Chief Executive (U.S.) articles from June 2007

Chief Executive (U.S.) archives from June 2007

What makes a CEO stand out?(EDITOR'S NOTE)
June 1, 2007... The recent annual meeting of Home Depot was a study in contrasts, judging from published reports. The previous year's meeting was marked by a digital clock timer calculated to limit dissident voices and with not a single board member present....

Wilted rose.(FEEDBACK)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... In "Thorns and Roses" (April/May), your award of a rose to David Neeleman is somewhat premature. Neeleman did make a number of public apologies to JetBlue's customers, but this was all form without any real substance. I wrote to Neeleman...

Mitigating financial risks.(FEEDBACK)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Robert Lawrence Kuhn's "A World Too Tightly Wired" (April/May) is well written and triggers several thoughts. There seems to be paranoia regarding the actions and reactions of others around the world to the day-to-day operations of businesses...

M & A disconnect.(FEEDBACK)
June 1, 2007... I disagree with C.J. Prince's assessment of value added through M & A. "The Art of the Deal: Integration Strategies That Work" (April/May) is an overly simplistic analysis since it ignores cash returned to the shareholder through other means,...

More truth about Six [SIGMA].(FEEDBACK)
June 1, 2007... In his article about Six Sigma (January/February), Charles Holland says his company, QualPro, "identified 58 companies that announced broad Six Sigma programs. QualPro then compared stock performance for each of these companies since their...

Designing mind.(CEO CHRONICLES)(Interview)
June 1, 2007... Michael Fister left a 17-year tenure at Intel to take the helm at San Jose, Calif.-based Cadence Design Systems, an electronic design automation (EDA) company that produces software and hardware methodologies used to design and verify advanced...

Adventures in Russia: how a young American CEO built a media empire in Moscow.(CEO CHRONICLES)
June 1, 2007... When Peter Gerwe first flew to Moscow in the 1980s at the tender age of 22, his Russian business contacts were less than impressed. In fact, the stodgy Soviet officials who met his plane looked right past the young, casually dressed Gerwe as...

Transforming travel.(CEO CHRONICLES)
June 1, 2007... Wouldn't it be nice to get a heads up on your BlackBerry when your flight to Vienna is delayed? Or how about what opera is playing--and the chance to buy a pair of tickets? Or maybe you'd like a package deal to tack a leisurely weekend onto the...

Who says loyalty pays?(CEO CHRONICLES)(Survey)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... When it comes to CEO compensation, it's quite the reverse. In fact, according to a recent study by executive compensation research firm Equilar, external CEO hires enjoy a hefty 35 percent premium in total pay over their peers promoted from...

The numbers game.(CEO WATCH)(Interview)
June 1, 2007... In a recent interview, Ed Nusbaum, CEO of Grant Thornton LLP, shared his thoughts about the accounting and auditing industry's troubled past, SOX reform and the pressing accounting issues threatening to make headlines in the future. You...

Thorns & roses.(CEO CHRONICLES)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... ROSE... To JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, the former Portuguese premier--and former Maoist student firebrand--who lashed out at moralizing politicians who wish to restrict personal freedoms such as speaking out about Islamic violence because it is...

CEO confidence dips slightly.(CEO CONFIDENCE INDEX)
June 1, 2007... HESITANT ABOUT FUTURE GROWTH PROSPECTS for the economy, business leaders' confidence fell by 2.9 points to 157.2, according to 172 top executives surveyed in April. Most CEOs remain confident about current conditions, but have serious concerns...

The numbers.(CEO CHRONICLES)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... Based either on your experience or your perception of business schools which three of these business schools best suit the needs of CEOs? [GRAPHIC OMITTED] 1 Harvard University (MA) 91 2...

From Halo to Hell: on a winning streak? Don't let success spoil your prospects.(THOUGHT LEADER)
June 1, 2007... With the price of oil reaching $78 a barrel, ExxonMobil's revenues in 2006 surged to $339 billion, making it larger than General Electric and Citibank combined. Its share price of $80 was double the level of 2004. Not coincidentally, in 2006...

Winning China's coming class struggle: because China's growth hasn't floated all boats, investors who can address problems resulting from unequal wealth distribution have a powerful opportunity--and the active support of the country's leaders.(UNCOMMON WISDOM)
June 1, 2007... I write from Xi'an in Central China's Shaanxi Province, a center of historical culture (13 dynasties had their capital here) and rich resources (coal, petroleum, metals). But Shaanxi lags behind the country's more prosperous coastal provinces,...

Global warming's bottom line: how much will businesses be asked to spend to combat climate change?(CLIMATE CHANGE ECONOMICS)
June 1, 2007... When Lehman Brothers consultant John Llewellyn spoke about climate change to 40 CEOs and COOs from some of the firm's biggest clients at the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland in January, they were rapt. A globally acknowledged expert on the...

Truth about warming: is climate change a true Earth crisis, a lucrative business opportunity or both?(CLIMATE CHANCE ECONOMICS)
June 1, 2007... "A true planetary emergency," is how Al Gore described global warming at a congressional hearing in March. "A lucrative business opportunity disguised as an environmental problem," is how energy guru Amory Lovins characterized climate change in...

The business case for trust: we've always known trust matters; now we know share price depends on it.(RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT)
June 1, 2007... Almost everywhere we turn, trust is on the decline. We find low trust in our society at large, in our institutions and in our companies. Research shows that only 51 percent of employees trust senior management, and only 28 percent believe CEOs...

Decision time for Immelt and Buffett: GE and Berkshire Hathaway pursued alternate paths to greatness. But can they continue to drive growth?(STRATEGY)(Company overview)
June 1, 2007... "Going Big" has been a popular theme of corporations worldwide. The underlying premise is that size and diversity is a way to hedge your bets and assure that you have the ability to avoid unpredictable downturns. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Game-changing R & D: CEOs spend billions on research & development, yet many fail to reap the rewards. Is the investment a waste? How can companies fix the process?(INNOVATION)(Company overview)
June 1, 2007... In 1999, while dot-com CEOs were popping champagne corks, Whirlpool, the 96-year-old appliance maker, was arriving at a depressing crossroads. Across the appliance industry, product prices had been falling year over year thanks to greater...

Spot on: where Target team leader Bob Ulrich finds his mark.(CEO OF THE YEAR)(Company overview)
June 1, 2007... A few years ago Target CEO Bob Ulrich, marketing EVP Michael Francis and property development EVP John Griffith were having dinner at the luxurious Nevada home of a retired Target executive who did rather well for himself as a result of his...

Death without taxation: the case against transfer taxes.(TAX POLICY)
June 1, 2007... CEOs are in the perfect demographic group to worry about gift and estate taxes, which today are lumped together under a uniform scheme of transfer taxation. Because CEOs have usually amassed considerable wealth, and they are near or past the...

Tom Ryder gets grilled: a self-professed "barbecue geek" shares his backyard BBQ secrets.(EXECUTIVE LIFE)
June 1, 2007... To say that Tom Ryder takes barbecue seriously is an understatement. Our first conversation on the topic began with him cautioning me against tossing the terms "grilling" and "barbecuing" about indiscriminately when they are actually two very...

Office space: the true cost of free rent for former CEOs.(FLIP SIDE)
June 1, 2007... CEOs are under as much pressure to perform today as at any time in the history of the Republic. Harried by Sarbanes-Oxley, harassed by predatory hedge funds, badgered by dissident shareholders, and subjected to the remorseless scrutiny of the...

Fire the World Bank.(EDITORIAL)(Brief article)
June 1, 2007... WITH ALL THE VITRIOL aimed at Paul Wolfowitz, who was brought down as president of the World Bank, a visitor from Mars might think this fellow was right up there with Slobodan Milosevic. During his two years in office running the multilateral...

Can outsourcing solve our border problem?(EDITORIAL)
June 1, 2007... EVERY DOG HAS COCKED A LEG on the proposed immigration bill now hotly debated in the Senate. That Mexico has failed to pursue policies that can provide jobs and opportunity for its own citizens goes largely unmentioned. Or worse, silence on...