| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MAY 3, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
| ||||||||
 | ||||||||
| INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Commentary: High-Tech Honchos Needn't Come from High Tech A few years ago, when headhunter Gerard R. Roche initially presented RJR Nabisco CEO Louis V. Gerstner Jr. to IBM's board as a candidate for the top job, the reaction was one of disbelief. ''You've got to be kidding,'' quipped one director. ''You want to put a cookie salesman into a computer company?'' Time has shown that hiring Gerstner was a wise and bold decision. That's worth remembering as Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq Computer Corp. look for new leaders. Not surprisingly, says Roche of Heidrick & Struggles, which is assisting Compaq in its search for a new CEO, ''we are trying to find another cookie salesman like Lou Gerstner.'' Indeed, Compaq and HP may have little choice but to look outside the industry. If few truly credible high-tech execs leap to mind for the top jobs at HP and Compaq, it's partly because there aren't that many out there. The demand for talent is now outstripping the supply of people able to lead the large, often complex companies of the new economy. Even stalwarts once thought to be the high-tech academies of management--AT&T, IBM, Xerox, and now HP--have failed to develop top-notch leaders from their own organizations. ''These companies were doing the best job at leadership development years ago,'' says Edward Lawlor, a management professor at the University of Southern California. ''The world has changed so fast that the skills and competencies they built then aren't right for now.'' Today, promising startups with big equity packages are enticing many of the best from America's top tech companies. Not long ago, it would have been unthinkable for the president of AT&T to depart for a startup as Alex J. Mandl did three years ago when he went to Teligent with a $20 million signing bonus. No less crucial, the shift toward an Internet economy has even nontech companies searching for tech leaders. As computers and the Internet have become crucial to competitiveness, more corporations, from AlliedSignal Inc. to American Express Co., view themselves as cutting-edge outfits. That creates insatiable demand for people with technical expertise. ''The challenge is, how do you put together the mind of a Jerry Yang with the soul of a Lou Gerstner?'' asks James F. Moore, chairman of GeoPartners Research Inc. Perhaps, you don't. In an individual, you often can't get the creative sparks of a Yahoo! co-founder with the managerial knowhow of an IBM CEO. What you want is a leader who understands how businesses are being transformed by the Net economy, even if he or she isn't steeped in the bits and bytes of that transformation. You want a person who has an open and passionate mind and a willingness to embrace change. In short, you want people with the attributes that have long defined leadership: drive, intelligence, and vision. That's one way to solve the leadership vacuum in computerdom. For candidates, HP and Compaq directors should cast their eyes at the exceptional executives at the best managed organizations, from General Electric Co. to Procter & Gamble Co. Robert Nardelli, of GE's power systems business, and Jeffrey Immelt, of GE's medical systems unit, are among a stable of potential successors to GE Chairman John F. Welch Jr. They also should be on the short lists at HP and Compaq where the CEO solution might very well favor a ''cookie salesman.'' By John A. Byrne _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
|  |
 | |
Can Compaq Catch Up? TABLE: What Needs Doing TABLE: Compaq Hits Another Pothole CHART: Compaq's Stock Price A Tough Call, but the Right One Commentary: High-Tech Honchos Needn't Come from High Tech INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
