Business

Sealing deals with a handshake and a taco

September 24, 2014
After more than two years of testing a Doritos-flavored taco shell, Taco Bell still had not signed a contract to partner with the company that made Doritos. So as the date neared for a major launch, CEO Greg Creed invited Frito-Lay’s CEO to a meeting where they forged a handshake deal. Creed’s eagerness to forge ahead without an official contract paid off.

Success comes at high price for CEO

September 3, 2014
During Alyson Pitman Giles’ 13 years at the helm of Catholic Medical Center in Manchester, N.H., the hospital’s finances reversed course. By the time she left in 2012, its operating margin exceeded $3 million. But her success did not come without turmoil.

Rejiggering a 110-hour workweek

August 21, 2014
Pressed to the limits by his workload, Stephen Shapiro analyzed all the activities on his plate and found only a small percentage of them truly mattered. Within two weeks, he had re­­duced his weekly work hours from 110 to 20. What can be learned from this speaker and consultant’s example?

Culture is the key differentiator

August 13, 2014
“We’re in an industry with 115% annual turnover,” says Brian Fielkow, president and CEO of Jetco Delivery. “Our raw number is about one-third of that.” How does he craft a culture than resonates with employees?

How to woo 440,000 global employees

July 29, 2014
When Sam Palmisano became IBM’s chief executive in 2002, he succeeded a superstar CEO, Lou Gerstner. In 1993, Gerstner turned around the sinking company, declaring, “The last thing IBM needs is a vision.” By 2002, however, Palmisano felt IBM needed one.

Leading employee-driven cultures

July 23, 2014

Wayne Goldberg knows the hotel business. He’s president and CEO of La Quinta Holdings, a Texas-based chain with roughly 7,000 employees. “I make it clear when speaking to our hourly employees that I’ve been an hourly employee,” he says. “I’ve been a maintenance person, I’ve worked in the laundry. There isn’t a job I haven’t done.”

Lenovo execs’ posh, high-stakes meeting

July 10, 2014
Once a year, Yang Yuanqing, CEO of Lenovo, invites his senior executives to his palatial home in a ritzy section of Beijing for a mix of lighthearted fun and dead-serious business. What happens at the place one of his employees calls “a mini-Versailles”?

Down but not out, Gap bounces back

July 3, 2014
When Glenn Murphy left a Canadian drugstore chain in 2007 to become CEO of Gap, the clothing retailer had sustained a multiyear losing streak. But it’s finally bouncing back.

Bad bosses leave mark on billionaire

June 26, 2014
After graduating college, Mark Cuban got a job at Mellon Bank. His youthful energy led him to think like an entrepreneur—and that landed him in trouble with higher-ups …

A CEO learns from good and bad leaders

June 19, 2014
Throughout his years in the financial services industry, Graham Coxell of brokerage firm Rowan Dartington has witnessed good and bad leadership. His conclusion? It’s better to seek to understand others than berate them.