Chief Executive (U.S.) articles from August 2003

Chief Executive (U.S.) archives from August 2003

A changing of the guard.(Editor's Note)
August 1, 2003... Andy Grove uses the term "inflection point" to speak about major shifts in the tech world. I think we're now seeing a different kind of inflection point regarding how CEOs do their jobs. One era was apparent at our CEO of the Year dinner in...

When to go private.(Feedback)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... "The Sarbox Ball and Chain" (July 2003) ended with a telling point: that the compliance burden falls disproportionately on small companies. Faced with the extra time and money required to meet the new rules, many smaller companies might now be...

Ideas on top-line growth.(Feedback)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... In July, we asked our readers what steps they are taking to grow their companies 'top lines. Here is a sampling: Our market (retail display manufacturing) is stuck in older manufacturing technologies. We've experienced growth via...

Correction.(Feedback)(Correction Notice)
August 1, 2003... An article in July incorrectly identified Julie Daum. She is the practice leader, North American board services, for Spencer Stuart, not Korn/Ferry International.

Larry Ellison of Oracle.(Darts ...)(the takeover bid of PeopleSoft doesn't look like it's going to work)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... * LARRY ELLISON of Oracle. It looks like your takeover bid of PeopleSoft isn't going to work, oh hirsute one. Another case of shooting off at the mouth? Why don't you concentrate on actually competing? Your lunch seems to be getting eaten. SAP,...

Phil Condit.(Darts ...)(controversial $20 billion leasing deal with the Air Force)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... * PHIL CONDIT at Boeing. Have you given up the battle against Airbus? First, you decamped from Seattle. Now, you're moving deeper into the U.S. government's embrace with a controversial $20 billion leasing deal with the Air Force. Is something...

Jeff Immelt of GE.(Roses ...)(rumoured to be selling Plastics)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... * JEFF IMMELT of GE. We hear through the grapevine you're thinking about selling poorly performing Plastics. Do you dare sell the part of the House That Jack Built? We say, do what you've got to do to create your own GE. Your predecessor...

Tom Engibous of Texas Instruments.(Roses ...)(announces plans for a $3 billion semiconductor plant in Texas)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... * TOM ENGIBOUS of Texas Instruments, By announcing plans for a $3 billion semiconductor plant in Texas, Engibous may be leading the way out of capital spending's nuclear winter. Way to go, pardner. Where's the rest of the posse?

'Poor' Japan goes upscale.(global)(luxury retailers flourishing)
August 1, 2003... Japan's economy has been stagnant or in recession for more than a decade, and the usual litany of woes has started to sound like a broken record: falling consumer sentiment, rising unemployment, the stock market in a slump, banks teetering on...

Tale of the Tape.(books)(Book Review)
August 1, 2003... For decades, when CEOs of companies such as IBM, General Electric, Xerox and Gillette have needed a new cashmere topcoat or summer-weight suit they've turned to a man named Jack Mitchell. Now, the successful tailor is telling his side of the...

Confidence is building, but worries remain.(CEO Confidence Index)
August 1, 2003... CEOs' perception of the economy is improving, and they believe that, on balance, President Bush's economic policies are having a positive impact. But corporate leaders remain deeply concerned about the effects of globalization, job losses and...

Overall, the market remains flat.(Construction)(Industry Overview)
August 1, 2003... Like many sectors of the U.S. economy, the construction industry enjoyed heady times in the late '90s. And thanks to a steady new housing market, it hasn't been as badly hurt as other industries in today's hard times. But overall, construction...

Managing the Intellectual Economy.(Chief Concern)
August 1, 2003... Corporations around the world are searching for ways to ensure success, but they often overlook hidden financial opportunities within their portfolio of intellectual properties. These companies are losing sight of a huge opportunity for...

Consider all options for options.(Thought Leader)(alternatives to employee stock options)
August 1, 2003... Microsoft's recent decision to replace options with restricted stock overturns a host of market myths and paves the way for new thinking about incentives. But while the market seemed to like the new pay plan, it won't be the best approach for...

Rise of the new breed: the age of the imperial CEO is waning. In its place, a crop of new CEOs--humble, team building, highly communicative--are rising.
August 1, 2003... Upon joining CDW two years ago, John Edwardson had a large picture window installed in his office. Where CEOs have traditionally worked in hushed inner sanctums--far from prying eyes--Edwardson wanted employees to be able to look right in and...

China: profits and perils.(Regional Report)
August 1, 2003... THE STORY OF CHINA'S involvement with the outside world was a simple one when I first started covering China in 1979--it was called the Canton Trade Fair. This annual trading event in the city, since renamed Guangzhou, was almost the sole point...

The eBay of China: Eachnet: a Shanghai online auction firm set out to imitate eBay. In June, eBay bought it.(Regional Report)
August 1, 2003... From his 25th-floor corner office overlooking Nanjing Road's famous neon-lit shopping malls and fanciful skyscrapers, Bo Shao runs an online auction business that could someday outpace even its role model, eBay. "If we realize our dream, we...

Sealed Air quietly builds: the company took a careful step-by-step approach to build a profitable presence.(Regional Report)
August 1, 2003... You can tell that Bill Hickey, CEO of Sealed Air, has spent a lot of time in China--he understands,how the Chinese think about food. Very early in my career, one Chinese employee was trying to explain why his people eat chicken feet," Hickey...

A Future in high-tech: opening a computer chip plant in China teaches many lessons. Ask Richard Chang.(Regional Report)
August 1, 2003... The busy Huangpu River in Shanghai serves as a delineation point for this bustling city of 14 million people. On one bank is the Band and its long boulevard of buildings with European architecture from the colonial era. On the other is The...

EMC Redux: once a high-flyer, the data storage king stumbled badly. Now CEO Joe Tucci is leading it through a wrenching transformation.(Technology)
August 1, 2003... Watching your company's stock price collapse by 90 percent in your first year on the job would be enough to discourage even the most seasoned CEO. Yet peering into the abyss seems only to have energized Joe Tucci, who took over EMC, the $5.4...

Global Heavyweight: Marilyn Carlson Nelson waited nearly a lifetime to become CEO of Carlson Cos. Now she plans to take the top travel services firm to greater heights.(Profile)(Biography)
August 1, 2003... At her first annual meeting as CEO and chair of the largest company in the world run by a woman, Marilyn Carlson Nelson glided up to the podium on Rollerblades. In place of the usual, "Good day, ladies and gentlemen," her entrance line was,...

Chief Executive honors Greenberg: CEO of the Year Hank Greenberg warns against 'regulatory overexuberance' and calls U.S. capital markets the 'envy of the world.'.(Award Dinner)
August 1, 2003... As Citigroup's Sandy Weill was getting ready to hand off the CEO of the Year award to AIG's Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, Weill joked that he wished Greenberg a better reign. "There is no way that I would wish him a year like I had," said the...

The flexible corporation: how CEOs can do more for less: it can make anyone nervous to let an outsider in. But nowadays, strategic outsourcing is practically a competitive requirement.(Roundtable)(Panel Discussion)
August 1, 2003... Roughly 10 years after the Internet first appeared on the radar screen as a possible commercial tool, its influence on the ways companies structure themselves is finally becoming clear. It is now possible to identify processes--from claims...

On the Chilean wine trail: a long journey to a remote land yields some surprises.(travel)
August 1, 2003... We had just finished tasting a silky violet-hued merlot under an umbrella beside a lagoon at the 19th century estate of Concha y Toro when our amiable guide steered us through some brush. The narrow, dusty path led to a clearing and a vineyard...

A Pedigree that counts: sensuous and sleek, Bentley's Arnage R commands attention.(wheels)(Product/Service Evaluation)
August 1, 2003... Just the thought of a Bentley is enough to make you believe that your social circle encompasses princes and queens. Could your trailer of polo ponies be far behind? Whatever circle you travel in, it is certain to be more fun in a Bentley. ...

In-Flight Madness.(Flip Side)(entertaining airline attendants)
August 1, 2003... Every once in a while, society is confronted by a trend so menacing, so degrading, so fundamentally idiotic that the people must rise as one and see that it is stopped dead in its tracks. Case in point: the frightening evolution of the comedic...

Outsourcing, jobs and innovation.(Editorial)
August 1, 2003... A vital debate is taking shape, and it has a direct bearing on the ability of CEOs to manage their businesses in the most cost-efficient way. This debate--about where American jobs are going--could emerge just as CEOs are trying to recover...