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

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

Thirty years on.(EDITOR'S NOTE)
September 1, 2007... September 2007 marks the 70th anniversary of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and the creation of Middle Earth, the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome when the path to European integration formally began, and the 40th anniversary of the release...

What should Bob Nardelli be doing in his first 100 days?(FEEDBACK)
September 1, 2007... In an online posting, CE asked readers what three things Bob Nardelli needs to do in his first 100 days to put Chrysler on the right path. Responses were unusually strong--and strongly felt. The former Home Depot chief is a figure about whom...

Unifying Unisys.(CEO CHRONICLES)
September 1, 2007... Soon after he was named CEO of Unisys in 2005, Joe McGrath went to the board with an ambitious plan to transform the company. The changes he outlined were formidable--requiring a three-year commitment to major bets on five sectors identified as...

King of NOG.(CEO CHRONICLES)
September 1, 2007... When it comes to reviving brands and turning around flagging firms, few can rival James M. Kilts. He won a reputation rebuilding brands at Kraft, then moved on to return a floundering Nabisco to glory. It came as no surprise, then, that he was...

Winning in Windsor.(CEO CHRONICLES)
September 1, 2007... Two years into his reign at the helm of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and Andrew Cosslett can still get worked up discussing the many outrages upscale hotels visit upon beleaguered business travelers. High on his personal list are hotels...

Property pursuits.(CEO CHRONICLES)
September 1, 2007... What happens when a lawyer in private practice for 22 years forays into the corporate melee? Recruited by former CEO Charles H. Foster Jr. to restructure LandAmerica Financial Group and strengthen its market presence in the mortgage services...

Flying high?(INbox)(Survey)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Aircraft perquisites--and disclosure of them--seem to be on the rise among CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, reports Equilar's Executive Compensation newsletter. More than 78 percent of companies reported that their CEOs used corporate-owned,...

INfact.(CEO CHRONICLES)
September 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. Introducing the Chief...

Brand battle.(UPdate)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... Trenton, N.J.-based TerraCycle's strategic fight with Marysville, Ohio-based industry leader Scotts Miracle-Gro might become a case study for small upstart companies on how to survive disputes with bigger counterparts, say industry experts....

Confronting the global threat of avian flu.(CEO WATCH)
September 1, 2007... George B. Abercrombie, president and CEO of Hoffmann-La Roche in Nutley, N.J., speaks out about his concern over the strong possibility of a worldwide avian flu pandemic and our seeming inability to thwart it. Why is this a major issue...

Thorns & roses.(CEO CHRONICLES)
September 1, 2007... ROSE... Who says there are no second chances in business? Cerberus Capital Management has named former Home Depot CEO BOB NARDELLI as CEO and chairman of the newly hived off Chrysler. CE predicted private equity would scoop up Nardelli...

CEO confidence plunges on credit concerns.(CEO CONFIDENCE INDEX)
September 1, 2007... THE CEO CONFIDENCE INDEX PLUNGED in August as CEOs reacted to growing concerns over the U.S. Credit Markets. According to 203 top executives surveyed, the top economic indicator fell by 24.3 points to 145.0, far and away the largest one month...

The numbers.(CEO CHRONICLES)(Brief article)
September 1, 2007... Please indicate to what extent the following factors affected your confidence this month: [GRAPHIC OMITTED] Increased Decreased Confidence...

Netting "net neutrality": new internet regulation threatens U.S. productivity.(CHIEF CONCERN)
September 1, 2007... America's future economic success rests on the broad-band investments of today. Economists project universal broadband deployment could add 1.2 million jobs and $500 billion to the U.S. economy. North American telecommunications companies will...

Thwarting anti-Americanism: eight steps for CEOs coping with the villainization of America.(UNCOMMON WISDOM)
September 1, 2007... Anti-Americanism is a potent phenomenon in the world, and business executives as much as political leaders need to appreciate its significance and deal with its consequences. First, I discuss the etiology of anti-Americanism, its genesis and...

Rebuilding brand USA: can U.S. companies restore America's good name?(GLOBALIZATION)
September 1, 2007... A single South African bill-board tells us everything we need to know about America's standing in the world. Daimler Chrysler's Smart Car, it boasts, features "German engineering, Swiss innovation and American nothing." [ILLUSTRATION...

Is CEO comp criticism valid? Boards are caught between pay critics and market realities.(COMPENSATION)
September 1, 2007... Long a popular pursuit in union halls and at Green Party gatherings, criticism of CEO compensation now has become a mainstream cause celebre in America. The ideological din accusing company chieftains of raking in corrupt levels of pay and...

The new logic of offshoring: the next generation of offshoring--innovating and engineering--is at hand.(ROUNDTABLE)(Company overview)
September 1, 2007... In its earliest phase, offshoring was driven by cost reduction and limited to non-mission-critical work such as call centers, credit card processing and administrative work. Companies raced to source work in Asia-Pacific, South American and...

Is Wall Street ready to go nuclear? The climate--even a warmer one--may still be wrong.(ENERGY)
September 1, 2007... CEOs across the economy are feeling the squeeze of higher power prices, and these prices likely will rise even more if the U.S. government enacts a law to control domestic greenhouse gas emissions. However, high power prices and a push toward...

The environmentalist who went nuclear: why Greenpeace founder and activist Patrick Moore thinks the atom is the answer.(ENERGY)
September 1, 2007... When Canadian-born Patrick Moore began his career more than 30 years ago as an environmental activist and founder of Greenpeace, he was appalled by all things nuclear. In 2000, British ecologist James Lovelock, best known for the Gaia...

Future power: American electric power's Mike Morris.(ENERGY)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... AEP's Michael Morris says that like it or not fossil fuels will remain our principal source of energy for much of the 21st century. Nuclear, however clean and constant, still faces hurdles. Renewables will help but mostly at the margin. ...

CEOs & CFOs.(CHIEF EXECUTIVE SPECIAL REPORT)
September 1, 2007... TODAY, MORE THAN EVER BEFORE, a CEO and CFO must function as a team. Financial expertise has always been critical to managerial strategy, but rampant mergers and acquisitions, shareholder activism and ever more complex regulatory requirements...

Big deal luxury wheels: sedans for the un-sedate.(EXECUTIVE LIFE)
September 1, 2007... for practically minded CEOs, $40,000 to $50,000 luxury sedans are the sweet spot of the automotive market these days. Part of the reason is that other contenders are fading. Behemoth SUVs, for example, scream "gas hog," well appointed...

Delusions of democracy: the first shall be made last.(FLIP SIDE)
September 1, 2007... Back in the 1970s--the Golden Age of Bad Ideas--scions of wealthy politicians got into the annoying habit of taking summer jobs as garbage men. This didn't help real-life garbage men much, and it certainly didn't help the unemployed stiffs who...

Safe, carbon-free and about time.(EDITORIAL)
September 1, 2007... ECONOMIC GROWTH and technological innovation are directly related to the availability of low-cost electricity. Each percentage increase in real GDP between 1970 and 2000 has resulted in a 1 percent rise in demand for electricity. Not...

The long view.(EDITORIAL)
September 1, 2007... TURMOIL IN THE CREDIT MARKETS coupled with the implosion of housing has triggered a precipitous contraction of liquidity and concerns that a recession is upon us. Chief Executive's own CEO Confidence Index showed the largest one-month drop in...