Chief Executive (U.S.) articles from January 2002

Chief Executive (U.S.) archives from January 2002

Feedback.(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2002... A Good Start Looks like you're off to a good start with your remake of the magazine. I thought the content in the August/September edition was especially interesting, particularly the discussion around the highs and lows of being a CEO....

Time for a credibility checkup.(Editorial)
January 1, 2002... It's been a tough six months for CEOs, with a number of high-profile leaders losing their jobs and control of their companies, along with their reputations. Yet despite media coverage blaming the suddenly precarious nature of the top job on...

Rise of the Reverend's son. (Following a Legend).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... MUCH LIKE HIS FRIEND, George W. Bush, Franklin Graham was a late bloomer who only recently stepped up to the task of filling his dad's huge shoes. But as CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA), Franklin now is embracing the...

It ain't easy being green.(improving environmental record)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... JACQUES NASSER'S REPLACEMENT at Ford Motor Co., William Clay Ford Jr., was cut from the same nature-loving cloth as his great-grandfather, Henry Ford, known, among other things, as a vegetarian birdwatcher partial to auto paint made from...

Service with a CEO's home number.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... JOEL SCHLEICHER prides himself on his company's commitment to customer service. So much so that the CEO of the application service provider Interpath Communications in Research Triangle Park, NC, gives out his home phone number to all of his...

Board service pays better than ever.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The median compensation for outside directors rose to $118,337 in stock and cash in 2001, up from $100,807 in 2000, according to a survey of 2001 non-employee corporate director pay levels conducted by Towers Perrin of New York City. Stock now...

How to keep French Fries Safe (in a world of saboteurs).(preventing product tampering in food industry)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... BRUCE ROHDE WORRIES about protecting America's favorite comfort foods from bioterrorism. As chairman, president, and CEO of ConAgra Foods, the country's largest food service manufacturer, Rohde oversees 250 plants in the United States that...

Right chief, wrong sector.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Dr. Bernadine Healy, president and CEO of the American Red Cross, announced her resignation from the relief agency October 26. Harold Decker, 56, has been named acting interim CEO. Healy, 57, will remain president through the year's end. ...

A little hospitality, please.(Editorial)
January 1, 2002... As CEO of a global travel and hospitality company, I realized at once that the September 11 attacks would be devastating to this business. Travel and tourism is the third-largest retail sector in the economy, behind grocery and auto sales. One...

All talk, no action.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... From humble beginnings, the World Economic Forum has become the premier talking shop, a fixture in the diary of CEOs, politicians, and other luminaries--from pop singer Bono to Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa. Every January for the...

The remaking of a superpower. (Capitol Ideas).(economics and Russia)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Russia is back. Or at least, it's heading that way. For most of the 1990s, America's superpower rival appeared to be neither a superpower nor a real rival, and it was an open question whether Russia would prove a sustainable economy....

Nissan's U-Turn to profits: Carlos Ghosn is behind the wheel, leading the comeback of a chronically struggling automaker. (Corporate Turnaround).(Nissan Motor Company Ltd., Japan)
January 1, 2002... Carlos Ghosn is the architect of the most dramatic turnaround of an automaker's fortunes in recent times, but he doesn't dress the part. No fussy monogrammed shirt, no sparkling ingot cufflinks, no Italian loafers--none of the trappings that...

Bosses from abroad: CEOs from Morocco, India, and other outposts face more hurdles than ever before, but they may be best equipped to lead in a global economy. (Career Management).(foreign Chief Executive Officers)
January 1, 2002... For American companies, globalization has become the path to growth. Remote corners of the world reveal manifestations of this expansion: McDonald's restaurants mark street corners in at least 121 countries. American Standard toilets, bathtubs,...

The CEO as brand: Their names are synonymous with their companies' products--and that presents a slew of unique challenges. (Marketing).(Chief Executive Officers)
January 1, 2002... Can a balding, middle-aged man with a big nose and goofy grin really sell chicken? No, not alone, says Jim Perdue. His mug helps to market tender birds, but the 51-year-old poultry company scion refuses to take sole credit for the success of a...

In search of Bear's market: The investment banking industry has seen better days. But CEO James Cayne intends to prove that when the going gets tough, Bear Stearns digs in.
January 1, 2002... Jimmy Cayne's view from his corner office at Bear Stearns' new, high-tech Madison Avenue headquarters isn't as fabulous as his old one on Park Avenue. But no matter. The investment firm's chairman and CEO isn't going to be spending much time...

Weathering the Storm: With the one-two punch of recession and the September 11 attacks, business-as-usual has taken a back seat to the Demands of Crisis Management.
January 1, 2002... What's the appropriateness of a global headquarters in the United States for a company truly trying to be multinational?" That was the question Harvey Seegers, chief executive of GE Global exchange, posed to more than 100 business leaders...

Leadership strategies for turbulent markets.(ConAgra deals with aftermath of terrorist attacks)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... September 11, 2001 changed our world -- not only our business world, but our family world, our political world, our safe world and our free world. But as traumatic and as devastating as were the events of September 11, the economic landscape...

New realities of Globalization: Terrorism aims to Create Fears and Paralyze US. Leaders must combat Terror by making sure we understand it, then by Mitigating it, adjusting to it and moving on.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... To understand the security issues after September 11, we need to understand what happened over the last 20 years that led to an Islamic terrorist war on America. I'll start in 1981, when the Cold War threatened nuclear annihilation and 40...

Information Technology as a means of achieving performance.(Interview)
January 1, 2002... Most chief executives lack a technical background, yet like it or not, a CEO today plays the role of technology leader. In a discussion of "Leading Multiple Technology Initiatives," Chief Executive Group's president and publisher, John Brandt,...

The Internet and the 21st century agenda.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The first wave of Internet business activity has crested and crashed. Much of the rest of our economy has been caught in the undertow. In this recessionary environment, how should the Internet figure into your strategy? 1. INNOVATION,...

Holding on Tight. (CEO2CEO Discussion).(information technology)
January 1, 2002... How do you know what's right and what's wrong when it comes to technology? n these turbulent economic times, when we're hearing dire predictions about companies cutting IT spending half, what are your rivals up to? Will you fall behind if you...

The buzz about silent commerce. (Keynote).(Stephan A. James, Accenture Ltd.)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... I help run Accenture on a global basis, and want to offer some insights on managing ourselves through the circumstances we find ourselves in today. Every situation, no matter how dire, presents opportunities. We can learn from companies that...

Saving your skin. (CEO2CEO Discussion).(leadership)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... To some it looks like a firing squad took aim at chief executives in the past couple of years, felling those in the top spot at Coca-Cola, Campbell, Ford, Lucent, Procter & Gamble and United Airlines, to name a few. What going on? A crisis of...

Putting corporate values the test. (Keynote).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The place where we were supposed to meet for this conference, Windows on the World, no longer exists. It simply vanished, along with so much else, that tragic morning of September 11. Now we talk of life before and after. I'm here to speak...

Checking the consumer's pulse. (CEO2CEO Discussion).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... What do customers want? What trends have chief executives picked up on in the past months of economic downturn? During the course of the CEO2CEO Conference, business leaders in diverse industries talked about their customers' changing attitudes...

Reinventing customer value. (Keynote).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... I'm privileged to have inherited a wonderful growth machine with a tremendous culture. The company started with four stores in Atlanta, and now we have 1,300. On average, we open a new store every 43 hours, In 1990, looking at the top five...

Supply chain CEOs: Execs who built reputations on smart sourcing face their biggest challenge yet. (Technology and the CEO).
January 1, 2002... Michael Dell, Phil Knight, and Mackey MacDonald run some of the hottest household-name companies, but not just because consumers love their brands. Behind the scenes these CEOs who lead Dell, Nike, and VF Corp., which makes apparel brands such...

CEOs question disaster plans. (IT Spending).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... THE SURGE IN demand for disaster recovery services in the months since September 11 underscores how many senior managers have found their companies' contingency plans lacking. "I'm seeing a lot of CEOs questioning their company's disaster...

All set to lobby. (Public Policy).(TechNet)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... THE AGENDA HAS been set for TechNet's 2002 lobbying efforts, with one new issue on the list and another being debated, says Rick White, CEO of the organization founded to advance public policy favorable to the technology industry. First,...

Boot camps for boards: Sessions energize even the sleepiest directors, helping bosses avert shareholder lawsuits and watchdog scrutiny. (Corporate Governance).
January 1, 2002... After successfully settling one shareholder lawsuit brought against Peerless Systems Corp.--and now knee-deep in another battle being waged against Landry's Seafood Restaurants -- SWIB, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, is emphatic in...

Economics for Dummies.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... As always, the world held its breath to see who would be awarded the Nobel Prize for economics. The winners, George Akerlof, Michael Spence, and Joseph Stiglitz, were honored for their groundbreaking work in the field of markets with...