Steve Tobak is a marketing and strategy consultant based in Silicon Valley. He's a 20-plus year high-tech industry veteran and former senior executive of a number of public and private companies. He also wrote the popular blog Train Wreck for CNET. When he's not airing corporate America's dirty laundry and...
Finally, proof that Karma exists. Wall Street's investment banks have had a sweet deal, a free ride, for decades. Now they're finally getting what's coming to them. In every major corporate fraud story --- Enron, WorldCom, Refco, you name it --- at least one investment bank was complicit. Ten...
The number one job of a board of directors is essentially to hire and fire the CEO. If shareholders held boards accountable for just that, corporate performance would improve. Here are nine CEOs that, in my opinion, should be shown the door. by Steve Tobak
General Motors is running out of cash; analysts say it won't last past December. Deutsche Bank says the stock is worthless. Ford and Chrysler are probably next. Should the fed bail GM out? An analysis of the dilemma yielded a far simpler equation than I...
I received an email from a reader in response to How Do These CEOs Keep Their Jobs? that brought up a thought provoking question: "How long should it take to turn around a company and how do you know if it's working?" Here's an excerpt from the...
The media metaphors were flying after Starbucks' latest quarterly announcement: "Starbucks Cools Way Off" "Starbucks Losing Its Buzz" "Starbucks' Bitter Results" And yet, in the obligatory press release, CEO Howard Schultz put a positive spin on what was unequivocally a horrendous quarter....
The other day I asked an associate, who was planning retirement last time we spoke, how that was going. "Oh, you mean the "R" word," she said in a sarcastic tone. She went on to explain how retirement plan "A" was off the table and she was...
Organizational conflict occurs in every company. It destroys morale and affects operating performance. And when it's targeted at support functions like HR, IT or finance, it's disruptive and counterproductive to any organization, big or small. Contrary to what you might think, there's nothing normal or inevitable about this sort...
On Friday, a laid-off worker opened fire with a handgun, killing three employees at SiPort, a Silicon Valley startup. According to reports and police, the victims were Sid Agrawal, the company's chief executive, Brian Pugh, VP of operations, and Marilyn Lewis, head of HR. The gunman was identified as 47 year-old Jing...
Today, the SEC charged billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban with insider trading. According to the SEC's press release, Cuban sold 600,000 shares of Mamma.com stock based on material, non-public information. Cuban's alleged misdeed apparently saved him $750,000. That's a lot of dough to you and me, but peanuts to the Dallas...
Market segmentation is one of the most powerful strategies a company can use to improve profit margins and ultimately gain market share. And when markets are flat or declining and differentiation is at a premium, creative segmentation strategy can mean the difference between survival and road-kill. What...
It's a sign of the times; companies are restructuring, downsizing, and laying off workers in droves. And while layoffs should be a last resort, when it's time to do it, the most effective way to downsize in a downturn is to cut early and cut deep. by Steve Tobak
What a difference a year makes. Reflecting the global economic crisis, revenue and profit growth have been replaced by adaptability to change and financial risk as top concerns among executives. by Steve Tobak
Everybody has an opinion of CEOs, mostly negative. Well, I've known dozens of CEOs of companies big and small, public and private. And in my experience, the job itself and those hired to do it are nothing like what most people think. by Steve Tobak
Most successful companies don't end up the way they began. They evolve. Business success is a process of trial and error, learning and adapting. Adaptability is the key to survival, not just in nature, but in the corporate world, too. Here's how it works. by Steve Tobak
Executives are under constant stress and the economic crisis sure isn't helping. When stress, frustration, and anxiety reach a boiling point and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight, that's called burnout. Burnout is double-trouble for executives. First, they're prone to it; and second, they have a relatively...
In its 10-K released on Monday, Starbucks warned investors that, "… the company expects to face an extremely challenging fiscal 2009." What's surprising about this is that the warning contrasts sharply with CEO Howard Schultz's optimistic quotes in the company's quarterly earnings release of just two weeks ago. What exactly...
Time is running out for Jerry Yang. With Google pulling out of the search ad deal, Yahoo is essentially out of options, except for one. Its embattled CEO is now trying to lure Microsoft – the suitor he went to great lengths to jilt – back to the negotiating table....
In business, conflict is necessary to bring issues out in the open. But when you don't agree with a decision, it's still best to disagree and commit for the common good. As a republican, I'm skeptical about Obama's ability to fulfill his mandate of change. But I'm also ready to...
All companies hit a wall from time to time. For whatever reason, their strategy and operating model are no longer effective. That's when CEOs really get to earn their lucrative compensation and boards are supposed to provide strategic oversight. Or not. Here's a lesson in how not to turn-around a...
Some weeks ago, I wrote Corporate Governance is a Myth, an insider's take on why our system of corporate governance doesn't do what it's supposed to do. Now comes the hard part: figuring out what to do about it. Now, I didn't just fall off the turnip...
Steve Tobak is a marketing and strategy consultant based in Silicon Valley. He's a 20-plus year high-tech industry veteran and former senior executive of a number of public and private companies. He also wrote the popular blog Train Wreck for CNET. When he's not airing corporate America's dirty laundry and...
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