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

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

The dragon and the eagle.(EDITOR'S NOTE)
March 1, 2007... In James Kynge's justly acclaimed book, China Shakes the World, the former Financial Times Beijing bureau chief relates a telling story about China and the U.S. companies doing business there. Beijing let it be known that any foreign company...

Best companies for leaders.(FEEDBACK)
March 1, 2007... One has to question the methodology of any study that would include The Coca-Cola Company as a "Best Company for Leaders" (December 2006). This is a company that engaged in the most embarrassing CEO succession process in corporate history,...

Six [SIGMA] vs. MVT.(FEEDBACK)
March 1, 2007... I'm amazed you would print such an article ("Thought Leader," January/February 2007). Do you not realize Charles Holland and his company QualPro are touting a product in direct competition to Six Sigma? Did anyone bother to investigate the...

Global brand building.(FEEDBACK)
March 1, 2007... I read "Building Brands" (January/February 2007) with interest, but was troubled by the subhead--"How do you build a global image?" On Champs-Elysees, Via Del Corso, Shibuya, or any other shopping street around the world, geographic reach...

The business of art.(CEO CHRONICLES)
March 1, 2007... When Edward Dolman joined Christie's International as a lowly art handler in 1984, his motivation was as much about a passion for rugby as an interest in art. "A by-product of the job was that it allowed me to take time off to play rugby," he...

Lutz free wheelin'.(CEO WATCH)(Interview)
March 1, 2007... Since starting his career at General Motors in 1963, Robert Lutz has logged time in top posts at every major U.S. manufacturer as well as BMW. In 2001, he returned to GM, where he is now chairman of GM North America. CE recently spoke to Lutz...

Thorns & roses.(CEO CHRONICLES)
March 1, 2007... ROSE... To CLAIBORNE DEMING, CEO of Murphy Oil, which is putting up $50 million for college scholarships for nearly all high school graduates in its working-class hometown of El Dorado, Ark., over the next 20 years. According to CNN,...

Confidence continues strong streak.(improvement in the CEO Confidence Index )
March 1, 2007... PERSEVERANT IN AN UPBEAT ATTITUDE, CEOs continue to be optimistic--at least for now. The CEO Confidence Index jumped 9.0 points last month to 171.0, according to 271 top executives surveyed. Since September of 2006, the Index has risen 15...

The numbers.(CEO CHRONICLES)
March 1, 2007... How real is the threat of global warming? [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Cooked up and overhyped by academia and politicians 21% Real but marginally threatening 22% Something to worry about,...

Combat pilots and CEOs: from one 'top gun' to another.(CHIEF CONCERN)
March 1, 2007... I have been an Air Force combat pilot and the CEO of several companies--two exciting jobs in which I've found numerous common traits for success. Air Force flight schools require the ability to survive a competitive process that culls out well...

Rethinking U.S. regulation: can America restore its leadership in global capital markets?(THOUGHT LEADER)
March 1, 2007... "Many thinking people believe America has seen its best days," the author James Allen wrote to his wife in 1775. Instead, America became the world's leading economic power. Today, however, the U.S.'s competitive posture is eroding. As the...

Talking to China: what business leaders can learn from politicians' mistakes.
March 1, 2007... The irony about China, a senior Chinese leader told me recently, is that "when for more than a century foreigners thought we were so weak, we weren't really so weak, and now when foreigners think we are so strong, we aren't really so strong."...

Safeguarding trade secrets in China: a former USTR hand advises firms on how best to protect their company's assets.(INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY)
March 1, 2007... No one could argue that infringement of intellectual property is not a serious problem in China. Not only does it hurt our industries, but China's as well; however, it is not a problem without solutions. Recent improvements in the Chinese...

Winning with global value chains: simple outsourcing isn't enough. If a CEO can raise the bar on his firm's value chain, the earnings improvement will outshine almost anything else he tries.(SUPPLY CHAIN)(Company overview)
March 1, 2007... When CEO Andrew Liveris talks about restoring a long-term luster to Dow Chemical, he predictably ticks off objectives concerning product innovation, joint ventures and financial discipline. But in the same breath, he'll also mention the...

Ensuring a healthy value chain: former P & G Vice Chairman Kerry Clark runs the largest company no one's heard of.(Cover story)(Company overview)
March 1, 2007... U.S. health care spending is growing by 7 percent a year, running about 16 percent of GDP today and reaching $4 trillion, almost a fifth of U.S. GDP over the next eight years. The industry is perched at an inflection point as it deals with...

A counterintuitive human capital strategy: looking for talented leaders? Hire underachievers.
March 1, 2007... Google's co-founder Sergey Brin recently admitted to analysts that the firm's high bar for hiring has held back expansion and that the firm will have to make significant adjustments to its hiring process. Like many companies with hiring...

Guarantees deliver customers: an "extraordinary guarantee" can galvanize your organization to purge customer dissatisfaction.(RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT)
March 1, 2007... An "extraordinary guarantee"--a radical departure from a typical low-octane guarantee--has proven to be a powerful catalyst for galvanizing an organization to eliminate the causes of customer dissatisfaction in every part of its business....

Get ready for the SEC's game-changing compensation rules: how do you fare on these seven "red flag" disclosure issues?(COMPENSATION)
March 1, 2007... Timing is everything. Following the splashy headlines about two high-profile CEO departures at Home Depot and Pfizer with exit packages in the $200 million range, new SEC proxy rules are sure to bring even greater emphasis to the issue of CEO...

Curing the health care crisis: is the promise of consumer-driven health care real?(ROUNDTABLE)
March 1, 2007... Over the past decade, health care spending in the U.S. rose 44 percent per capita in real terms--far outpacing GDP growth, wage increases and inflation--according to the Executive Office of the President and the Council of Economic Advisors....

Are TSOs a new trend? Already employed by Microsoft and Google, transferable stock options may be the incentive plan of the future.(EXECUTIVE LIFE)
March 1, 2007... When Microsoft adopted third-party option transferability in 2003, the program made waves as an unorthodox way to incent and retain employees. The software giant's one-time offer for employees to get value for below-market options by selling...

Groomed like the gipper: it's time to put a shopworn celeb in the oval office.(FLIP SIDE)
March 1, 2007... In a new book entitled The Education of Ronald Reagan, Thomas W. Evans discusses the huge effect exerted on the future president by the years he spent working for General Electric after his acting career went south. People of a certain age will...

Better health care for less.(EDITORIAL)
March 1, 2007... A COALITION CALLING ITSELF the "Better Health Care Together" campaign declares that the "U.S. health care system is broken" and wants to create "a new health care system by 2012." The group, consisting of strange bedfellows such as the...