Chief Executive (U.S.) articles from December 2005

Chief Executive (U.S.) archives from December 2005

Is "corporation" a dirty word?(EDITOR'S NOTE)(Editorial)
December 1, 2005... I was at a social event recently in suburban New York where a group discussion turned to current affairs. I was stunned by the depth of negative feeling toward "corporations." One person said corporations were the reason there is so much...

Reflections on leadership.(FEEDBACK)
December 1, 2005... I've just read the October issue of your magazine, and it's a beauty. Every article has relevance, each of them is well-written and, in combination, they represent a hip, yet adult publication of much promise. What prompted this fan letter...

Scouting for values.(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... The Boy Scouts of America is flattered to be mentioned when the writer of the article about The IndUS Entrepreneurs ("The Secrets of Success," October) quotes someone as saying, "It's the Boy Scouts applied to business." The TiE is...

Top honors.(Chief Executive receives award)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... TOP HONORS. Chief Executive has won two Gold Awards--the Eddie and the Ozzie--in Folio's annual magazine competition. The Eddie for best business-to-business magazine in the business/finance category was given on the basis of our April 2005...

Darts & roses.(CEO WATCH)
December 1, 2005... DART... * ROBERT A. McCORMICK. The Savvis CEO was sued by American Express for refusing to pay $241,000 in charges racked up at a New York topless club. The price of one bottle of champagne? Thousands. One lap dance? Tens of thousands....

Making the world safer to fly.
December 1, 2005... THE NEXT TIME you're in your private jet, or even if you have to suffer the indignity of flying commercially, look for the word "MedLink" posted somewhere on the flight deck. For therein lies a tale. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Joan...

CEOs to spend more on innovation.(chief executive officer)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... CONFIDENCE IN THE CORNER OFFICE rebounded last month after a steep fall in October, when corporate leaders seemed spooked by high energy prices. The mood may have improved partly because CEOs are looking into 2006, when they expect increased...

Spending on new ideas.(THE NUMBERS)(Illustration)
December 1, 2005... As confidence grows; executives realize the importance of investing now in order to grow in the future. Here's what they had to say about increasing their spending on R & D. [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Innovation Expenses Relative to other...

Can Taiwan leap forward? As technology and jobs flow to China, Taiwan faces a critical economic challenge.(REGIONAL REPORT)
December 1, 2005... The entrance to Taiwan's high-tech corridor known as Hsinchu Science Park is deceptively green. Subtropical shade trees line a traffic-islanded parkway dotted with shrubs and flowers. But when the promenade gives way, it reveals the monolithic...

What happened to American innovation? The key is investing in education and research.
December 1, 2005... For the first time in a generation, both Congress and the White House proudly proclaim themselves to be pro-business. The change this has brought about has been dramatic. Many industries and sometimes even specific companies have been able to...

Mastering the art of doing business in China: not enough CEOs know how to play the game to their advantage.(TOP CHALLENGES CEOS WILL FACE)
December 1, 2005... Of all the challenges facing chief executives, getting China right is one of the most important. But many CEOs assume they can do business in China the way they do business in other countries. They cannot. If most business is local, most...

Getting outsourcing right: it's evolving from a pure cost play to a strategic management tool.(TOP CHALLENGES CEOS WILL FACE)
December 1, 2005... In a recent Accenture global survey of leading companies that are experienced at outsourcing, virtually 100 percent of respondents told us that while cost reduction remains an important driver, by the third year of a typical multiyear...

Manage risk through resilience: CEOs should build a culture that copes with the unforeseen.(TOP CHALLENGES CEOS WILL FACE)
December 1, 2005... If there is one lesson to be drawn from the natural disasters and terrorist attacks that shocked the international community in 2005, it is that organizations need to be resilient enough to withstand and learn from unexpected disruptions. How...

Taking Internet security off the backburner: it's the whole company's job, not just IT.(TOP CHALLENGES CEOS WILL FACE)
December 1, 2005... Identity theft, spyware, adware, spam, phishing, pharming, online fraud--these modern-day threats require CEOs to constantly reassess the emerging dangers of the Internet and reconsider what they're doing to protect the company, employees and...

Why CEOs shouldn't fear a green agenda: building more efficient equipment is actually an important key to profitability.(TOP CHALLENGES CEOS WILL FACE)(chief executive officers)(Interview)
December 1, 2005... George David is chief executive of United Technologies, which includes Pratt & Whitney jet engines, Otis elevators and Carrier air conditioning divisions. The current CEO of the Year, David says the goal of environmental sustainability is not...

Cultural relevance: CEOs must go beyond marketing to embed their products in the culture.(TOP CHALLENGES CEOS WILL FACE)
December 1, 2005... In 2006, the long-predicted death of advertising will reach a critical point. Equally important, forward-thinking corporate leaders will build their marketing strategies not around media but around culture. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The...

Expanding the meaning of corporate citizenship: involvement in communities must reach a new level of achievement.
December 1, 2005... If you pick through the analysis of this year's devastating effects of the hurricane season, you arrive at a conclusion that surprisingly few have grasped: Our duty as individual citizens and as corporations isn't to simply wait for government...

Tech trends that matter: recognizing technologies that meet your business needs.(TECHNOLOGY)
December 1, 2005... Chief executives hear a lot of chatter about new technologies that are going to change the world. Most of them, of course, don't. So the CEO's job is to cast a wary eye on new technologies until a few winners emerge that can be commercially...

Coke seeks to regain lost glory: under CEO Neville Isdell, the company is trying to bounce back from miscues.(PROFILE)
December 1, 2005... Neville Isdell forged his reputation within Coca-Cola as head of the company's Philippine operation in the 1980s. When he arrived, Coke had 30 percent of the market and was dwarfed by PepsiCo. The Irishman turned up at a sales rally dressed in...

Honda's midlife crisis: CEO Fukui hopes to engineer a new start with a race-forward attack strategy.(AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY)(chief executive officer Takeo Fukui)(Interview)
December 1, 2005... For a while after becoming president and chief executive of Honda Motor in June 2003, Takeo Fukui, an avid golfer who claims to be the best player at Honda, let his scores slip for lack of practice. But the compact, athletic engineer fought...

Business smarts: how do you find the clear thinkers who make the difference?
December 1, 2005... Every successful CEO faces a central challenge: finding people with great business acumen for their leadership teams--the kind of people who are capable of thinking things through and consistently arriving at the right answer. Essentially, they...

Mercedes fights back: the new S-Class combines Stuttgart's latest technologies and best design.
December 1, 2005... Snaking down a serpentine Alpine road in Switzerland isn't what the Mercedes-Benz 2007 S-Class was created for. Surprisingly though, the Mercedes flagship handles the corners quite capably. It doesn't wallow, and remains flat while accelerating...

A new look for compensation: all CEOs with deferred pay must review their plans.(NET WORTH)(chief executive officers)
December 1, 2005... The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 included Section 409A, which changed the rules governing non-qualified deferred compensation plans. The new rules, largely spurred by the Enron debacle, take effect on Dec. 31 for individuals who...

Cronyism ain't what it used to be: when mediocrity is too much to expect.
December 1, 2005... For better or worse, the Bush White House has come to be known as the most crony-packed administration in living memory. One has to go back to the days of Jimmy Carter's "Georgia Mafia"--think Bert Lance--to find an administration stocked with...

The slippery slope of social responsibility.(EDITORIAL)
December 1, 2005... A CHORUS OF VOICES from non-government organizations, shareholder activists and other groups is suggesting that corporations take the lead in addressing social issues around the world. Even the United Nations is pressuring chief executives to...

A new view of Taiwan and China.(FINALWORD)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... AS OUR STORY on Taiwan (page 16) reveals, more than 1 million Taiwanese live on the Chinese mainland, and large portions of Taiwan's industrial and technological infrastructure have moved there as well. What this suggests is that a...