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

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

The CEO as player-coach. (Editor's Note).
June 1, 2003... The first General Motors CEO I ever covered was Roger Smith. The year was 1987 and he seemed incredibly out of touch with reality as he made the rounds at the Chicago Auto Show. He kept repeating the same confident mantras, even as his company...

Feedback.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... The Cost of Reform If Edward Nusbaum's column, "The Hidden Benefits of Sarbanes-Oxley" (May 2003), reflects a prevailing view, the accounting profession is significantly out of touch with the realities faced by small- to mid-cap companies....

The largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. (Roses).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * MIKE CAPELLAS. He seems to be pulling WorldCom out of the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history. MCI (as it now will be called) could emerge as a tough competitor. Is telecom's nuclear winter beginning to thaw?

Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Computer. (Roses).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * CARLY FIORINA. When Fiorina merged Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Computer, Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy wisecracked that it would be "a slow-motion collision of two garbage trucks." But Fiorina's team seems to be pulling it off. Brava, so...

Whatever were you thinking? At a time when everybody is watching executive compensation. (Darts).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * DON CARTY. Whatever were you thinking? At a time when everybody is watching executive compensation, did you think you could simply pull a fast one? Sorta looks bad on the resume. Which you'll be needing.

The man who destroyed HealthSouth says in a taped conversation. (Darts).(Richard Scrushy)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * RICHARD SCRUSHY. The man who destroyed HealthSouth says in a taped conversation: "I am convinced that there are 8,000 companies out there with shit on their balance sheet." We don't think so. And watch that potty mouth.

How good is your crystal ball? (Business).(companies not prepared for competitors)
June 1, 2003... It's a dangerous world out there and we're not just talking about war and terrorism. CEOs may not even be prepared for basic business developments such as competitors that appear to emerge from nowhere. That's the conclusion Fuld & Co. has...

This bud's for the world. (Economy).(Europeans boycotting American beer)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Just as Americans have been pouring French wine down the drain and steering clear of Volkswagens, Europeans eager to express their anger with the U.S.-led war against Iraq have been boycotting a beloved American product: beer. But don't...

The Gateway Computer founder. (Darts).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * TED WAITT. The Gateway Computer founder is still trying to sell personal computers, but let's face it, Ted, Michael Dell has blown you away. Time to lose the ponytail, pack up in San Diego and go back to South Dakota. Or wherever.

Run, little doggies, run. (Roses).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * DOW, NASDAQ. Run, little doggies, run. After all your false starts and dashed expectations, please be serious this time. We don't want to be greedy. How about just another 10 percent this year?

Love him or hate him, you have to give Murdoch his due. (Roses).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... * RUPERT MURDOCH. Love him or hate him, you have to give Murdoch his due. The purchase of Hughes Electronics and its DirectTV satellite operation caps off an extraordinary global conquest. Render unto Rupert what is Rupert's!

Confidence surges, but problems persist. (CEO Confidence Index).
June 1, 2003... The gut-wrenching decline in CEO confidence that we have witnessed in recent months is over--and over with a bang. Our CEO Confidence Index soared 20.4 points in May--the most abrupt shift this indicator has experienced--to 109.8. That places...

Telecom after the storm. (By the Numbers).(Phone facts)
June 1, 2003... Believe it or not, the telecommunications industry is coming back from the dead. Having crashed harder than any other sector (after soaring higher than any other), telecom is poised for a comeback, though its success is both less spectacular...

The new IT realities. (Chief Concern).(information technology spending)
June 1, 2003... As everyone knows, the Information Technology spending environment is tough. Because many CFOs feel they were burned during the IT buying frenzy of the late '90s, they're looking more critically at each capital expenditure and demanding a rapid...

CEOs and the health care challenge. (Chief Concern).
June 1, 2003... The Baby Boom generation has always placed unusual burdens on--and presented copious opportunities to--our society. First, upon reaching school age in the early 1950s, boomers began to challenge our public education system. Later, as they...

Creating global leaders. (Thought Leader).(global management teams)
June 1, 2003... How global are you? Perhaps the best indicator of whether a multinational company is prepared to succeed globally is the range of nationalities and the degree of international experience among its senior leadership. A management team with...

Not just bean counters anymore. (Top Questions for Your CFO).
June 1, 2003... It used to be so simple. The CFO was a Dilbert-esque accountant with a green eyeshade whose job was to count the company's beans and decide whether there were enough to justify an acquisition or build a billion-dollar plant. Then in the l990s,...

Big man, big hurry: Rick Wagoner is making headway in revitalizing General Motors' manufacturing prowess. That could change the automotive world.(Trail of innovation)(Interview)(Cover Story)
June 1, 2003... When design czar Robert Lutz worked at Chrysler, he used to tweak crosstown rivals at General Motors by predicting that smaller, faster auto companies would always beat the big and the slow--meaning GM. But these days the blunt-talking Lutz...

Pay under pressure: in a down market, the spotlight always shines on CEO compensation. But will the scrutiny actually drive change this time--or is this yet another passing storm? (Compensation).(Eye of the beholder)
June 1, 2003... The outrage was impossible to miss. "We are appalled and just disgusted," said John Ward, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, at an April 17 press conference. "It's the equivalent of an obscene gesture from...

Corning: Coming back?: once at the top of the fiber optic game, Corning suffered in the telecom meltdown. But CEO Jamie Houghton might be turning things around. (Profile).(Interview)
June 1, 2003... James R. Houghton was chief executive of Corning from 1983 to 1996. After retiring, he served on the company's board during the late 1990s, when Corning experienced surging demand for its fiber optic cables and related equipment, which...

Network armies: the Internet Age has spawned a new breed of corporate foe. Here's how to deal with them, before and after they strike. (Management).(Don't get caught off guard)
June 1, 2003... Last winter, like thousands of other computer buyers, Jack Weigand logged onto Dell Computer's Web site and placed an order for a laptop. When it hadn't arrived two weeks later, Weigand, an artisinal gunmaker, called Dell and learned that his...

Send in the spooks: safecracking gumshoes from the CIA and the FBI are finding second careers--helping CEOs protect their businesses. (Management).
June 1, 2003... Spurning the manana attitude of many Latin bankers--as well as billions of dollars of potential deposits from drug lords--Manuel Grullon, president and CEO of Banco Popular Dominicano, decided he needed help. His $2 billion-assets institution,...

Merck at risk: the company the flourished under Roy Vagelos has struggled under Ray Gilmartin. Can the one-time No. 1 get back on top? (Book Excerpt).
June 1, 2003... From the late 1980s though the mid-'90s, under CEO P. Roy Vagelos, Merck & Co. was the undisputed king of the pharmaceutical industry It pioneered groundbreaking drugs for cholesterol and hypertension, topped all rivals in sales and was named...

A timeless Irish links. (Golf).
June 1, 2003... Driving along the craggy coast of County Clare toward the village of Doonbeg, you get the feeling that the 20th century passed largely unnoticed in this remote corner of western Ireland. The journey winds through the Burren, a spectacular...

Joining the jet set. (Travel).(private jet travel)(Best way to fly)
June 1, 2003... For many CEOs and their families, it's an annual question: Go skiing in the Rockies for spring break, or bask in the sun someplace south? Then again, some do both. That was the case this year with the CEO of a commercial real estate firm...

Time to bring on another Y2K. (Flip Side).(imminent disaster brings on spending by corporations)
June 1, 2003... A friend of mine who gets paid to know this sort of thing insists that the Internet bubble was largely fueled by the Y2K scare. Terrified that their businesses would not function once the new millennium arrived, corporations the world over...

CEOs should be well paid. Fix the abuses.(Editorial)
June 1, 2003... It's that time of year when CEO compensation dominates the headlines. (See "Pay Under Pressure," p 34.) The debate is highly polarized, which means it is thoroughly unproductive. Here's a stab at common sense. Start with a basic given: The...

Information technology: justifying the investment. (CEO Survey Report: Advertisement).(Two executives share their views)
June 1, 2003... In a struggling economy, where developments in technology continue at lightning speed, business automation is a competitive advantage no CEO can afford to ignore. Investment in business automation is widely regarded to be one of the...