Chief Executive (U.S.) articles from June 2008

Chief Executive (U.S.) archives from June 2008

1947 and all that.(EDITOR'S NOTE)
June 1, 2008... The subject of leadership has been studied to death. Entire forests have succumbed to this subject, which inspires volume upon forgettable volume purporting to show its true nature. And to think after ail this thinking and writing the...

The problem with politics.(FEEDBACK)(Editorial)
June 1, 2008... Concerns voiced in your brief editorial ["Why Do Some Politician Still Not Get It?", March 2008] are well-founded. Not one of the paltry choices vying for the U.S. presidency has ever sat in a CEO or COO chair, nor dealt with the survival and...

Immelt under fire.(FEEDBACK)
June 1, 2008... Editor's Note: In an online column, "If Not Immelt, Who?" Chief Executive's editor explored Welch's initial criticism of his successor and his subsequent climb-down, leaving many GE observers wondering about the sustainability of GE's...

Betting on nuclear.(CEO CHRONICLES)
June 1, 2008... Skyrocketing gas prices, looming legislationon carbon dioxide emissions, unprecedented demand for renewable energy--powerful changes portend interesting times for the power business. Complicating the landscape for companies like PPL...

Volt man.(CEO WATCH)
June 1, 2008... General Motors' turnaround hit a major pothole when it recently posted a $3.25 billion loss in the first quarter of 2008, reversing a modest $62 million profit during the same period last year. By contrast, Ford showed a surprise first-quarter...

Thorns & roses.
June 1, 2008... ROSE... In an age of tedious on-message politicians, BORIS JOHNSON, who recently defeated Labour incumbent "Red" Ken Livingstone for Mayor of London, is a one-off. Despite his Etonian and Oxford pedigree--even his detractors concede his...

IN fact.(CEO CHRONICLES)
June 1, 2008... Information begins with facts, which can be assembled to identify trends. Put it all together to derive knowledge. Presenting Chief Executive's INfact. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 1. Average S&P 500 increase over 30 years when an American...

CEOs: more pessimism than optimism.(CEO CONFIDENCE INDEX)
June 1, 2008... THE CEO CONFIDENCE INDEX STABILIZED in May after enduring a six-month free-fall starting last fall. The Index is currently at 95.8 points, relatively unchanged since April, according to 334 top executives surveyed by Chief Executive between May...

Treating poor treatment: how an independent institute can improve the quality of health care.(CHIEF CONCERN)
June 1, 2008... Far too much of the care delivered today in American hospitals, clinics, outpatient centers and other settings is not based on solid medical evidence. Estimates are that as much as 30 percent of the overall care delivered in our country is...

Cosmos, Consciousness, God: public fascination with Cosmos, Consciousness and God is growing, and top management should know what's happening.(UNCOMMON WISDOM)
June 1, 2008... As human beings, we live in two worlds: material and mental, physical and spiritual, secular and religious, perhaps earthly and heavenly--there are many expressions, real and fanciful, of our dualistic ways of thinking. Both worlds seem real,...

The X-factor; Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy has learned a lot about the power of culture. Now she and her team need to show that the turnaround has a second act.(CEO OF THE YEAR)(Interview)(Company overview)
June 1, 2008... The choice for the 2008 Chief Executive of the Year marks several firsts. By her own admission Anne Mulcahy did not set out to become a chief executive. Nor was she groomed to become one. Neither did she bargain to face what some have called...

Global enterprise 2020: looking to win the race to access the world's most rapidly developing markets? these five factors will offer the edge you need over the next decade.(GLOBAL MARKETS)(Company overview)
June 1, 2008... The rise of emerging markets is rapidly changing the structure of the global economy. Many of the emerging markets are no longer small. They now constitute eight of the world's 24 largest economics and are growing at three times the rate of...

Who's going the wrong way? Major multinationals from some countries are leaving China even as U.S. companies aggressively move in. Why?(OFFSHORING)(Company overview)
June 1, 2008... The pursuit of being the low-cost producer has been and will continue to be the primary focus of all successful businesses. Over the past few decades, companies have targeted low-cost labor areas, with governments that were willing to sacrifice...

Is countrywide a governance train wreck? Governance gurus weigh in on boardroom brouhaha at the troubled mortgage lender.(GOVERNANCE)(Angelo Mozilo)
June 1, 2008... Just four years ago, Countrywide, and its cofounding CEO, Angelo Mozilo, seemed positively prescient. Quickly seizing on the popularity of adjustable rate mortgages in 2004, the firm came up with a smorgasbord of new alternative loan products,...

What can CEOs do to develop leaders? How top-level involvement raises the bar on talent development.(ROUND TABLE)
June 1, 2008... Forget capital, strategy, R&D. In today's fastpaced, global economy, the most important criteria for success may well be a robust, active process for identifying, developing and retaining leaders three or more levels below the CEO. ...

Weathering the subprime crisis; Should government intervene?(GOVERNMENT)
June 1, 2008... Is it bailout time? One of the hardest choices is to decide when, if ever, to intervene in private markets. The fast-moving deterioration of credit markets has made that decision more critical than ever, both for high government officials and...

Acing the wine list: seven steps to anxiety-free wine service.(EXECUTIVE LIFE)
June 1, 2008... Wine knowledge isn't just a social skill any more. It's a powerful tool for today's CEOs, providing leverage in business entertaining. The Wall Street Journal observed that "Wine at business meals is a skirmish in a boardroom war, played out on...

Trouble brewing: a fortune cookie sales pitch portends directional drift.(FLIP SIDE)
June 1, 2008... Businesses sometimes lose their way. This fact was driven home to me recently when I dined at a Chinese restaurant in New York City. The food was decent enough, but when I opened my fortune cookie, the message read: "Enjoyed the meal? Buy one...

A little perspective on the housing bubble.(EDITORIAL)(Editorial)
June 1, 2008... IF A STOCK YOU OWNED, during the middle of the night, doubled in price due to some unusual temporary credit arrangement and then fell by the morning to the same price before you went to sleep, have you lost money? Most people who slept through...

Thank the politicians for high energy prices.(FINALWORD)
June 1, 2008... With gas north of $4 at the pump our solons in Washington have discovered a winning issue. Sen. McCain advocates a federal gas tax holiday while Senators Clinton and Obama want to stick it to big oil with a windfall profits tax, forgetting that...