The Supremes gone wild.(EDITORIAL)
April 1, 2007... IT'S NOT JUST COLLEGE GIRLS who go wild during spring break. In its recent ruling criticizing the Environmental Protection Agency for giving "no reasoned explanation" for its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars...

Time for a new appraisal.(EDITORIAL)(Brief article)
April 1, 2007... WE NOW KNOW THAT IRAQ isn't Germany and Japan. Having described the Middle East as a region whose population desperately wants the freedoms the West takes for granted, the President described a country that, once liberated from the deprivations...