Wisdom of the CEO: 29 Global Leaders Tackle Today's Most Pressing Business Challenges

Acknowledgements ix

Foreword Discerning the Agenda of the Global Economy xi
Klaus M. Schwab

Introduction Warp-Speed Change: The Challenge to Business Leadership 1

Chapter 1 Globalization amidst Rapid Change: Developing an Aggressive Strategy 15

Value from the Center 25
Niall W. A. FitzGerald, chairman, Unilever PLC

Next Frontier of Globalization: Consumer Focus 32
Jacques A. Nasser, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ford Motor Company

Banking is 90 Percent Action, 10 Percent Strategy 43
Sir John Bond, Group Chairman, HSBC Holdings

Organizing and Managing for Global Success 51
Bertrand P. Collomb, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Lafarge Group

Chapter 2 Growth: Reinvention Is the Key 57

Creating and Managing Hypergrowth 73
Michael S. Dell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dell Computer Corporation

Growth: The Engine of Global Leadership 81
Stephen R. Hardis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Eaton Corporation

Satisfying a Global Appetite 90
Charles R. Shoemate, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bestfoods

Chapter 3 Shareholder Value: Refocusing on Meaning over Measures 97

Changing the Rules: A Path to Shareholder Value 109
John F. Antioco, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Blockbuster Inc.

Building Value the Baxter Way 115
Harry M. Jansen Kraemer, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Baxter International Inc.

Building Shareholder Value with Strategists – Lots of Them 125
Sir Brian Pitman, Chairman, Lloyds TSB Group

Chapter 4 Organization: The Pathways of Organizational Transformation 131

Slaying the Dragon 144
C. Michael Armstrong, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AT&T

Decentralization is the Crucible of Growth 152
Ralph S. Larsen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson

Firing Up the Evangelical Organization 160
William J. Henderson, Postmaster General, United States Postal Service

The Energy of Leadership 167
Peter I. Bijur, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Texaco, Inc.

Chapter 5 E-business 175

Online Commerce: Changing Everything, or Nothing? 187
Esther Dyson, Chairman, EDventure Holdings Inc.

E-business: New . . . and Not So New 198
K. Blake Darcy, Chief Executive Officer, DLJdirect, Inc.

To Portal or Nor to Portal? That is the Question 204
Robert W. Shaw, Chief Executive Officer, USWeb/CKS

Consumer Empowerment: The Internet and the Art of Management 212
James J. Schiro, Chief Executive Officer, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Chapter 6 Disruptive Technology and the Large Corporation 219

Disrupt of Be Disrupted: Overturning Conventional Thinking in the Information Storage Industry 232
Michael C. Ruettgers, President and Chief Executive Officer, EMC Corporation

Walking the Precipice: Achieving the Right Technology Balance 242
Roger G. Ackerman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Corning Incorporated

Driver or Enabler? The Internet’s Role in Twenty-First-Century Business 251
Lawrence A. Bossidy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AlliedSignal Inc.

Marketing Reshaped by Technology 260
Thierry Breton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, THOMSON multimedia

Chapter 7 Innovation: New Ideas, Dangerous Ideas 265

Environmental Compliance Helps the Bottom Line 277
Pasquale Pistorio, President, Chief Financial Official, and Chief Executive Officer, STMicroelectronics NV

Cool Head, Firm Hand, Warm Heart: The ABB Approach to Innovation 284
Goran Lindahl, Presiedent and Co-Chief Executive Officer, ABB

Teams on Fire: Sony’s Innovation Culture 290
Nobuyuki Idei, President and Chief Executive Officer, Sony Corporation

DuPont is a Science Company 301
Charles O. “Chad” Holliday, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, DuPont

Chapter 8 Knowledge Management: Unifying Knowledge and Action 311

Organizing Knowledge throughout the World 323
Timothy Koogle, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Yahoo! Inc.

Knowledge Focused on Results 332
Dr. Daniel Vasella, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Novartis

Ba: A Place for Managing Knowledge 342
Yotaro Kobayashi, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

CEO Biographies 349

Index 365