|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
Auto Beat
Bangalore Tigers
Blogspotting
Brand New Day
Byte of the Apple
Economics Unbound
Eye on Asia
Fine On Media
Green Biz
Hot Property
Investing Insights
Management IQ
NEXT: Innovation
NussbaumOnDesign
Tech Beat
Working Parents
TECHNOLOGY
J.D. Power Ratings
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Wildstrom: Tech Maven
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Classic Cars
Car Care & Safety
Hybrids
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads | |
DECEMBER 29, 2003
Edited by Ira Sager Talk Show "We'll go to charm school together, we'll sit in a hot tub." -- Edward Zander, new Motorola CEO, on working with President and COO Mike Zafirovski Is This Reformer Unreformed? North Carolina Treasurer Richard Moore is all in favor of reform -- for others. His criticism of the New York Stock Exchange got him a Dec. 5 appointment to its new executive board. But he's less of a reformer at home. He has called on Wall Street to reduce conflicts of interest, yet accepts campaign cash from those doing business with his office. Among them are employees of Alliance Capital Management (AC ), under investigation for improper trading. Such contributions are legal in North Carolina, but not in other states. Moore, who will advise the NYSE on independence, is the sole trustee of his state's $65 billion in pension-fund assets. Only three other states allow one person such power. He also has criticized mutual funds for poor disclosure. Yet Moore's office lists only its top 10 stock holdings, much less than most funds. Moore says he's improving financial transparency. He says he discloses contributions and has no conflicts. The voters provide the test of his independence, he says. "I'm directly accountable to everyone." Still, Moore may want to consider creating his own executive board. By Christopher Palmeri   Call Centers, From "A" To "F" Consumers frustrated by call-center service will soon have an important ally. Market researcher J.D. Power & Associates has begun rating more than a dozen large companies' call-center operations around the world, BusinessWeek has learned. The top 20% -- designated early next year -- will be able to call themselves "certified" by Power. The others, which remain anonymous, get feedback about how to improve service. Later in 2004, Power plans to rate the best call centers by industry. This could be a lucrative move for Power. There are an estimated 100,000 call centers worldwide, and fees could range from $20,000 to $100,000 per review. Most firms that currently rate call centers focus only on business measures such as cost efficiency. Power, by contrast, will investigate how long callers are kept on hold and how satisfied they are after they hang up. Based on initial work, Power hasn't detected a difference in service between U.S. and offshore call centers. "We're definitely going to monitor [that]," says Steve Kirkeby, the J.D. Power senior director who's heading the research. If they could only do something about the on-hold Muzak. By Brian Hindo  Here's The Pitch Could President Bush be a no-show at his own convention in Madison Square Garden? Planners for the Aug. 30-Sept. 2 GOP convention in New York say one option being considered would have the President accepting his party's nomination in an outdoor setting such as Yankee Stadium, with tens of thousands of cheering supporters. The potential public-relations bonanza from such an event might not be enough to overcome security concerns, however. And there are mundane matters to consider, such as the possibility of rain. By Lorraine Woellert The High Cost Of Drugs Hits A Drugmaker Johnson & Johnson (JNJ ) is embarking on a new round of housecleaning, and this time it's looking for more than loose change under the couch cushions. BusinessWeek has learned that the health-care giant expects to save $1 billion over two years, thanks to a campaign called "Funding Our Future." Headquarters is asking its 200-plus companies to save money however they can -- from combining back-office operations to pooling purchases to offering some workers early retirement. "It'll make a major contribution in terms of freeing up dollars," says CFO Robert Darretta Jr. The $41 billion company needs the cash to help fund new blockbuster drugs. Next year, up to 20% of its revenue could be under attack. Anemia drug Procrit, with about $4.1 billion in 2003 sales, is expected to face heavy competition from Amgen's (AMGN ) Aranesp. Pain patch Duragesic, expected to pull in $1.6 billion this year, will face a generic from Mylan Laboratories (MYL ). J&J has several new drugs entering the late -- and expensive -- stages of clinical trials. Indeed, Bain & Co. estimates it takes about $1.7 billion to bring a single drug to market. No wonder J&J is shaking the cushions. By Faith Arner Dirty Laundry Is A Click Away Liveedgar.com has started posting some private correspondence between public companies and the Securities & Exchange Commission on its Web site. Thanks to Freedom of Information Act requests, it has 15,000 pages of SEC comments on filings and the responses from companies. That could embarrass some companies who received lots of SEC criticism, but help those who want to see how the SEC deals with nettlesome issues. Forget about letters from companies under investigation -- the SEC keeps those under wraps. By Amy Borrus Silda Wall: Helping Kids Help Other Kids  Silda Wall doesn't grab headlines like her husband, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. But she makes an impact. Wall, 45, runs Children for Children, a nonprofit that encourages social responsibility in New York City kids. She and Spitzer, who have three daughters, age 14, 11, and 9, came up with the idea several years ago. "We were discussing the excesses of children's birthday parties in Manhattan and wanted kids to be exposed to a bigger world," says Wall, a Harvard law grad and native North Carolinian.In one of several projects, Children for Children asks kids to take part of the money they would spend on a birthday party and instead pledge it to help underserved schools purchase supplies, such as musical instruments. Since 1996, Children for Children's annual fund has grown from just $2,600 to around $200,000. "That may seem small, but the grants mean a world of difference to the recipients," Wall says. And, one hopes, to the givers as well. By Marcia Vickers Identity Thieves Love Citibank  Citibank's (C
) TV ads are all the rage. Women speaking with men's voices warn of credit-card identity theft -- and humorously plug Citi's new program to help customers whose identities are swiped. Yet even as these ads run, Internet thieves have been targeting Citi's customers with the latest Net scam.Here's how the crooks do it: They send out spam, hoping to snare some Citi customers. The e-mail looks like it's from the bank, asking for an update on their data. But when customers click on a link to fill out the form, they land on a replica of Citi's Web site. If they answer a painstakingly forged form, their credit card, personal identification, and Social Security numbers go straight to identity thieves, many of them in foreign countries. Some resell credit-card numbers, says the FBI, for as little as $1 apiece. These scams are on the rise. Attacks victimize others, including Best Buy (BBY ) and the PayPal unit of eBay (EBAY ). But Citi, a steady target, has had to issue 14 alerts to customers in the past two months. The company won't say how many of its customers have been duped but says the attacks in no way undermine the company's identity-theft campaign. The bank warns customers not to respond to e-mails. Those whose info is snatched can take cold comfort: Citi's identity-theft program gives them a hand canceling stolen cards and filling out police forms. By Stephen Baker  Koreans Shun Their Bourse  Korea's stock market boasts a dubious distinction: It has less local investment than almost any other major market. Foreigners own an unprecedented 40% of shares on the Korea Stock Exchange, up from less than 15% in 1997. For Koreans, it's a matter of once burned, twice shy. They lost their shirts when the market tanked in the '98 Asian financial crisis.Meanwhile, Korea's economy is pegged to grow 4.5% next year, up from about 3% this year. Blue chips look good, too: Samsung Group expects earnings of $5 billion on sales of $36 billion for the year. Its foreign ownership: 59%. Such dependence is risky. "If Korea is hit by an unex-pected shock, such as another crisis from North Korea, spooked foreigners could yank their investments," says Lee Chae Kwang of Seoul's Hanil Investment Trust Management. For now, though, it's Koreans who are spooked. By Moon Ihlwan
| | |
 Copyright BWStory.copyright, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
Printer-Friendly Version
