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

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

What's good for GM ...(General Motors Corp.)(Editorial)
June 1, 2005... I asked an economist a simple question recently: "Would it make any difference to the U.S. economy if General Motors and Ford were to go out of business?" He said, "No." He is an apostle of free market ideology, and judging from President...

George David steps out.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... I read your story about George David of United Technologies Corp., Chief Executive's CEO of the Year, with great interest and pride. In an era of turbulent times for many CEOs, his record inspires those of us in business and business education....

Spitzer's double-standard.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... I don't always get to read all the pages of Chief Executive, but you caught my eye with the reference to Eliot Spitzer. Here's the question I would have liked to throw back at him: If you are sworn to uphold the laws and the U.S. Constitution,...

In the sandbox with Sarbox.(FEEDBACK)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2005... There has been a lot of moaning and groaning since Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, but I personally cannot understand how a business can function without appropriate controls and with material weaknesses. I am the owner and CEO of...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
June 1, 2005... Last month's article, "Lessons From Baghdad," incorrectly referred to "IEDs" as "improvised electronic devices." They are actually "improvised explosive devices."

Darts & roses.(CEO WATCH)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... ROSE... * ED ZANDER at Motorola. The skeptics were wrong. After years of losing, losing, losing, Motorola is gaining market share in cell phones. Moto has its mojo working. DART... * GEORGE STEINBRENNER of the New York Yankees....

Eye-popping growth--in airlines?(ENTREPRENEURS)(Air Serv )
June 1, 2005... HOW DO YOU MAKE money in an industry that's in deep trouble? Look at the case of a small Atlanta-based company launched in the post-9/11 era. Frank Argenbright saw that America's troubled airline industry would need to outsource services to cut...

Darts & roses.(CEO WATCH)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2005... DART... * HANK PAULSON at Goldman Sachs for being on both sides of the New York Stock Exchange-Archipelago transaction. A little close for comfort, don't ya think? ROSE... * SAM PALMISANO, for taking an arrow in the chest. To...

Linking CEO pay to performance.(COMPENSATION)(Chief executive officers)
June 1, 2005... COMPENSATION for chief executives was up dramatically in 2004, but that doesn't mean the system is broken. In fact, says Mercer Human Resource Consulting in its annual survey, boards and their compensation committees are making clear progress...

CEO scandals: these too shall pass; Jack Welch argues that the American public is not turning against business.(Q & A)(Interview)
June 1, 2005... Jack Welch, former chief executive of General Electric and coauthor with Suzy Welch of a new book, Winning, says the climate of negativity toward CEOs will subside and a new generation of business leaders will emerge. Here are excerpts from a...

Fighting the battle against health care fraud: CEO vigilance can help ensure better care for all.(CHIEF CONCERN)
June 1, 2005... Health care fraud is a dangerous and expensive crime. The national cost tops $85 billion a year and is a burden borne by all of us--employers, workers and tax payers--in the form of higher health insurance premiums, out-of-pocket costs and tax...

Weighing the costs of presenteeism: CEOs may be burning out their work forces.(CHIEF CONCERN)(chief executive officers)
June 1, 2005... Woody Allen once said that 80 percent of success is simply showing up. But most chief executives realize that in today's business environment, simply showing up no longer cuts it. To that effect, you already know that absenteeism hurts your...

The competition isn't just China anymore: India is strengthening in manufacturing, too.(THOUGHT LEADER)
June 1, 2005... Take a poll among commentators and talking heads and you will find that most have the simplistic view that China will be the manufacturing superpower while India will at best be a supercompetitive services provider with little impact on global...

Why ad agencies don't advertise: their eyes on prizes, they know the ROI isn't always there.(THOUGHT LEADER)
June 1, 2005... Have you ever wondered why advertising agencies don't advertise themselves? The answer is clear: They really don't believe advertising works. If they did, they would be doing what they advise you to do: spend like crazy on the assumption...

Where are the women? They're out there, but they're not settling for second best.(DIVERSITY)(Interview)
June 1, 2005... The prevailing wisdom of the early 1990s was that women would soon be entering the C-suite in great numbers. Women had begun assuming management positions, and new CEOs seemed to be shattering stereotypes--and the glass ceiling. ...

Where is our economic policy? Chief executives say the Bush Administration lacks a viable strategy for U.S. competitiveness.
June 1, 2005... For President George W. Bush, the night of January 20, 2005, was one to remember. Nine gala balls were held around Washington, D.C., amid blazing fireworks in celebration of his second inauguration. Of the lot, the snazziest shindig was the...

Unlocking innovation: CEOs are learning how to better tap university R & D. The results could be powerful.(TECHNOLOGY)(chief executive officers)(research and development)
June 1, 2005... Luis Mejia of Stanford University recalls the fall day nine years ago when Larry Page, then a Ph.D. student, came to Mejia's office of technology licensing to patent his search engine software, called PageRank. The patented software had...

Succession in the Valley: some, like Hyperion, get it right. Most others, unfortunately, don't.(MANAGEMENT)
June 1, 2005... In 1999, Jeffrey Rodek was brought in to salvage the wreck of Hyperion's failed merger with Arbor Software. Rodek was a self-described numbers guy who had cut his management teeth during a 16-year stint at FedEx, but two years into his rescue...

Quitting the guidance game: why are more CEOs keeping silent on earnings?(INVESTOR RELATIONS)(earnings guidance report)
June 1, 2005... Damned if we do, and damned if we don't" fairly sums up the way CEOs and their financial deputies feel these days when it comes to giving future earnings guidance. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On the one hand, investors and analysts pressure...

Hollywood's new guardian: can Jack Valenti's successor, Dan Glickman, lead the battle against piracy of movies?(PIRACY)
June 1, 2005... When Dan Glickman was named head of the Motion Picture Association of America last year, the most glamorous lobbying post in Washington, he cited his experience running the Department of Agriculture as a prime credential for his new job. ...

The Next Global Stage: a borderless world means an end to old economics.(BOOK EXCERPT)(Excerpt)
June 1, 2005... The global economy is a reality. Yet so many of those who should know better appear to be asleep, as if cocooned in a dream. The old economic model tried to clarify the relationships between demand and supply, and supply and employment. It...

Held captive: in the post 9/11 era, kidnap avoidance and survival skills are critical.(SECURITY)(National Hostage Survival Training Center)(Column)
June 1, 2005... It's the nightmare scenario of every executive traveling to dangerous regions: The door bursts open and four men dressed in black clothes and hoods come in brandishing handguns, screaming, "Get your heads down on the table. Now! Do it. Don't...

Offshore investments: chartered yachts offer a private resort on the serene high seas.(EXECUTIVE LIFE)
June 1, 2005... Les Biller, the now-retired chief operating officer and vice-chairman of Wells Fargo, was headed for vacation with his wife when he learned that he was scheduled to attend several upcoming board meetings. Fortunately, the couple had chartered...

Making the cut: high-tech enhancements by these top manufacturers can deliver powerful results on the course.(GOLF)(Buyers Guide)
June 1, 2005... DRIVERS MacGregor MacTec ($200) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A lightweight beta titanium face insert and crown provide power, deepening the center of gravity in the clubhead for a high-launch, low-spin take-off and more roll upon...

Family values: how to pass more than just money on to your children.(NET WORTH)(Column)
June 1, 2005... If you're like most parents, you want the best for your children. You want, in fact, to give them the world. But you probably also worry that too much too soon could send them down a path of conspicuous consumption--or worse, destructive...

Hedging our way to retirement: high risk, high return will breathe new life into social security.(FLIP SIDE)(private accounts)
June 1, 2005... The concept of setting up private accounts as a partial remedy to the impending Social Security crisis has been discussed by experts in this country in a mood of depressing sobriety. Proponents of the measure have gone to great lengths to...

Accounting lunacy, indeed.(EDITORIAL)(Editorial)
June 1, 2005... THE STORY WOULD have been easy to miss. Robert Merritt, chief financial officer of the Outback Steakhouse chain, announced his retirement because of the difficulties of accounting for restaurant leases. "Recent lunacy over lease accounting took...

Getting real on China.(EDITORIAL)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
June 1, 2005... THERE IS MUCH empty fulmination coming out of Washington, D.C., these days with regard to China. (See "Where Is Our Economic Policy?" page 30). But there doesn't seem to be any evidence that anyone in our nation's capital really grasps the...