CEO SMACK is on a quest to determine what would be your vehicle of choice if you were CEO of a major company. If you were a CEO and had to choose a daily driver, what would be the one automobile you would select. Our goal is to determine which vehicle model all of you future CEOs would be seen cruising up to the office in on a daily basis.
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Today Trump Entertainment Resorts removed the interim tag and announced that Mark Juliano has been officially named the company’s Chief Executive Officer effective immediately.
Juliano has an impressive Casino and Gaming Industry background. Prior to his interim stint as CEO of Trump Entertainment Resorts, he had been Chief Operating Officer of Trump Entertainment Resorts since August 8, 2005. He also served as President of Boardwalk Regency Corporation Caesars Atlantic City from 1994 to 1999.
From March 1999 to October 2001, Mr. Juliano served as President of Mirage Atlantic City Corporation. From October 2001 to February 2003, he was the Chairman of the board of directors of Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority. From February 2003 to August 2005, Juliano served as the President of Desert Palace, Inc. Caesars Palace, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Donald J. Trump, the Chairman of the Company’s Board of Directors, said, “Mark is the right man for the job. His understanding of the gaming industry, innovative operational and marketing techniques and impressive leadership are exactly the right qualities needed to lead the Company.”
After several brutal years of tumultuous activity, CEO job security is finally starting to improve.
Through the first half of 2007, 27 CEOs at Standard & Poor’s 500 companies quit, retired or were fired, says executive search firm Spencer Stuart. That’s on pace for an annual rate of 54, or about 10 percent, compared with 72 (14 percent) CEOs replaced in 2006.
Among the Fortune 100 representing the largest companies, the departure rate so far in 2007 also is 10 percent, but it is an even more drastic improvement from the 18 percent who left last year and 14 percent in 2005, says executive search firm CTPartners.
The dropoff this year is the start of a long-term trend of greater CEO job security at companies of all sizes, says Brian Sullivan, CEO of CTPartners. The rash of corporate scandals starting in 2001 led to tough legislation and made boards of directors more powerful and less patient of poor performance. But now those same directors are rethinking the short-term pressure on CEOs to meet quarterly earnings at the expense of long-term strategy, Sullivan says.
Firings are sometimes degraded in press releases to resignations or early retirements, making it difficult to track CEOs who leave involuntarily. However, three of the five Fortune 100 CEOs stepping down in 2007 left with their companies’ stocks on the rise:
Larry Glasscock left WellPoint on June 1 after six years and was replaced by Angela Braly. She now is the only female CEO among the largest 50 companies (No. 35).
Edward Whitacre retired from AT&T (No. 27) on June 3 after 27 years, replaced by Randall Stephenson.
Richard Kovacevich retired from Wells Fargo (No. 41) on June 27 after nine years and was replaced by John Stumpf.
Not everyone left under such good conditions. Involuntary departures so far in 2007 include:
Kevin Rollins turned Dell Computer (No. 34) back over to founder Michael Dell in January after three years as CEO.
Robert Nardelli left Home Depot (No. 17) in January after six years under heavy criticism for his big pay package and stalled stock price. Francis Blake replaced him.
Other recent high-profile departures include Yahoo CEO Terry Semel, who was ousted for co-founder Jerry Yang, and Blockbuster CEO John Antioco ousted for former 7-Eleven CEO James Keyes.
A similar trend of job security at smaller companies may be afoot. In June, 105 CEOs at companies of all sizes left their jobs, according to outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. That’s down 27 percent from 144 in May and 17 percent from 127 departures in June 2006. Last year a record 1,478 CEOs left, up from 663 in 2004.
Looking ahead, there could be as few as two Fortune 100 CEOs losing their jobs in the second half of 2007, largely because a robust stock market “cures all evils,” Sullivan says.
But firm ground can give quickly. The board of Whole Foods is investigating CEO John Mackey, who admitted to making anonymous blog postings about his company and the competition.
From struggling start-up to Fortune 50 company, the “help wanted” signs are back in Silicon Valley. The business climate in the technology mecca appears to be heating up these days. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group recently took the temperature of 115 of the Valley’s top CEOs. The result? A warming trend that has translated into 34 straight months of job growth for Silicon Valley workers.
On May 31, the Leadership Group released its fourth annual CEO Business Climate Survey to a sold-out, standing-room-only crowd of 200-plus CEOs, an event hosted by Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter, Seagate CEO Bill Watkins and Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen. The 21-question survey completed by those 115 CEOs - with combined annual revenues exceeding $650 billion - revealed much about the opportunities and obstacles unique to Silicon Valley.
The region has enjoyed three years of sustained job growth, with an unemployment rate below 5 percent.
In 2006, 63 percent of CEO respondents added jobs in Silicon Valley and only 11 percent eliminated jobs. Looking forward, 50 percent anticipate continued valley job growth throughout 2007, with only a fraction - 12 percent - anticipating layoffs.
After the steep and deep economic downturn from the dot-com bust, seasoned CEOs have replaced over-confidence with cautious optimism - and a renewed desire to strengthen Silicon Valley’s business climate. Each CEO was asked to name the top cost-of-living challenges facing their employees, their key concerns as employers, and the most important issues the state should address to help improve the economy.
When it comes to the worries of workers and their families, the top three concerns are clear: housing, traffic and health care. Not only is affordable housing the key concern for the fourth straight year, it was identified as a top concern by an astonishing 99 percent of the CEOs.
The flip side of the valley housing challenge is traffic and commute times. Traffic, a perennial problem that actually eased a bit during the economic downturn, has raced back with a vengeance. Nearly one in two CEOs listed traffic as a top concern, when barely one in three listed it last year. The economy is back, along with many of the valley’s traffic tie-ups.
Rounding out the top three items is the affordability and availability of health care. A full 45 percent of CEOs believe it is a great concern to their workers. It underscores the importance of the governor’s efforts to enact comprehensive health care reform this year.
Source: [MercuryNews.com]
The Rev. Al Sharpton and Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott became unlikely allies Tuesday in their call to revive immigration legislation, in speeches before the nation’s largest Hispanic civil rights organization. “Congress needs to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill now,” said Scott, who heads the world’s largest retailer.
Scott attributed his views in part to his Mexican-American granddaughter, who has helped him to understand immigration as more than “simply a cerebral exercise.”
But Hispanics also provide a major part of the chain’s business, Scott acknowledged, roughly 14 percent and growing. And their relatives are increasingly shopping at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in countries such as Argentina and Guatemala.
Sharpton, went further in his support for a bill that would provide a path to legalization for many of the nation’s more than 12 million illegal immigrants. He denounced TV and radio shows that foster an “us against them” mentality.
“I want to say what a lot of people won’t say. The immigration debate is not simply about border security, it is a problem of America dealing with race,” Sharpton told the audience of more than 1,000 community, political and business leaders, at the National Council of La Raza’s annual conference.
“No one is calling for English-only tests when it comes to fighting in Iraq,” he added.
Source: [The Washington Post]
A recent report says that height is a measure of power in the workplace. This is especially true among CEOs. Ever notice that most people in key leadership positions are notably tall? Having height usually means instant respect from one’s peers. Not having it could mean an inability to get your ideas taken seriously.
The USA Today reports that Le Gourmet Gift Basket CEO Cynthia McKay wears 3-inch heels even though she’s 5-foot-9 in bare feet.
Why? For the same reason that 6-foot-3 Don Peebles, CEO of the Peebles Corp., the nation’s largest African-American-owned real estate development company, puts his hand on the shoulder of shorter adversaries and crowds their personal space when negotiating a key deal.
It’s to gain a “subliminal sense of power,” Peebles said.
People of status often use height, or an inflated appearance of height, to look more powerful, said Lara Tiedens, an organizational behavior professor at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, who has written extensively about how executives acquire status. They look directly at others, use an open stance and vigorous gestures, speak loudly in a deep voice, interrupt at will, and lean in close or otherwise reduce the space of others and expand their own.
What does all that audacity get them? Others see them as smarter, more competent and deserving of all their promotions, Tiedens said. Read.
