‘A Crisis is a Terrible thing to Waste’

Gary Greenwald, Chief Innovation Officer, Citi – Finance talks exclusively for MeettheBoss.TV


It was nearly a year ago that President Barack Obama exhorted listeners during a weekly radio talk to "discover great opportunity in the midst of great crisis." And in an exclusive interview for MeetTheBoss.TV Gary Greenwald, Chief Innovation Officer for Citi Finance shares his experiences in taking Obama’s advice through the company’s core businesses.

Citi, which has ceded a 27 per cent stake to the US government in return for repeated bail-outs, has continued to invest during the crisis, developing areas that were less affected to win back the hearts and minds of their consumers. Gary speaks candidly about such plans for MeetTheBoss.TV, “I think in the transaction banking industry the risks are both understood and reasonably well managed. The crisis of the last year was not in transaction banking”.

Investment in new technology and innovation in areas such as payments and transaction banking has worked well for Citi – so far. Ecommerce and the growth in Digital identity as been a key area of focus for them. “We need to claim ground that is a core competency of banks tied to trust” Gary Continues “you will see more and more activity by banks in this world of digital identities and online credentialing.” Such moves are backed by the now risk-averse bodies controlling finance institutions “Regulators like what we are innovating as it is tied to reengineering of process that result in control and efficiency”.

Having a transaction and service business at the core of a bank is very important post crash. And Citi with its renewed focus seem to understands this.

To watch the interview in full visit MeettheBoss.TV

iPad for business? MeetTheBoss TV thinks so…

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced yesterday the launch of the iPad, and the world’s businesses watched in anticipation.

Richard Owen, Vice President of online executive television channel www.MeetTheBoss.tv was paying special attention. “MeetTheBoss TV broadcasts candid interviews from the world’s most powerful business leaders,” he explains. “Any new hardware that can run our services and potentially open new markets to us is a great opportunity.”

In Steve Jobs’ own words the iPad is a “magical revolutionary device”, but critics have their doubts. Steve Hilton of Analysis Mason was among the first: “from the enterprise perspective, It doesn’t have common office productivity tools, has a 10-hour battery life when WiFi isn’t running. Not enterprise material.”

“It’s an enterprise security officer’s worst nightmare, easy to steal off employees’ desks.”

Not everyone agrees. A survey taken by app toolmaker Appcelerator found that app makers considered Apple’s tablet to be a much more business-focused device than the iPhone: “it’s poised to change how mobile workers conduct business. It’s more mobile than a laptop, more powerful than a smartphone.”

Richard Owen, VP, MeettheBoss TV concludes: “it’s hard to tell how well the iPad will be adopted amongst business executives, but we cannot escape the fact that millions will buy it owing to the Apple brand. We want to provide our customers with great service on as many platforms as possible.”

MeetTheBoss TV, he says, will be “one of the first” business resources to have an app available for the iPad’s general release.

FedEx out Green secrets behind Purple Promise

Tom Schmitt (President & CEO, FedEx Global Supply Chain Services) joined FedEx eleven years ago at a time that he admits was the “perfect storm”, growing the company into the worlds transportation and distribution leaders, positioned in over 220 countries. In an exclusive interview for the executive business channel MeettheBoss.tv, Tom Schmitt lets slip the secret to FedEx’s growth over the decade lead by a unique company culture built around the “Purple Promise” that has continued to motivate FedEx’s 290,000 staff through the recession.

The Purple promise is a companywide obligation taken by staff that simply states, “Every FedEx experience must be outstanding”. And this promise is not limited to just the customers, “We see all of our 290,000 teammates across FedEx as customers in our interaction”. Such a value has empowered each FedEx staff to want to do their jobs. “I’m not going to play big brother and watch over somebody every single day. I’m also not going to do some headstands in front of them or some circus tricks so that they feel motivated in the morning. Some of that is intrinsic. I expect that type of self-drive in my employees. “
Such a culture has allowed Tom and his teams to work on what he perceives are the three currencies that will position any company correctly to weather the current economic storm. “The first currency is time, the second one is money and the third currency has to do with sustainability, environmental stewardship, carbon footprint, carbon emission.” This Third Green Currency is seen to play a big role in FedEx’s future development, concentrating their business models as opposed to their competitors UPS. “We (FedEx) are very asset-intensive, the last thing I need to do is just add more assets just to add more assets.” Tom states.

Having less commerce means there is less blood to pump around, but a sustainable goal is providing a much needed heart to FedEx’s future business plans. “There’s something about focus that’s beautiful at all times like what are our top three things that matter” Tom Schmitt - President & CEO, FedEx Global Supply Chain Services.

Vodafone CIO Speak up for Process Reform

Change isn't new, but the pace of change in the next ten years in Europe is going to be breathtaking. Following 18 months full of dramatic re-alignment we're seeing normality return, but it's a new normal.

The balance of power is shifting away from Europe and the West; emerging markets are becoming leading markets. For Growth to really take hold there must be room to improve.

Technology that was hype is now fast becoming business as usual. Business models are changing, and companies are relying more than ever on the expertise and resources of a broad ecosystem, requiring new management techniques. Europe is struggling to stay on top.

So a unique meeting has been called in Bremen, Germany, chaired by Albert Hitchcock Group CIO Vodafone, the aptly named CIO EU summit (held by GDS International) is set to unify and educate some of the most illustrious IT professionals in the region. Albert is joined by Sabine Everaet CIO Coca-Cola Europe and Jeremy Vincent CIO Jaguar Landrover who have already confirmed their attendance and will be sharing their expertise to the fifty strong consortiums.

“Business processes must now modify to keep us competitive, ensuring that internal costs are minimised whilst retaining speed and flexibility of implementation and critically releasing money to invest in innovative new services”. Albert Hitcock – Group CIO- Vodafone.

This vision is one that would keep Europe above water, but has it come too late? Has the East made too much ground in the recession, or has the economic downturn given European business the opportunity to create a leaner and more creative economy?

CEO Nycomed talks Leadership, Obama, and Winning Healthcare Reform

“Nycomed is ours”: Håkan Björklund speaks candidly on the current state of the pharmaceutical industry.

Pharmaceutical manufacturer Nycomed grew from a small, Scandinavian enterprise to one of the world’s 25 largest pharma companies by being better run, better led, and more aggressive than many of its counterparts.

Now a globally recognized pharmaceutical giant, with products in over one hundred countries and 12,000 staff, Nycomed grew dramatically following its acquisition of Altana in 2006.

Most impressively, it tripled profits during a global recession – reporting figures of €74 million in Q2 2009.

In an exclusive interview for MeetTheBoss.tv, CEO Håkan Björklund explains how his style of leadership has created 11 years of solid success, and talks candidly about the pharmaceutical industry and the challenges facing him in 2010.

Håkan confesses that Nycomed’s disputes with generic manufacturers are set to continue, highlighting President Obama’s healthcare reforms as potentially problematic. “There is no question in my mind that not only the US Government, but most of the governments today are stimulating and promoting use of generics as a way of cutting costs,” he says.

“For me it’s more important to figure out a strategy that will continue to be successful rather than being upset with the way government works.”

MeetTheBoss.tv | The Executive Channel

Adidas Vs Nike: “Only the fast will survive”

Herbert Hainer, CEO and Chairman of sporting goods giant Adidas, explains how he is driving the company towards that global no. 1 spot in an exclusive interview for MeetTheBoss.tv.

Since taking charge in 2001, Hainer has seen Adidas’ net revenues grow to €10.5 billion in 2007 (within spitting distance of Nike’s €11.1 billion) and has critically positioned Adidas for 2010.

Like everyone, Adidas is feeling the economic pinch. 2009 results were down – though better than expected – and all eyes are on Hainer, the man who oversaw the sale of Salomon, to better focus on core competencies, and the reeling in of Reebok, for benefits of scale and a stronger footprint in that all important US market.

Can Hainer deliver the ultimate prize, and make Adidas world no. 1?

“When you are permanently running from one success to the next and from one successful or record year to the next, you are gaining fat. You are not as aggressive anymore,” says Hainer of his approach to the economic downturn. “We took the opportunity to cut through, to change the way we do business to a certain extent, to define new processes, to get faster, to get leaner, and to get more efficient.”

Cut through he did, investing €100 million in restructuring and launching a flagship innovation program. Now, he says, the company is “much faster… we have made speedboats out of a big tanker.”

Hainer has been rewarded with category-leading new products. And in a FIFA World Cup year, he is confidently promising “a lot of new innovative products” for 2010.

Find out how he did it at MeetTheBoss.tv.

2010: The Year of ‘Can Do’ for business professionals

The best advice on ‘how to get ahead in business’ will never come from those who make their fortune selling the concept through books and seminars. It will come from a proven leader. The problem? They are too busy to share.

Now a new website will turn the old adage of “those who can, do, those who can’t teach” on its head.

‘Can-do’ leaders such as Herbert Hainer, Chairman and CEO of Adidas, Jeff Hayzlett, Kodak’s CMO and Vice President, and Esat Sezer, CIO for Coca-Cola, are amongst the hundreds of Fortune 500 CEOs and visionary entrepreneurs who share their hard-won expertise on new online business channel MeetTheBoss TV, which launched this week.
MeetTheBoss TV aims to be the executive channel – helping users to become the complete executive with exclusive video and audio lessons from the world’s most innovative and influential business leaders.

It is focused on the business challenges that matter, clearly explaining the solutions, competitive strategies, people and thinking around them.
Such thought provoking and often career changing advice from proven world business leaders has never been this accessible, this immediate, or this free.
2009 illustrated the immense power of social media. Hubs for knowledge sharing, such as Twitter and Linked-In, became essential – but key figures remained elusive.
“We hope to provide a resource for business professionals to access information from leading executives that they simply would not be able to access through conventional social media or anywhere else,” says Adam Burns, senior editor at MeetTheBoss TV.

“Programs can be watched whole, or by topic; on the desktop, laptop or smartphone. Delivering value quickly for the time-poor exec, wherever they are.”
The site boasts on-demand advice from household names such as Google, Amazon, Kellogg’s and DreamWorks and is set to revolutionise leadership learning. “Our programs are high quality, quick to load, and free to view. Companies are already integrating them into their training programs,” says Richard Stirk, vice president, MeetTheBoss TV. “One senior executive from a major global software company called our programs ‘essential viewing’.”

Exclusive insight into what makes the world’s business leaders tick should mean better business for all. And in this economy, that’s a good thing.
MeetTheBoss.tv | The Executive Channel