|
| WYD Survey-To improve To Enhance |
| Monday, March 30, 2009 |
|
posted by Win Your Dreams @ 5:22 AM
 |
|
|
|
| The Ernst & Young CEO Continued |
| Monday, March 23, 2009 |
No matter what city he wakes up in, Turley spends his time with the Ernst & Young teams who serve the clients, with the clients themselves, and with investors and investor representatives. “I want to make sure we are focusing on the right things on a daily basis,” he says, “and that we have the right processes internally and the right focus on the market.”
The bottom line for Turley is having the best people deliver the best products to the marketplace and, in the process, create a growing, sustaining organization. “Ernst & Young,” he notes, “has a culture that celebrates people who respect one another, who have high integrity, and who place teamwork high in their priorities.”
Turley’s commitments at the Ernst & Young Houston office and his service on the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management Council of Overseers frequently bring him back to Houston. “Unlike most places, when I get to Houston, I rent a car,” Turley says. “I like to visit the campus. I have great memories, especially of how involved and available the faculty was, both inside and outside of class.”
Turley realized early on that he was not just taught accounting rules at Rice but how to think about those rules, to understand why they exist, and to apply them in different circumstances. With all the changes taking place in his profession and the great changes he has seen in business over the past few years, he is reminded often of why those early lessons were so important.
WYD Team Go Green ! |
| posted by Win Your Dreams @ 8:38 PM
|
|
|
|
| Father of Chocolates continued |
| Sunday, March 15, 2009 |
From front page... Building a town, not just a company.
Hershey’s success was not simply a matter of luck. Having learned from his past failures, he had become a shrewd and astute businessman. He believed, along with the more forward-thinking industrialists of the age, that workers who were treated fairly and who lived in a comfortable, pleasant environment would be better workers. Accordingly, he set upon building an infrastructure to take care of the people who were employed by his company. He had plans drawn up for a model community that included housing for executives and ordinary workers alike, schools, churches, parks, recreational facilities and a trolley system. Unlike other “company towns,” Hershey’s was not intended to exploit its resident workers, but rather to provide for their welfare. As time went on, Hershey saw to it that the town (named Hershey, naturally) added a community building, a department store, a convention hall, an amusement park, a swimming pool, and schools. Lots of schools.
“To train young men to useful trades.”
For the farm boy who never had much chance at education himself, providing that opportunity for others was always an important priority. As early as 1909, Hershey and his wife Catherine established the Hershey Industrial School, a school for orphan boys. Today named the Milton Hershey School, it has since opened its doors to girls as well. He also made sure that the town of Hershey had the finest elementary and secondary schools possible. There were even plans for a junior college. In 1918 and with no fanfare, Hershey transferred the bulk of his considerable wealth, including his ownership in the Hershey Chocolate Company and other enterprises, to the Hershey Trust to be held for the Hershey Industrial School.
A legacy that lives on.
With the death of Milton Hershey in 1945, the company, town and institutions that bear his name were well positioned to continue and grow. The Hershey Chocolate Corporation has evolved into The Hershey Company, a profitable company encompassing a range of products found in homes throughout the world. The town of Hershey, with its many attractions, has become a popular destination for both vacationing tourists and business conventioneers. The Milton Hershey School, along with Hershey’s other philanthropic endeavors, have expanded and prospered, with the school housing and educating hundreds of boys and girls. In a long and useful life, Milton S. Hershey proved himself to be a courageous entrepreneur, a determined builder and a compassionate humanitarian.
WYD Team |
| posted by Win Your Dreams @ 2:45 AM
|
|
|
|
| 10 Fortune 500 Companies That Started With Next to Nothing |
| Wednesday, March 11, 2009 |
In the contemporary marketplace, most bigger, new businesses start as a result of years of market research, planning and strategic investment. Venture capitalists and big-money consultants get together with ideas that are based on years of experience and expertise, and they work in order to maximize profits. While, there are still millions of entrepreneurs and people that start their own successful companies, they are typically small to medium-sized at best, or they reach their growth capacity within several years. There are, however, some marked examples of businesses that started out organically, as an idea of one or several individuals with little or no experience, and/or little or no money. The following examples are businesses which have grown so large to be included in the Fortune 500, or the world’s largest 500 companies - but which have started from the humblest beginnings. They are “Rags to Riches” stories of unique brands, started by unique individuals that only have accumulated wealth and vast market share, but have created their own niche and never looked back:
Whole Foods Market
In 1978, twenty-five year old college dropout John Mackey and twenty-one year old Rene Lawson Hardy, saved and borrowed money from family and friends to open the doors of a small natural foods store in Austin, Texas. Within a year of opening the store, the couple was evicted from their home for using their apartment storage for the store. Homeless and with no place to go they decided to save costs by moving and living at their store full time. Since their store “Saferway” was zoned for commercial use only, there was no shower stall. According to the company’s website, the two instead bathed in the Hobart dishwasher, which had an attached water hose.
Eventually Mackey and Hardy moved out of the store and into their own place, and within two years managed a merger with another natural foods store to open up the first Whole Foods Market in Austin, Tx on September 20, 1980. With the markets floor space at 10,500 square feet and with 19 employees, Whole Foods Market became the largest of its kind. In 1984, Whole Foods began expanding to other cities by building stores from the ground up and by acquiring other natural foods stores around the country. In 1992 the company went public, and in 2008 posted $6.5 billion in revenues and $3.2 billion in assets. From the humble begginings in Austin, Tx in 1978, to being ranked 369 on the Fortune 500, Whole Foods Market is continually rising to the challenge of the market and providing a unique service to America.
Molson Coors
In 2005, Coors Brewing Company merged with Molson to become the fifth largest brewing company in the world. Though Coors has maintained success throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the road was long and began with the humble story of a German born immigrant by the name of Adolf Coors. Coors became an orphan at the age of 15 and had to support his younger siblings by working at a local brewery in a small Prussian town, in what is now the modern day city of Wuppertal, Germany. Adolph continued to work in the brewing industry until he was 21, when war and unrest in his country caused him to seek opportunity in America. He then stowed away on a ship, and arrived in the United States in 1868 with no money and no job. From there Coors headed west to look for employment; he found one odd job after another, and supported himself until he would cross paths with another German immigrant in Golden, Co.
Based on Adolf Coors initial investment of $2000 in 1872, his company has grown to be one of the largest brewing companies in the world. Coors’ claim to their success in the brewing business is based on what they refer to as the perfect ingredient: water from the Rocky Mountains. Since day one, Coors Brewing Company has marketed the beer in this way. Today, Coors now has $6.2 billion in revenue and $13.5 billion in assets. Coors Brewing Company is another example of an immigrant success story, where persistence, timing, and smart investments can pay off in the long run.
Apple
Most remember the scene in Forest Gump when he explains that he never has to worry about money again because of his investment in the fruit company called “Apple.” Well the truth is that for many investors this was the case. Like many tech companies, Apple started in the garage of a young man by the name of Steve Wozniack. Wozniack was an electronics hacker, and he and his long time friend Steve Jobs had this idea to create a personal computer. In 1976, the two approached a local electronics store to see if they would be interested in buying a personal computer that Wozniack had built. The owner of the store became interested and said he wanted 50 units. Wozniack and Jobs, both penniless at the time, went to a local computer parts supplier and ordered the parts on credit, based on their first purchase order. This was the start of Apple. Though the company has had its ups and downs in its 30-year history, Apple has proven to be the company that produces the industry standard time and time again. From the garage of Steve Wozniack to being ranked 103 on the Fortune 500, Apple continues to grow and prove to be a wise investment for those looking to expand their portfolios to include “fruit companies.”
Nordstrom
In 1887, a 16-year-old boy form Sweden left his home for the promise of America. He arrived in New York City with only five dollars to his name, and unable to speak a word of English. This boy’s name was John W. Nordstrom. His first years in America were surprisingly tough for the young immigrant; he labored in mines and logging camps just to make survive. Nordstrom however persisted, and took manual labor jobs that allowed him to continually move west towards the Pacific Ocean. After struggling for ten years, the 26-year-old Nordstrom picked up the daily newspaper to find that gold had been discovered in Alaska. As the legend goes, he made plans the very next morning to head north to discover his fortune.
After two years of hard labor, difficult terrain, and relentless competition, Nordstrom experienced moderate success, and was able to save nearly $13,000. He then moved to Seattle, Wa to invest his small fortune. In 1901, Nordstrom opened his first shoe store, just 14 years after coming to America. Throughout the 20th Century Nordstrom grew from the one shoe store in downtown Seattle to what is now a multi-billion dollar retail empire.
Dell
Dell was at one time the largest seller of personal computers and servers in the world. Presently Dell is ranked 34 on the Fortune 500, and in 2008 boasted revenues of $61 Billion with assets toping $27.5 billion. The path to the success that Dell now enjoys began with an idea and a $1,000 investment. While attending the University of Texas in 1984, Michael Dell founded the company as PCs Limited. Initial operations of Dell’s company ran from Dell’s dorm room, until he decided to drop out of college to run his company full time. In 1985, the company produced the first computer of its own design, and by 1988 had an initial public offering that valued the company at nearly $80 million.
Electronic Data Systems
In 1962, former presidential candidate Ross Perot founded EDS with $1000. Perot chose the name Electronic Data Systems from potential names he scribed on the back of a pledge envelope during a church service. Perot had been a salesman for IBM before starting EDS, and he was rejected 77 times before EDS acquired its first client. From processing computer tapes and data from their first client to running the IT arm of hundreds of companies a year after its creation, EDS quickly became the country’s leader in providing IT services to American companies.
By the time EDS went public in October 1968, the market value of EDS would be listed at $378 million. Soon thereafter, EDS expanded its operations globally. Today, EDS is ranked 115 on the Fortune 500, and boast revenues of $22.1 billion and has assets topping $19.2 billion. Perot’s experience was perhaps one of the quickest ascensions to wealth on this list.
Mattel
Shortly after World War II, newly-married Ruth and Elliot Handler decided to start a business out of the garage of their Southern California home. Though Mattel is best known as a toy maker, the brand initially produced and sold picture frames. Shortly after opening for business, Handler began making dollhouse furniture with the scraps left over from the picture frames. The couple would soon find out that the toy business was much more lucrative than picture framing. The Handlers had little business experience and even less capital, but the demographics of a baby boom, plus a virtual toy less marketplace afforded the couple a unique opportunity to carve out a niche. Mattel would have their first hit toy in 1947 with the “Uke-A-Doodle,” a miniature plastic ukulele, that proved to be an immediate success that drew large orders.
By 1955 Mattel had grown enough to become a sponsor of the new television program, “The Micky Mouse Club.” Soon after, Mattel released their iconic toy: Barbie. In 1963 the company went public. From the humble beginnings in the garage to the New York Stock Exchange, Mattel is now ranked 413 on the list of Fortune 500 companies. In 2008, Mattel reached $6 Billion in revenues and reported 4.8 billion in assets.
Wrigley
In the spring of 1891, the 29-year-old William Wrigley Jr. moved from Philadelphia to Chicago with only $32 to his name. Soon after arriving in Chicago, Wrigley began selling soap. As an incentive to the customers, if they purchased his soap, he would give them a free can of baking powder. Soon baking powder proved to be more popular than the soap he was selling, so he switched his business. A year later, in 1892, Wrigley used chewing gum as an incentive for buying his baking powder. Again, chewing gum proved to be more popular than baking powder, and so he switched business again. The first brand of chewing gum Wrigley produced was Juicy Fruit in 1893. Through his personal hard work as a salesman and his ability to advertise, Juicy Fruit would soon become the number 1 selling chewing gum in the country.
Wrigley went public in 1919, and since then has seen ups and downs in the market. Wrigley has remained a staple, and perhaps the most visible brand, in the chewing gum business throughout now into the 21st century. A globally distributed brand, Wrigley is one of the the largest gum company in the world, and one of the most successful businesses - in any industry- in the world. In 2008, Wrigley posted revenues of $5.4 billion with a recorded over $5.2 billion in assets.
Starbucks
In 1971, three academics each invested $1350 of their own money into the first Starbucks located in downtown Seattle. English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegel, and writer Gordon Bowker opened the store called Starbucks Coffee, Tea, and Spice. Shortly after opening, and to continue their operations, the three borrowed another $5000 from the local bank. The three partners wanted to pattern their business after Peet’s Coffee and Tea, in Berkley, Ca, which sold dark roast coffee beans and taught customers how to grind the beans and make freshly brewed coffee at home. It wasn’t until the early 1980’s when Howard Shultz entered the picture that Starbucks began focusing not on selling coffee beans, but on making coffee, tea, and espresso drinks for customers inside the store. Though there was much hesitation from the founding partners, this proved to be the business model Starbucks would follow.
Starbucks went public in 1992, and proved to be one of the most successful IPOs that year. With the infusion of public capitol, Starbucks began to strategically expand all over the US, at one point, at the rate of opening one new store per day. Though Starbucks has seen experienced a decline in popularity in the last several years, the brand’s exponential growth is impressive. In 2008, Starbucks was ranked 277 on the Fortune 500. In the same year Starbucks posted revenues of $9.4 billion and recorded assets of $5.3 billion.
eBay Media
Contrary to popular belief, eBay was not created to find Pez Dispensers for the founder’s wife. This was revealed in Adam Cohen’s 2002 book, The Perfect Store, and confirmed later by eBay. The story was fabricated by a public relations manager in 1997 to interest the media and create a public buzz. Regardless of the legitimacy of the story, media interest and public buzz was created, helping to propel the brand into the minds of consumers (and in this case, would-be merchants and barterers as well). In reality, the first item to ever sell on eBay (then AuctionWeb) was a broken laser pointer, by the French born Iranian immigrant and eBay founder, Pierre Omidyar. The transaction closed in September of 1995, not long after Omidyar finished the code for the website in the living room of his Silicon Valley home.
By June 1996, Omidyar’s website had generated around $10,000 in revenue and Omidyar hired his first employee. Soon after this Omidyar left his day job as a computer programmer. By the end of 1996 the total value of items sold on ebay reached $7.2 million and had over 41,000 registered users. With over 250,000 individual transactions reached in 1996, by 1997 eBay began facilitating over 200,000 transactions a month. This caught the attention of a venture capital group who then invested $5 million in the company. From an idea in an average computer programmers living room in 1995 to being ranked 326 on the list of the Fortune 500 in 2008, eBay is the quintessential American success story.
|
| posted by Win Your Dreams @ 8:13 PM
|
|
|
|
| Seven ways to beat inflation woes |
| Monday, March 2, 2009 |
The situation in most Indian households and corporate offices today shows one major action taken -- cost-cutting. This action is attributed to the inflation rates in India as well as the looming global recession. Inflation is defined as a sustained increase in the general level of prices for goods and services.
According to the 2008 Economic Survey report, the Reserve Bank of India had targerted trimming down India's inflation rate from 5.77 per cent in 2007 to 4.1 per cent. However, by July 2008, the key Indian Inflation Rate, the Wholesale Price Index, had risen above 11 per cent; it's highest in 13 years. This is more than 6 per cent higher than a year earlier and almost three times RBI's target of 4.1 per cent.
Such desperate situations call for desperate measures. Inflation is a hydra-headed monster. It cannot be controlled by taking a single measure. However, if finances are wisely coordinated, it can greatly help in controlling the continuous process of rising prices. To handle your finances during inflation, you should:
1. Curb your expenditure: Do not overuse daily essentials like cooking gas, electricity etc. Cut down on inessentials when buying groceries. Look for cheaper alternatives to products that you normally buy.
2. Follow a budget: Create a budget for monthly spending and savings. Save money at the beginning of the month and stick to your spending limits. Do not eat into your savings or debt amounts.
3. Invest in government-backed investment and deposit schemes: Government-backed investment schemes such as Post Office Savings Schemes, Public Provident Funds (PPF) and National Savings Certificates (NSC) are best to invest in when inflation is slowly inching up and you are only looking at safety, not returns.
Even bank fixed deposits are a good bet. These instruments also offer attractive rates of return. For instance, while post office schemes offer 8 to 9% guaranteed returns, the same can go up to 10-11% in the case of bank fixed deposits, which can't be considered bad in the current scenario.
However, inflation eats into the returns offered by assured return schemes like fixed deposits and small savings schemes, thereby leaving investors with dismal real returns.
4. Diversify your investments: Risk and return always go hand in hand while investing. When you choose to save in government-backed savings plans, you can't expect a higher-than-market rate of return for the money, because your primary objective is security of the funds and not returns.
So, even if some of your money is safe, you are still not meeting many of your financial goals. To accomplish your financial goals within the desired time, your investments should have some exposure to equity, real estate and other high-return instruments.
5. Invest in gold: Commodities like gold are a hedge against inflation. This is mainly because the factors that affect the prices of gold are different from those that impact the prices of other assets like equities for instance.
When uncertainty affects global markets, investors prefer to take refuge in gold because in times of inflation, gold prevents erosion in the value of the purchasing power.
6. Invest as per your risk appetite: Investing long-term or short-term should all depend on your risk appetite. However, shorter the term, lesser the risk you should take with your funds. This will ensure that the uncertainty of returns is lesser as you gradually approach your financial goal!
7. Safeguard your investments: Invest in short term deposits and funds, commodities and property. This will help you to slowly reach your financial goals while safeguarding your hard-earned money.
WYD Team
Go Green ! |
| posted by Win Your Dreams @ 7:25 PM
|
|
|
|
| The Verizon head continued |
| Sunday, March 1, 2009 |
THE DEAL MAKER
Seidenberg was instrumental in reshaping the communications industry. In the period after the AT&T breakup, pieces of the old company were recombined in a flurry of mergers and acquisitions. But no one in the industry shifted the landscape as much as Seidenberg. Beginning in 1997 he led a series of deals, including two of the largest mergers in business history at the time, that would ultimately link five major players under the Verizon brand. In 1997 NYNEX merged with Bell Atlantic in a deal worth $23 billion. Then, in 2002, Bell Atlantic merged with GTE in a $50 billion deal. Ultimately the successor entity was renamed Verizon. Seidenberg spoke about the business climate that drove both mergers: "There are tons of competitors, and we have to keep moving. We're like a car stranded on the Cross Bronx Expressway. Every time we stop for a minute, somebody takes off another hubcap" (New York Times, April 3, 1995).
SHORT-TERM SACRIFICE WINS THE GAME
In both mergers he orchestrated, Seidenberg sacrificed the top job in the merged companies. His choice helped the deals obtain regulatory approval and close more quickly than they would have had there been a power struggle. Said the former FCC chairman William E. Kennard, "He's a master board-room player" (BusinessWeek, August 4, 2003). After the first merger, Ray Smith, the CEO of Bell Atlantic, took over the newly created company. As for the Bell Atlantic merger with GTE, Seidenberg became co-CEO with Charles R. Lee of GTE. In both cases, an agreement was struck that would guarantee Seidenberg the top position within a specified period of time after the deals were finished. Commenting upon his decision, Seidenberg said, "Sharing responsibility for a three-, four-, or five-year period in the history of the world was not a big deal" (Fortune, May 31, 2004).
CONSOLIDATION IS THE MARKETING PLAN
The goal of the newly created Verizon was to provide customers with one-stop telecom shopping, where they could get local, long-distance, international, and wireless calls as well as high-speed Internet access. Said Seidenberg, "We're bundle freaks" (Forbes, April 16, 2001). The bundled approach offered considerable cost savings—instead of enlisting cold callers to sell long distance, the company could pitch long distance to existing customers who called in with questions about their local service. What is more, a customer with bundled service was less likely to switch providers. Still, the strategy had its detractors. Said Scott Kriens, chief executive of Juniper Networks, which made Internet protocol routers, "There are two worldviews competing here. One is that you can be all things to all people. The only problem is that I am unaware of any case in history where that has worked. The execution of that strategy is harder than the declaration" (Forbes, April 16, 2001).
PATIENCE PAYS OFF
In the spring of 2002 Seidenberg's wait was over, and he became the sole CEO of Verizon. But he was never in a position to rest on his laurels. The rapidly consolidating telecom business faced a new threat: cable. Between 1995 and August 2003 the cable industry spent more than $75 billion to prepare its networks for high-definition television, high-speed Internet access, and telephone service. David N. Watson, executive vice president for marketing at Comcast, the nation's cable leader at the time, said, "Phone companies would have to make hefty investments to catch up. And we won't be standing still" (BusinessWeek, August 4, 2003).
THE FUTURE IS WIRELESS
Verizon began readying itself for an onslaught of competition, exploiting growth in newer businesses, such as wireless. Seidenberg had a formidable head start, having led a strategy in September 1999 to form Verizon Wireless, a joint venture with Vodafone of Germany. In 2004 Verizon Wireless was the nation's number one wireless provider with more than 26 million mobile phone customers nationwide. Verizon's investments in the technology continued in 2003 as the company outfitted the Manhattan section of New York City with more than one thousand wireless fidelity hotspots. These allowed broadband subscribers near a Verizon telephone booth to access the Internet wirelessly with their laptops. Another project on the horizon was 3G, which would allow customers to make speedy online connections using their mobile phones. By 2004 wireless accounted for 33 percent of Verizon's total revenues, and Seidenberg planned to invest an additional $5 billion into the technology.
A COMPANY MAN TURNS ON THE UNIONS
As Verizon faced increasing competition from cellular phones and cable modem services, the company was also forced to take a closer look at its balance sheet. In spite of the fact that Seidenberg prided himself on having come up through the rank and file of the company, in December 2002 Verizon laid off 2,700 workers in New York and New Jersey, about 10 percent of the company's frontline repair and installation workforce. These cuts were the first major layoffs in New York by Verizon, which at the time had 46,000 employees in the state, including those in its wireless division. Seiden-berg called the cuts unavoidable in a telecommunications industry that had been crippled by an economic slump, saying, "The union leadership is standing at a crossroads. They can hold on to the old industry, and accelerate the flow of jobs and investment away from traditional telecom companies to the newer companies. Or they can join the fight for our mutual survival and help us find a new model that will help us preserve jobs and compete in the marketplace" (New York Times, July 31, 2003).
SEARCHING FOR SAVINGS
By the end of 2002 the company had lost nearly two million lines to the defection of consumers and businesses to such alternatives as wireless and telephone via cable TV wires. In May 2003 Seidenberg gathered his top managers for an emergency meeting, instructing them to cut costs so that the company could invest in newer businesses and match price cuts by competitors. He gave awards to employees who could find the biggest savings.
MAKING MONEY BY DEALING WITH COMPETITORS
One immediate focus was the company's wholesale business, in which it leased its lines at reduced rates to other companies that wanted to offer local phone service. Baby Bells were once accused of stalling this process—after all, they would rather sell the service themselves—but in a new regulatory arena, they faced fines if they did not meet requirements for fair and speedy access.
EFFICIENCY IS KEY
At Verizon each of the wholesale orders traditionally took about an hour. The orders arrived by fax, and then employees manually entered the details into the company's systems. Next they would send the orders back so that customers could check them for accuracy. That route, which was repeated thousands of times a year, was eliminated. In its place was a more direct process in which Verizon allowed its customers to access its computer directly and place the orders themselves. Said Tom Maguire, who oversaw Verizon's wholesale operations, "It's cheaper to get a machine. Machines don't call in sick and are consistent in quality" (Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2004). As a result of the change, Verizon was processing more than 92 percent of its orders automatically through proprietary software it had developed. The system was so easy to use that Verizon was able to train several temporary workers, whom they hired because of a threatened strike, to use it in a week and a half. Training the old way took more than a year.
PLAYING OFFENSE
As Verizon continued to lose traditional customers, Seiden-berg remained focused on transforming the industry. In 2003 Verizon became the first Baby Bell to offer the now ubiquitous flat-rate plans that offered unlimited long-distance and local calls. Not long after, every other Baby Bell introduced its own plan. Said Seidenberg, "When you're the market leader, part of your responsibility is to reinvent the market" (BusinessWeek, August 4, 2003).
BETTING ON THE FUTURE OF BROADBAND
Seidenberg's biggest move by far was his aggressive push into the broadband market. According to him, the age-old telecom model was completely obsolete. The future relied on what he called a "broadband industry" that offered consumers video and voice features with the potential of transforming the way various demographics accomplished everyday tasks. For example, high school students could use the technology to download a missed algebra class while doctors could use state-of-the-art videoconferencing to communicate with patients in rural areas. Said Seidenberg, "The cable industry focuses on entertainment and games. The broadband industry will focus on education, health care, financial services, and essential government services. I think over the next five to 10 years, you will see five, six, seven [segments of the economy] reordering the way they think about providing services" (BusinessWeek, August 4, 2003).
TAKING ON CABLE
In 2004 Seidenberg backed up his vision of the future by announcing a multibillion-dollar initiative to bring high-speed fiber lines into millions of customers' homes. Those lines could one day carry television programs, allowing Verizon to compete with cable companies. At the January 2004 Consumer Electronics Show, Seidenberg declared that his investment would be the start of the "all-broadband, all-the-time lifestyle" (Fortune, May 31, 2004).
Unlike other telecoms that were bringing "fiber to the curb," Seidenberg planned to go one step further by bringing it to the house. It was a much costlier strategy but one that promised networks with higher speed. Seidenberg relied on a crucial Verizon asset to fund his grand scheme: its tremendous cash flow. By 2003 the company's operations were generating about $22 billion annually in cash—50 percent more than SBC, twice as much as Bell South, and triple AT&T's number. In fact, Seidenberg planned to pay for his fiber plan without increasing his capital budget. Seidenberg said that "funding is not an issue" (BusinessWeek, August 4, 2003). Another benefit of "fiber to the curb" was of a regulatory nature. In 2003 the Federal Communications Commission ruled that it would not force Baby Bells to give access to competitors on fiber networks that ran into the home—the same might not hold true for networks that stopped at the curb.
PIONEER OR POKER PLAYER?
In the first stage of his initiative, Seidenberg planned to bring fiber to one million homes by the end of 2004, an ambitious project that would cost $1 billion—more than 8 percent of the company's total capital expenditure budget for that year. He hoped to have another two million homes wired by 2005. Some analysts calculated that outfitting the homes of Verizon's other 32 million customers with fiber would cost $40 billion. Some called Seidenberg's plan nothing more than a bluff. Said Susan Kalla, a telecom analyst at Friedman Billings Ramsey, "He's not going to do it. The numbers, they just don't make sense" (Fortune, May 31, 2004).
Seidenberg contended that he was planning to move slowly at first, to test his strategy. As for investors' concerns, he was not really worried: "Most investors only understand that which has already been done. They never really like things that haven't been done before. That's why Christopher Columbus had so much trouble getting financing" (Fortune, May 31, 2004). Verizon also made a push into the corporate market, building a national network that could accommodate the vast numbers of bits and bytes on which corporations rely to communicate with their disparate offices. The company expected the new services to generate $250 million per year; it hoped to increase that figure to $1 billion by 2007.
AN UNPREDICTABLE LEADER
Seidenberg's leadership style was a study in paradoxes. He was known for his soothing, persuasive voice that came in handy during those times when he had to sell employees and investors on his seemingly quixotic strategies. Yet he could also be incredibly abrupt. A mutual fund investor, who remained anonymous, recalled Seidenberg's answer to the question from another investor about whether the company would acquire the long-distance company Sprint: "Real condescendingly, he responded that he didn't know why he even bothered to answer these types of questions. This was an investor who owned something like six million shares in the company. I always wondered what he did with them the following Monday" (Fortune, May 31, 2004).
One distinguishable hallmark of Seidenberg's style was his commitment to diversity. Under his leadership the company increased minority employment and created a partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration to increase the company's purchasing from minority suppliers. Fortune magazine cited the company in its list of the "50 Best Companies for Minorities." Seidenberg was equally passionate about education and implemented measures to help connect students and teachers to technology, including pushing for a special rate for schools and libraries to get online.
A PERSONAL INVESTMENT
Some industry insiders gave Seidenberg favorable long-term projections. The analyst Simon Flannery of Morgan Stanley expected the company's revenues to reach $70 billion in 2005. And Brian Adamik, chief executive of the market researcher Yankee Group, called Verizon "the industry's future" (BusinessWeek, August 4, 2003).
Seidenberg rose to the top of an industry in which most of the companies did not exist in their present form a decade before. But even in the face of rapid change that had personally enriched him, Seidenberg remained a company man. Looking back on his career with Verizon, he remarked, "It's hard to believe, but I've been here for 37 years, more than one-third of this company's history. I feel an obligation to make sure this company is well positioned for the next 100 years" (BusinessWeek, August 4, 2003).
WYD Team |
| posted by Win Your Dreams @ 7:38 PM
|
|
|
|
| TATA CEO Continued |
| Wednesday, February 25, 2009 |
From front page..
Among his other distinctions, Ramadorai is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Member of the National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), President of the Indo-American Society, Member of the Corporate Advisory Board, Marshall School of Business (USC), and is also on the Advisory and Governing Boards of a number of reputed Indian academic institutions. Ramadorai continues to maintain strong links with the world of academia. He is a member of the Corporate Advisory Board, Marshall School of Business (USC) as well as other Boards of reputed Indian academic institutions.
Among his other distinctions, Ramadorai is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and of the Indian National Academy of Engineering. In 2006, on India's Republic Day, he was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour. In 2004, he won Business India's "Business Man of the Year" award. During 2003, Ramadorai received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indore Management Association, the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and a Fellowship of the Institute of Management Consultants of India. He has also been honoured with CNBC Asia Pacific's prestigious 'Asia Business Leader of the Year' Award, as well as the 'Management Man of the Year' award by the Bombay Management Association.
He was named in June 2002, by Consulting Magazine (USA) as being among the Top 25 Most Influential Consultants in the world, the only Indian CEO on the list. He has been honoured with the position of ' IT Advisor to Qingdao City', People's Republic of China. Silicon.com has named him as an agenda setter ( position 22 ) in 2006.
WYD Team |
| posted by Win Your Dreams @ 7:59 PM
|
|
|
|
|
| About Me |
Mission: To provide the best e-learning portal, which provide the basics to win your dreams
|
| Previous Post |
|
| Archives |
|
|
| News Links |
|
|
| More from WYD |
| Powered by |
 |
|
Home Page
Join Us ???
Team Info
Xtras
Gallery
Supporters