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

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

The real stuff.(EDITOR'S NOTE)(Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines Co. gives presentation)
October 1, 2007... At the World Business Forum we ran into Herb Kelleher, our 1999 Chief Executive of the Year. Alone among the luminous speakers lined up for that spectacle, Herb gave the most compelling presentation. No charts, no data, no big speeches nor...

Why Comp Criticism is Valid.(FEEDBACK)(compensation criticism)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... You sometimes get it right and sometimes not. Your article "Is CEO Comp Criticism Valid?" (September 2007) isn't balanced, starting with the sentence that it is even possible that big company CEOs haven't been getting the rewards they deserve....

INfact-uated.(FEEDBACK)
October 1, 2007... I enjoy the INfacts you now publish. My favorite is the fact the IRS spends 22 cents for every dollar collected. Hank McKinnell Former Chairman/CEO Pfizer I enjoyed John Kador's INfact. Depressing? A little. Interesting?...

Colonel who?(CEO CHRONICLES)(Company overview)
October 1, 2007... When PepsiCo opted to jettison the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pizza Hut and Taco Bell quick-serve restaurant brands with a spin-off in 1997, the new company's future did not look particularly bright. Inheriting $4.7 billion in debt and ROI...

Listen--and learn.(CEO CHRONICLES)
October 1, 2007... It wasn't until he left Coca-Cola that Jack Stahl came to a realization: over 20 years of jotting notes during business meetings about what works--and what doesn't--he had framed out a book. After a stellar career that encompassed tenures as...

Global guru.(CEO CHRONICLES)(Company overview)
October 1, 2007... Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has been on something of a growth tear over the past year. As India's biggest IT outsourcer, Mumbai, India-based TCS provides software and services for an impressive roster of clients, including IBM, Microsoft,...

Optimism at odds.(Inbox)(Survey)
October 1, 2007... U.S. CEOs have significantly more faith in current U.S. economic conditions than the average citizen, according to a recent survey by Opinion Research. Just 37 percent of American adults rate current conditions as excellent or good vs. 84...

Fertilizer foes settle fight.(UPdate)(Company overview)
October 1, 2007... CEO Chronicles has been following a legal dispute between Scotts Miracle-Gro, the $2.7 billion plant food company, and TerraCycle, whose CEO appeared on CE's cover earlier this year. Here's the latest update in this case study of an...

INfact.(CEO CHRONICLES)
October 1, 2007... CEOs are awash in numbers from morning till night. Most of those numbers come to CEOs filtered and organized with a PowerPoint behind every numeral. But decision-makers also benefit from data disconnected from any agenda. The Chief Executive...

Ditching diversification.(CEO WATCH)(Interview)
October 1, 2007... Since taking the CEO seat at Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries in 2005, Charles (Chuck) E. Bunch has been leading a charge to transform the coatings, glass and chemical company into a more focused and more global entity. CE talked with Bunch...

Thorns & roses.(CEO CHRONICLES)
October 1, 2007... ROSE... From his non-statist economic policies to his views on Iran, French President NICOLAS SARKOZY has brought fresh thinking to the Elysee Palace... finalement! THORN... New York Governor ELIOT SPITZER'S stonewalling of the...

Record drop in CEO confidence continues.(CEO CONFIDENCE INDEX)
October 1, 2007... THE RECORD DROP IN CEO CONFIDENCE continued in September. According to 180 top executives surveyed, CEO confidence fell to its lowest level in four years. The leading economic indicator, which measures C-Suite confidence in various aspects of...

The numbers.(CEO CHRONICLES)
October 1, 2007... How big of a role do you expect social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, LiinkedIn, Ryze, Classmates.com, etc.) to play in business over the next 3-5 years? Very significant 19 Significant 36 Moderate 72...

Fixing the biotech marketplace: generic biologic drugs could save billions.(CHIEF CONCERN)
October 1, 2007... The marketplace for drugs from the biotechnology industry, known as biologics, is damaged and needs repair. While biotechnology has revolutionized medical care and improved the lives of millions of patients, it is costly, with biologics running...

The making of a U.S. CEO: what can business executives learn from political candidates?(UNCOMMON WISDOM)
October 1, 2007... The U.S. presidential race is entering high season, and leading candidates are jockeying for position. Since leadership is the driving quality that Americans seek in their commander-in-chief, their national CEO, we can discern leadership...

Succession without tears: what does it take to manage a smooth leadership transition?(ROUNDTABLE)
October 1, 2007... CEO succession practices have witnessed a sea change over the past decade. In the not-so-recent past, anointing a successor--regardless of what official corporate policy might state--was often the purview of the sitting CEO. He or she assessed...

That Vasella fella: Swiss drugmaker Novartis has brought 16 new drugs to market in the U.S. since 2000, compared to 13 for Pfizer and 9 for Merck. Now CEO Daniel Vasella is using biologics as a platform for the next stage of growth.(Company overview)
October 1, 2007... The next decade does not look promising for Big Pharma. Research and development productivity has eroded and most top-selling products face patent expiration. Regulatory burdens and pricing pressures are sure to get worse. Cost-cutting can only...

Apology and forgiveness: how do you regain customer trust when things go wrong?(RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT)
October 1, 2007... It is undeniable that at some point your business will suffer a failure that disappoints customers. The measure of a company is defined in these moments. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Customers see your true colors at these times more than...

Davos or denial: should a CEO bother with the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland--where the hype is thick, the air is thin and the opportunities for relationship building tend to trump the content? Yes, but first prepare.(GLOBAL NETWORKING)
October 1, 2007... Remember your first time heading off to summer camp? As you and your parents packed up your trunk and duffel bag, your whole body was flush with excitement, a combination of anticipation and dread. Would you have fun? Would you fit in? ...

Top 10 enterprise risks: what potential threats keep CEOs up at night?(ROUNDTABLE)(Company overview)
October 1, 2007... Managing business risk has always been a strategic imperative, but perhaps never more so than today. Explosive global expansion, ever-more-onerous regulatory oversight and an environment of rapid change have spurred a growing awareness about...

2007 Chief Executive of the Year.(CEO OF THE YEAR DINNER)
October 1, 2007... "When I think about leadership, I think about the ability to transform an organization to win in the face of unrelenting change and unrelenting competition because that's the world that we live in today, and this definition fits Bob Ulrich...

The lure of the vines: why CEOs make the move from executive suite to wine celler.(EXECUTIVE LIFE)
October 1, 2007... Many CEOs dream of jettisoning the constant pressure of their day jobs for the pleasure of running a business that indulges a personal passion. Owning or running a winery gives many top executives the opportunity to live that fantasy. It's an...

Executive action: the CEOs Without Borders concept gets a reality check.(FLIP SIDE)
October 1, 2007... High atop the category "Suggestions That Have Been Far Too Long in Coming" is a proposal to establish a corporate version of Doctors Without Borders. The idea, advanced by the African-based journalist Jonathan Ledgard, appears in...

Nothing to fear from Free Trade.(EDITORIAL)
October 1, 2007... LEADERS IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, and even some Republicans, are taking a dark view of the country's historic support of market-opening trade policy. Even though her husband lobbied hard for NAFTA and fast-track authority when he was in the...

When transparency is anything but.(EDITORIAL)(right to financial information)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... NEWLY MANDATED SEC DISCLOSURE RULES said to help investors understand executive pay by making it "transparent" have left regulators scratching their heads. SEC Chairman Chris Cox said that investors "should not need a machete and a pith helmet...