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Cisco's Chambers: It's "the Fast Beats the Slow" John Chambers, president and CEO of Cisco Systems, is making his first apearance at a Business Council meeting ever. On October 29, 1999, Business Week Correspondent Jennifer Reingold caught up with him at the gathering in Boca Raton, Fla. Here are edited excerpts from their conversation: Q: John, we're here at a meeting of some of the most powerful CEOs in the country -- but you're one of the only Business Council members from a Valley-based company. Why are you here? A: This is my first meeting. Things are changing at the Council. They've realized, like others, how the global economy is changing. There's a lot of leadership here you can learn from. Q: The subject of the meeting is the Internet -- so what can you learn here? A: It's a great opportunity to meet our customers. A large part of our business is based on trust. I am very Asian in my management style. Business is based on working together. This way you can take risks that might not occur otherwise. Q: Are they [the CEOs at the Business Council meeting] finally getting it? A: In the last 12 months, both business and government leaders have understood the power the Net can offer. Nothing changes behavior like survival. Q: Or fear... A: This group [the Council] doesn't fear. Good CEOs have no reason to fear. Make no mistake about it: This is a revolution. Two years ago we said this would change the world, and they said "nice marketing." We're changing the way business is done. Q: Are most of your discussions connected to E-commerce? A: E-commerce is just 1 of 12 approaches. It's the killer approach in terms of getting people's attention, but there's also customer support, employee service. If they don't do this, they will be noncompetitive. It's no longer the big beats the small, but the fast beats the slow. Internally, we had 2 million hits per month on our employee Web-based systems. Now, a year later, we have 11 million Web hits with double the employees. Q: If information is power -- and everyone has it within the organization -- how does that change a CEO's management style? A: Everyone has to change. Now they must be customer-driven. That used to be a management philosophy, but now there's no choice. Merrill Lynch has realized this [by embracing online trading]. They have enough time to change. The rest -- those who wait for the revolution to happen -- are likely through. EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ |
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