BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : JANUARY 10, 2000 ISSUE
COVER STORY Rooting Out Racism KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS After his company was labeled racist, he won the praise of civil-rights leaders for improving workplace diversity African-American hires, 15% of total in first half of '98, were 23% in first half of '99 Attracted minorities to key jobs, including treasurer Ira Hall, a former IBM executive Talk about a baptism by fire. Just three months after PETER I. BIJUR became CEO of Texaco Inc. (TX), the oil giant was rocked by one of the worst corporate scandals in recent memory. Already in a lawsuit over racial discrimination, Texaco was shaken to its foundation: A tape recording surfaced revealing that senior executives, including the company's treasurer, had made disparaging racial remarks while discussing the suit. Bijur, 57, acted decisively. He quickly acknowledged in public that Texaco had a serious problem. Next, he promptly settled the lawsuit, for $140 million. And, following an investigation, he fired one executive and stripped the other two, already retired, of their benefits. But that wasn't all. For 60 straight days after the scandal broke, Bijur put aside the oil business to focus on fixing what he realized was a poisonous workplace culture. Bijur insisted that each one of Texaco's human- resources committees have at least one racial minority and one woman as a member. And he moved swiftly to hire prominent African Americans in Texaco's senior ranks. Bijur also tied bonuses to achieving diversity. It worked. African Americans made up 23% of the company's new hires, through June, 1999, up from 15% through June, 1998. And once it was clear Bijur meant business, other improvements for minorities began to show up. Promotions of African Americans, for instance, doubled over the same period, to 13%. Now, three years later, civil-rights leaders say Bijur has made Texaco a model for ridding corporate corridors of discrimination. ''In many ways, Peter Bijur saved Texaco,'' says the Reverend Jesse Jackson. Bijur knows he still has a long way to go before he can claim victory in his battle with racism in the workplace. ''It's never over,'' he says of his fight to overhaul the Texaco culture. But he can take some measure of satisfaction just knowing that Texaco is on the right path. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					RELATED ITEMS INTRODUCTION MANAGERS TO WATCH THE TOP ENTREPRENEURS THE TOP 25 MANAGERS Minuro Arakawa Bernard Arnault Arthur Blank Peter Bijur Gordon Binder Steve Case John Chambers James Curvey Thierry Desmarest Bernie Ebbers Tom Engibous Chris Gent Irwin Jacobs Steve Jobs Mel Karmazin James Kelly Timothy Koogle Ken Lay Jenny Ming Thomas Siebel Masayoshi Son Martha Stewart Keiji Tachikawa Jack Welch Yun Jong Yong ONLINE EXTRAS TO BUSINESS WEEK INVESTOR INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online

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