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

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

Seeing over the next hill.(EDITOR'S NOTE)
December 1, 2004... For those of you who are critics of the mainstream media, this issue of Chief Executive represents pure, unfiltered communication. We are allowing the very best minds in the corporate and academic worlds to communicate directly and at length...

Meeting the RFID challenge.(FEEDBACK)(radio frequency identification)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... In your recent article about radio frequency identification ("RFID Is No Monster," November), you rightly indicate that the operational benefits of the new technology clearly justify the challenges associated with it. One critical element...

Invest in security.(FEEDBACK)(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... You recently posed the rhetorical but provocative question "Are You Ready?" (Cover Story, August/September). Clearly, from the reporting that went into the article, your answer is unequivocal: Many companies aren't doing enough to assure their...

The new (casino) economy.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2004... You're right on the money regarding the "new economy" ("The New Economy, Really," Editor's Note, October), especially concerning outdated economic models, such as net vs. gross income. The main cost factor in this new services economy is...

Fixing health care.(FEEDBACK)
December 1, 2004... Michael Porter calls for new forms of competition to fix our health care system ("No Easy Cure," October). Competition can't occur without a scorecard, and if the only thing the scorecard measures is how much any individual or group pays for...

Darts & roses.(CEO WATCH)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... ROSE... * PAUL OTELLINI, the new CEO of Intel. Kudos on a textbook case of succession management. But what big acts you have to follow--Moore, Grove and Barrett. You have to rise to that level. Just don't let it go to your head. DART...

Don't cry for me, Adelaide.(GLOBAL)
December 1, 2004... RUPERT MURDOCH, the world's most powerful media baron, has traveled far and wide since inheriting, at age 22, a modest newspaper business from which he has created a global empire. But until now, he was always returned for News Corp's annual...

Darts & roses.(CEO WATCH55)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2004... ROSE... * JOHN CHAMBERS of Cisco Systems. Pay no heed to Wall Street's nattering nabobs. We think a 29 percent increase in earnings is quite respectable. Particularly after tech's long nuclear winter. Tell us: Has spring finally sprung?...

Backlash over regulatory restraint.(CEO CONFIDENCE INDEX)
December 1, 2004... THE BUMP IN CEO CONFIDENCE, just shy of three percentage points, could hardly be called a resounding note of optimism. In fact, with the rise of Future Confidence even smaller, at two points, corporate leaders appear to be, at best, ambivalent...

How to choose your No. 2: it's no small task to find someone who is content to complement you now--with the skills to take your job later.(C-SUITE CONFIDENTIAL)
December 1, 2004... If it's true that you're only as good as the team you've assembled around you, then few decisions could be as important as who will be your No. 2. Just ask Douglas Daft, whose lack of a capable successor sullied his departure last spring from...

Will Sun rise again? Scott McNealy is betting on his No. 2 to turn Sun around.(TECHNOLOGY)
December 1, 2004... When Ed Zander left Sun Microsystems for top billing at Motorola in 2002, Sun was already in serious trouble. By the time CEO Scott McNealy named Jonathan Schwartz as a highly visible president and COO. Sun's slump had deepened into a hole that...

The survivor: Jim Rohr has beaten challenges, and odds, at PNC.(BANKING)
December 1, 2004... Jim Rohr's first year in office as CEO of PNC Financial Services Group was a rough ride. He took over just as the economy started to tank and, not long into his tenure, the bank got into trouble with regulators for moving $762 million of...

Securing America and the world: there's much more CEOs need to achieve.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... Since September 11, 2001, more than 3,000 suspected terrorists have been detained in nearly 100 nations, according to the Department of Homeland Security. More than $100 million in terrorist assets worldwide has been blocked or frozen. That's...

Beating the cyber threat: CEOs must invest in a new generation of IT.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... We cannot live without our computing and communications infrastructure. In addition to banking and ecommerce systems, the critical infrastructure includes such vital elements as the nation's power grid and air traffic control systems. ...

Improving third world health: to display social responsibility, CEOs must respond to urgent needs.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... Corporate responsibility is a complex issue, especially when Wall Street focuses on short-term profit growth. Delivering excellent performance on a regular basis is indeed an imperative, but it is no longer sufficient. Society expects...

Keeping stability in Korea: the peninsula is crucially important for the region.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... CEOs from around the world are targeting South Korea as both a market and a regional base of operations for their companies. The country's $600 billion economy has been expanding steadily, with growth of 4 percent expected this year, and Korea...

Adopting open source software: the Linux wave is cresting--and it will change everything.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... The vast majority of American CEOs have long accepted monopoly control over the software their companies use, something they would never tolerate else-where in their businesses. But 2005 is going to be the year when that finally changes. Why?...

Rethinking IT outsourcing: CEOs want a new kind of competition among suppliers.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... Realizing business value from information technology is a top priority for most CEOs, Forrester Research estimates that the average top 500 company in the U.S. spends close to $400 million, or 3.8 percent of revenue, every year on IT; in 2005,...

Fixing America's educational system: it's clear that government alone cannot correct all the problems.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... Now that the latest election cycle is over, it's time we turn our attention to solving one of the nation's most important and vexing problems: education. Nothing is more critical to America's future. Our economic power is determined by many...

Improving the quality of life: we must fix health care without sacrificing medical innovation.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... For CEOs, the rising cost of health care has become a serious challenge with no clear, agreed-upon solution in sight. Broader access to affordable health care was a pivotal issue in the presidential election, and it will certainly be near the...

Reforming governance: companies must go beyond rules to focus on issues of character.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... Governance headlines in 2004 were sadly similar to those of recent years, with more than a few stories of boards forced to remove their CEOs under clouds of disgrace. From Marsh & McLennan, Fannie Mae and Computer Associates in the U.S. to...

Making diversity a profitable reality: CEOs should strive harder to build diversity. It makes business sense.(Top Challenges Facing CEOs)
December 1, 2004... In a world of ever-increasing regulation, the term "diversity" is sometimes misunderstood, lumped in with the mountain of dictates imposed upon business, many of which tend to restrain rather than enhance corporate performance. Even those CEOs...

How Big Pharma blew it: bad choices and PR gaffes have finally caught up with the drug industry.(PHARMACEUTICALS)
December 1, 2004... For years now, Big Oil, tobacco and HMOs have pretty much held a monopoly in consumer loathing. But no longer: According to a recent Harris Poll, pharmaceutical companies have tied the big bad three as the industry that consumers love to hate...

The three capitals of China: which one is right for your Chinese HQ?(GLOBAL)
December 1, 2004... When Steve Fitz was searching for the right city in which to establish an Asian regional headquarters for EMC two years ago, he weighed several factors. Not least among them was access to good quality, English-language schools for his four...

Mogul mania: at a radical ski school in Aspen, a former Apple exec trains corporate types for the toughest slopes.(EXECUTIVE LIFE)(Bumps for Boomers)
December 1, 2004... Sometimes a sport is transformed by a revolution in equipment design. It happened in tennis with oversize rackets, and in golf with titanium drivers. Over the past decade, it's also occurred in alpine skiing, with the advent of shaped, or...

A Lotus blossoms: the new Elise roadster is sweet temptation.(WHEELS)(Product/Service Evaluation)
December 1, 2004... Oh, what a sweetheart. Visually, the two-seat Lotus Elise is one of the most stunning cars I've driven lately. Everywhere I went, people wanted me to roll down the window and answer the question "What kind of car is that?" The British designers...

Don't blame the Rubenesque; Unhealthy employees: corporate drain--or gain?(FLIP SIDE)
December 1, 2004... Determined to hold down health costs and dramatically improve staff attendance records, a number of American companies are declaring all-out war on smokers and the obese. According to the Wall Street Journal, Union Pacific recently "stopped...

Spitzer's climate of fear.(EDITORIAL)(Eliot L. Spitzer)(Editorial)
December 1, 2004... IN THE U.S. SYSTEM of checks and balances, it is entirely appropriate that a state attorney general be on the lookout for crimes or abusive practices threatening that state's people. But what we have witnessed recently from Eliot Spitzer,...

On the mobility of jobs.(New York state's competitive environment)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
December 1, 2004... ONE LESSON that continues to escape political leaders is that jobs are increasingly mobile, thanks to the Internet and globalization. So it's noteworthy that 80 percent of our email respondents this month said the U.S. legal and regulatory...

In search of solutions: solving the health care crisis will mean a joint effort by CEOs, patients and providers.(ROUNDTABLE)
December 1, 2004... Unsustainable." "Unacceptable." "A zero-sum game." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The subject is health care costs, and business leaders are clearly not happy with what they're seeing. Sensing a looming financial disaster, CEOs are beginning...