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Why Rumsfeld Soared as CEO, Sank at Pentagon
Tweet Share on Facebook November 10, 2006 CommentBusiness leaders love to emulate battlefield commanders as they deploy their troops and make critical decisions. That's why otherwise-arcane military books like The Art of War by Sun Tzu and On War by Carl von Clausewitz remain brisk sellers: They're considered obligatory titles on the bookshelf of any executive with a taste for corporate battle.
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Five Things I've Learned From Andy Grove
Tweet Share on Facebook November 6, 2006 CommentRichard Tedlow's new biography of Andy Grove has a thoughtful subtitle: "The Life and Times of an American." Our brains have been conditioned to expect one more oversaturated word at the end of phrases like that: American hero, American journey, American icon. But Tedlow, a Harvard Business School professor, does us a favor with his understatement, reminding us that Grove was ordinary before he was extraordinary.
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Five Reasons GM Is Rebounding Faster Than Ford
Tweet Share on Facebook October 25, 2006 CommentThe Big Three. We tend to think of the three domestic automakers–General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler–in lock step. And, yes, all suffer from common problems: aging infrastructure, outdated technology, overreliance on big trucks and SUVs, and huge healthcare and "legacy" costs that pump up the expense of every vehicle they make.
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An Airline Profit Party (Finally!)
Tweet Share on Facebook October 19, 2006 CommentIt has taken six years, but the airline industry appears to be making money again. A little bit, anyway.
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Airlines Should Fly Planes—Not Hunt Terrorists
Tweet Share on Facebook October 16, 2006 CommentLet's give the airlines a break. Just this once.
An important new book, Unsafe at Any Altitude, highlights a number of glaring holes in aviation security that were supposed to have been plugged after the 9/11 attacks and the creation of the Transportation Security Administration. Several were condensed into a recent exposé on 60 Minutes: a shoddy government "no-fly list" that includes thousands of people who shouldn't be on there and excludes many who should; continued turf battles between the CIA, FBI, and other government agencies that undercut aviation security; and chronic security breaches behind the scenes at the nation's airports.
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One More Reason Your Kids Must Get Into Harvard
Tweet Share on Facebook October 6, 2006 CommentDid you know that Harvard people think they're special?
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Bad News, but a Good Day for Hewlett-Packard
Tweet Share on Facebook October 4, 2006 CommentConfused about developments at Hewlett-Packard? Follow the stock price.
News that California Attorney General Bill Lockyer plans to indict former HP Chairman Patricia Dunn and at least four others involved with the company's boardroom spying scandal sounds like a rout for the former darling of Silicon Valley. But in reality it's a big step forward for HP–one that investors have blessed.
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Hewlett-Packard: tawdry, but no Enron
Tweet Share on Facebook September 29, 2006 CommentWhen you're a CEO who does something stupid, here's the drill: Congress holds hearings. Lawmakers spank you silly. The press hyperventilates. Then you go back to work, while real prosecutors and market forces determine your fate.
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We're Number … 6!?
Tweet Share on Facebook September 27, 2006 CommentThe United States is falling from No. 1 to … where exactly? Well, this year, it's No. 6, according to the competitiveness index published by the World Economic Forum, an annual ranking of 125 countries that shows where the business climate is best and worst. Bumping us from the No. 1 spot was Switzerland, followed by three Scandinavian countries—Finland, Sweden, and Denmark—along with Singapore.
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Why isn't Bush better at manipulating gas prices?
Tweet Share on Facebook September 26, 2006 CommentLet's assume for a moment that President Bush has a little dial underneath his desk that lets him send gasoline prices up or down, depending on what best suits his political needs. This, evidently, is the belief of a considerable number of Americans, like the 42 percent of respondents in a new Gallup Poll who think the Bush administration is deliberately lowering gas prices to help Republicans in the upcoming November elections. The suspicion isn't really that surprising, given Bush-Cheney ties to Big Oil and Persian Gulf potentates, not to mention demonstrated dishonesty on other big issues like weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
