Business

‘Do it once. Do it right’

March 24, 2015
“I don’t need to proclaim anything,” says Bruce Douglas, president of Education Dynamics. “I prefer to ask questions that will provoke thought. If you have good people, you can enlist them in helping you make good decisions.”

Hack attack: Outgoing CEO takes the heat

March 20, 2015
Over Labor Day weekend, Frank Blake could finally relax. After seven hard-charging years as CEO of Home Depot, he had announced in August 2014 that he’d retire and his chosen successor, Craig Menear, would take over as CEO on Nov. 1. But on Tuesday morning, Blake was stunned to learn that Home Depot’s computers had been hacked …

A new CEO saves an old, beloved toy

March 18, 2015

In 2004, Lego was losing roughly $1 million a day. The once-legendary Danish toy maker was on the brink of collapse. It hired a new CEO, Jorgen Vig Knud­­storp, who quickly drew two conclusions: The company needed to cut costs dramatically and start delivering products that customers actually wanted.

A turnaround tale starts with a sense of mission

March 11, 2015
When Jay Gould joined American Standard in 2012 as CEO, he faced a liquidity crisis. Draining cash, the once-venerable plumbing company was on the brink of collapse. The company’s 5,500 employees had gotten used to layoffs, and there was little reason to believe more weren’t coming. Gould needed a way to boost morale, and he found it.

Why IBM’s CEO thinks in threes

March 9, 2015
If you run a company with 431,000 employees in 170 countries, you need to simplify your message. Virginia Rometty, IBM’s ninth CEO in its 104-year history, knows how to communicate in bite-size nuggets to drive home her point.

He built a following, blog by blog

March 4, 2015
In early 2006, Avinash Kaushik worked in data analytics at Intuit. After giving a talk at an industry conference, some influential attendees suggested he start blogging. Kaushik liked the idea, but prepared carefully before diving in. How did he so quickly become a thought leader read around the world?

Bring more winners along for the ride

February 26, 2015

David Novak learned an important lesson from John Calipari, a top college basketball coach. Novak is the chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands and Calipari is University of Kentucky’s head coach.

Dal LaMagna offers a pinch of advice

February 25, 2015
Here are three points of advice from Dal LaMagna, the guy who launched more than a dozen businesses, sold Tweezerman to J.A. Henckels, and now is CEO of countertop manufacturer IceStone.

Her toughness sends a clear message

February 25, 2015

Lynn Tilton, founder of Patriarch Partners, runs about 75 companies with total annual revenue of $8 billion. She’s a rare breed: a self-made female billionaire. Tilton, 55, didn’t rise to the top by holding back. She has no trouble asserting herself among high-powered men.

Workplace utopia fosters SAS innovation

February 18, 2015
During the 2008-09 recession, Jim Goodnight of SAS didn’t just promise job security to his workforce. He also challenged them to use the slowdown to innovate. Housed on 300 acres in Cary, N.C., the tech giant’s campus offers its 14,000 em­ployees a chance to concentrate on ­creativity with a minimum of distractions.