CEOs Who Don't Get Out (And Some Who Do)
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McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner
The hallmark of some of the most successful companies over the last fifty years is that the CEOs spent a great deal of their time with customers and company locations around the work. Probably the two most famous travelers were Willard Marriott and Sam Walton. At one point, Walton visited hundreds of stores a year.
Which CEOs get out often enough and which don't? Here is the 24/7 Wall St. 2008 list.
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First Up: Sears -
Gregory Bull, AP
Doesn't Get Out Enough:
CEO of SearsEddie Lampert, chairman of Sears, is pretty busy at his hedge fund. Sears and K-Mart have fallen apart over the last year. Lampert did show up at the annual meeting. He spent most of his time talking about cost cuts and stock buy-backs. A check of Sears PR shows that his comments about his stores and quality of merchandise are very, very rare. Maybe that is because billionaires don't spend much time at discount chains.
Next: Wal-Mart -
Charles Rex Arbogast, AP
DOES Get Out Enough:
CEO of Wal-MartWal-Mart may be one of the best turnaround stories in the last year. Same-store sales are actually running up, which is rare in the industry. Sam Walton invented the "CEO store tour." Does current CEO Lee Scott get around as much? No. No one could match Walton's travel schedule. However, you can find a video of Lee at a store visit on the Wal-Mart site. Also, the store managers and customers are treated like royalty. They are quoted in company PR more than Scott is quoted.
Next: Starbucks -
Junko Kimura, Getty Images
Doesn't Get Out Enough:
CEO of StarbucksHoward Schultz, CEO and founder of Starbucks, is great for analyzing what can go wrong with a business. The most recent letters from headquarters in Seattle were about the company missing earnings. Schultz puts out a series of PR releases called the "Transformation Agenda Communications." 24/7 has visited a lot of Starbucks stores over the last year. No one has seen Howard. Maybe he should stop in more often and find out why his same-store traffic is so bad.
Next: McDonald's -
McDonald's, Getty Images
DOES Get Out Enough:
CEO of McDonald'sJames Skinner of McDonald's has been beating the competition to within an inch of its life for two years. McDonald's is growing faster than the industry -- which is hard when you are the largest player. The company has been launching products which carefully target the breakfast and coffee crowd and has been spot-on when it comes to competitive pricing. Skinner's picture at the McDonald's site shows him standing in one of his stores, not sitting behind a desk.
Next: Dell -
Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
Doesn't Get Out Enough:
CEO of DellMichael Dell has started selling PCs in retail outlets. The old business model of ordering Dell computers by internet and phone was not working well enough. Dell does get around the world and has been to Asia and the Middle East to set up new resale chains, but that is not the same as walking through the local Wal-Mart to find out why customers are buying HP or Lenovo PCs instead of his. He did give a nifty speech on "green IT" recently. That should bring customers in droves, right?
Next: Apple -
David Paul Morris, Getty Images
DOES Get Out Enough:
CEO of AppleApple CEO Steve Jobs may not visit retail outlets or Apple stores, but don't tell that to the people who stand in line for hours to get an iPhone or the latest Mac. The Apple faithful believe that Jobs is a deity who lives in every product and outlet. That may seem a bit Zen, but why try to convince people otherwise. He gets out enough "in spirit."
Next: Ford -
Carlos Osorio, AP
Doesn't Get Out Enough:
CEO of FordAlan Mulally of Ford spends a lot of time talking about downsizing and his new crossovers. The most recent news out of the car company has to do with its commitment to human and labor rights. Tell that to all the people who have been sacked at Ford. If Mulally spent some time with farmers and construction workers he might find out what he could do to help sales of his flagship F-150 pick-up.
Next: Hewlett-Packard -
Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
DOES Get Out Enough:
CEO of Hewlett-PackardMark Hurd of Hewlett-Packard has helped build the king of store-sold PCs. That has helped the company become the largest seller of computers in the world and kept them high on customer satisfaction surveys. HP was recently named one of Wal-Mart's "Suppliers of the Year". Why? Over the course of 2007, Wal-Mart's sales of HP printer and ink products grew at three times the rate of the industry, and profit in this segment doubled over the prior year.
Next: RadioShack -
Carlos Osorio, AP
Doesn't Get Out Enough:
CEO of RadioShackJulian Day at RadioShack has a stock that trades near its 52-week low. He also has 4,500 stores. Based on how things are going, his potential customers are going into Best Buy. RadioShack's website makes a big deal of the fact that Mr. Day was part of the turnaround at Sears and Kmart. That did not turn out too well.
Next: Schwab -
Mary Altaffer, AP
DOES Get Out Enough:
CEO of SchwabCharles Schwab puts his name on almost every piece of marketing the company does with the slogan "Ask Chuck." Schwab makes sure every customer knows it is his company -- they are investing at a firm where he is responsible because his name is on the door. He even puts a letter online telling people why he is on the side of the investor. Hokey, maybe, but it works.
Next: TDAmeritrade -
Nati Harnik, AP
Doesn't Get Out Enough:
CEO of TDAmeritradeJoe Moglia of TDAmeritrade may want to hit the sidewalks. His firm fell behind companies like Schwab and Scottrade in the JD Power discount broker rankings. The company has over 100 locations. Schwab's stock has also done better in the last year. If he can't get out, perhaps he could take orders from investors in the call center.
Next: CostCo -
Atsushi Tsukada, AP
DOES Get Out Enough:
CEO of CostcoJames Sinegal of Costco isn't just in the stores. After a fashion, he is the stores. He started the company in 1983. According to the company, he tries to visit every one of the Costco stores at least once a year.
Next: Sprint -
Andrew H. Walker, Getty Images
Doesn't Get Out Enough:
CEO of Sprint NextelSprint had some great news. Its CEO Dan Hesse put together a deal with Clearwire, Google, Intel, Comcast, and Time Warner Cable to build a national WiMax network. Unfortunately, many Sprint customers still hate the company. Sprint finished last in the JD Power wireless customer care ratings. It also finished last in the retail sales satisfaction survey.
Next: Palm -
Mario Tama, Getty Images
Doesn't Get Out Enough:
CEO of PalmPalm CEO Ed Colligan desperately needs to visit retail outlets that carry his smartphones if he expects to catch up with his competition. 24/7 visits to AT&T mobile stores indicated that the RIM Blackberry and Apple iPhone are flying out the door, but no one will touch the Palm products. This company is falling apart at the seams. Colligan may want to try going from store to store and pitching the product himself.
Next: Target -
Target Corp., AP
Doesn't Get Out Enough:
CEO of TargetA lot is amiss at Target. Its stock is down 10% in the last year. Shares of its rival Wal-Mart are up close to 20%. CEO Gregg Steinhafel may want to do what Sam Walton did and have rallies in a couple of stores a day. Comparable store sales at the retailer fell 4% in March. The company did sell some credit card receivables to JP Morgan and that may have been a good use of management time, but poor sales are not going to be offset by smart financing packages.
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Recent Comments
CHERKINKE 11:54:00 AM Aug 04 2008
Glen Tilton needs to be on the list of who have to go! As CEO of United Airlines, he has taken enormous pay checks and bonuses, while leaving the Company in a flood of red ink. He obviously thinks that the company is his personal piggy bank and doesn't care about the financial sacrifices that were forced upon the employees.
seriousaps 05:18:25 AM Jul 29 2008
If your a ceo, do it the the way of the world. Take as much as you can and pay for your lawyers with their money and come out on top.
COelzen 12:09:24 PM Jul 28 2008
The comment about Howard Schultz is on the money. He doesn't understand that while the shareholders deserve a decent return on investment, that it is the consumer, and in Starbuck's case, the consumer that feels company loyalty towards him or her, that creates that profit. His recent closing of Starbuck's locations has only antagonized or alienated the consumers who were loyal to his brand. So, congradulations Howard! Perhaps you should be moved very soon to the other 24/7 list: CEO's who Have to Go.
OhScarlet1 08:29:40 AM Jul 02 2008
Be Your Own CEO......working at home for dummies..... www.SavanaSmiles.SimpleAsABC.com ...quit bellyaching and do something about it...residuals is the key....get your own home based business for 20.00 during the month of July.....join up at .. www.iboplus.com/summerm
Iflyua2 01:35:54 PM Jun 18 2008
Glenn Tilton Needs to get out more ... His poor management of United has brought that airline from no. 1 to the bottom ........... He needed to see that Shuttle was a money maker and he lost money on TED when he reconfigured the airbus to take out first class. Now that TED is losing money he is reconfiguring the airbus again to add first class back ...... This guy does not even have a clue !!!!!!!!!! I was a flight attendant for United but I am glad that my husband retired from the fire dept and I stopped flying to travel with him in our motorhome. The airline is not what it used to be ............. When I was flying the only recylcing we could do was on Shuttle. Tilton needs to get out and see the wasted money he throws away by not letting the employees recycle .. Cans and paper alone on the early morning flights could add up to a bundle. TILTON need to not only Get Out BUT Get His Head Out ~~~~~~ I will be very surprised if the airline lasts to the end of the year --
Vdilor3 12:09:44 PM Jun 18 2008
Hey !! I think UAL should give their CEOs and VPs more $30 million-dollar bonuses !!!
That's a sure way to keep a company healthy. Start grabbing and grabbing at the top level so there's no more room for the poor working slobs at the bottom level to get a raise or earn a pension when retired. Thata seems fair and viable; doesn't it ???
Whelconsult 11:44:37 AM Jun 18 2008
As a rule a CEO should not stay longer than five years. (length of one strategic plan). Most of his time should be spent getting around to employees and working with his CFO and board members.
Having said this the CEO's that do this well usually stay on a longer time
Seeudog 10:02:20 AM Jun 18 2008
Contetential airlines layoffs yesterday in their 600 JEFFERSON OFFICE ,WHERE PEOPLE WHO WHO SICK AND HAD USED FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE,THATS SECOND HAND INFORMATION<THE RUMOR NEXT WILL BE ANY ONE CLOSE TO RETIREMANT BUT YET DONT QUALIFY,I HAVEN'T HEARD ANY MANAGE MANT THAT IS VERY TOP HEAVY,AND VERY HIGH END PAYING JOBS AS LARRY KELLNER HAS SUGGESTED ,THIS IS MY OPINION ABD MY OPINION ONLY ,THEY SHOULD START LOOKING AT CEO THAT DIDN'T HAVE THE SINCE TO MAKE THE HARD DECISION AND START LAYING OFFF TOP HEAVY MANAGEMENT
DAGLI SEALTEAM 10:39:54 AM Jun 17 2008
You forgot the worst CEO on the planet.Bob Nardelli CEO of HOME DEPOT.He he sucked all the life out of the company,and walked away with 43 million dollars in his pockets.Only to go to Chrysler as their CEO.What in the hell were the board of directors thinking when they hired this CLOWN ????