Stephen Elop: Former Nokia CEO

Stephen Elop was born on December 31, 1963, in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada. Stephen graduated second in his class in 1986 with a degree in computer engineering and management from McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. A significant involvement he had in his college days was helping to lay out 22 kilometers of Ethernet cable around campus to establish one of the first Internet networks in Canada.

Through the course of his professional career he held significant positions such as director of consulting for Lotus Development Corporation, CIO for Boston Chicken, CEO for Macromedia, and COO of Juniper Networks.  Stephen worked for Microsoft from January 2008 to September 2010 as head of the Business Division, responsible for the Microsoft Office and Microsoft Dynamics. 

In September 2010 Nokia announced that Stephen would become its CEO.  One of the significance of this event was he would become the first non-Finnish director in Nokia’s history. Nokia was not in good shape and was looking for a CEO to shake things up and lead the company back to its glory days.

The most defining move Stephen made was to embrace the Windows Phone of Microsoft. In-house mobile operating systems would be phased out. This was designed to get a better share of the smartphone market.  Instead of using Android Stephen wanted to differentiate Nokia by using Windows.

Stephen also oversaw the plan to lay off around 11,000 employees in 2011. Another 10,000 was announced for layoff in June 2012. Several facilities was also due for closure. In May 2013 shareholders were pushing Stephen for results.  Figures showed that there wasn’t any significant improvement in sales of smartphones that would ensure the company’s future. In fact some were of the opinion that Nokia had already lost the smartphone race to Samsung and Apple.

It was announced on September 3, 2013 that Microsoft would buy Nokia’s mobile phone and devices business for $7.2 billion. Stephen would step down as Nokia’s CEO and become vice president of the Devices and Services business unit of Microsoft.

Since Stephen’s watch, stock value of Nokia had dropped by 85% as of June 2013. Clearly Stephen wasn’t the CEO savior Nokia was looking for. In the end though selling the mobile unit to Microsoft which has financial muscle may have been the best decision made.

Paul S.Otellini: A Non-Engineer On Top

Paul S. Otellini is the former president and CEO of Intel, the world’s leading manufacturer of microprocessors for personal and business computing. In 1972 he earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of San Francisco. Paul went on to finish his MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley in 1974.

After receiving his MBA, Paul joined Intel. He has managed a number of the company’s businesses such as the PC and server microprocessor division and the global sales and marketing organization. A major promotion came in 2002 when Paul was elected to Intel’s board of directors and became the president and chief operating officer. He became the CEO in May 2005.

Paul was a departure from the norm since he was not a formally trained engineer. Among his achievements was his role in convincing Apple Inc. in the Apple-Intel transition.  Paul’s pay may be good but being CEO is a tough job. He oversaw the largest layoff in Intel’s history when 10,500 employees were laid-off in 2006. This was part of the effort to save $3 billion a year in cost by 2008.

Paul retired in May 2013 having been part of achieving times as well as painful adjustments.

Masahiro Okafuji: Down At The Trenches

While many top executives rely on their subordinates to get all the information they need some like to do it a bit differently. Take the case of Masahiro Okafuji he is the CEO and president of Japanese trading giant Itochu Corp.

Okafuji is known as a down-to-earth leader who doesn’t mind allocating a portion of his time at all levels of the company to understand what needs to be achieved. This is his mantra “genbushugi” in action. It is a Japanese term meaning “getting down on the trenches”. Okafuji believes that one learns more from one hour of seeing a market in action than from 100 hours of studying about it. That’s why he believes one should go to a department store or retail shop and see for yourself what products people are lining up to buy, see what’s selling and how it’s selling and at what price. Look at the service, presentation, at the marketing. Executives according to him need this understanding as much as anyone. Okafuji is also keen in training his staff so they are experts in their fields.

Okafuji was born in 1949 and graduated from Tokyo University. He then went to work for Itochu Corp. in 1974. With the company having many corporations Okafuji climbed the corporate ranks mainly in the textile operations. He became an executive officer in 2002.

He was promoted in 2004 to president of the company’s textile division and managing director of Itochu Corp. In 2006 he was promoted to senior managing director. Okafuji contributed to the buildup of the business’s brand and also played a role in the company’s adaptation to the changing consumer market.

After one more promotion Okafuji was appointed CEO and president of Itochu Corp on April 1, 2010. He immediately went into acquisition mode buying large companies in Europe and as also purchased the Dole fresh produce business and also bought IT firms.  As a trading company Itochu operates diverse businesses and somehow it is all working. Itochu while not popularly known is one of the largest companies in the world and the man who keeps it humming is none other than Okafuji.

Richard Goyder: Leading An Australian Conglomerate

With a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Western Australia, Richard Goyder set of in the corporate world. Perhaps even he didn’t know after graduating that one day he would lead a very huge company. Aside from his undergraduate degree Richard would also complete the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1998.

After working in various commercial roles at Tubemakers of Australia Limited, Richard joined Wesfarmers in 1993. He assumed the role of a number of commercial positions in Westfarmers’ Business Development Department including General Manager.

Richard was appointed Managing Director of Westfarmers Dalgety Limited, this became Westfarmers Landmark Limited, a position he retained until he was appointed as Finance Director of Westfarmers Limited in 2002. He was promoted to Deputy Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of Westfarmers Limited in 2004. The following year in July 2005 he became Managing Director and CEO.

Richard now leads a company that is one of the oldest in Australia and one of the most successfully diversified. The company began in June 1914 as the Western Farmers Cooperative and was mostly involved in the provision of services and merchandise to Western Australia’s rural community. Today the company that now does business in supermarkets, energy, chemicals, real estate, and other ventures is the largest employer in Australia with more than 200,000 employees and over 450,000 shareholders.

Zhou Zhongshu: Top China Minmetals Man

Zhou Zhongshu was born in 1952, in Jiangsu Province, China and graduated from Shanghai International Studies University.  He started his career in China Minmetals Corporation in January 1970. As typical of talented managers he has worked in a number of executive positions in different parts of the company including being stationed abroad.

Zhou has worked within the corporation as executive vice president of China Metals & Minerals (Brazil) Ltd., deputy director for metal products business, general manager of the metal products company and assistant as well as vice president of China Minmetals Corporation.

Aside from Brazil Zhou was also posted in Spain as Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy while being the vice president of China Minmetals Corporation. Being employed in a state-run company Zhou has had to play dual roles as a government and corporate employee.

Beside his management skills Zhou has also been productive as an author. While he was the Commercial Counselor to Spain he authored 15 articles including “Experience of Management System Reform for State-owned Assets in Spain.” His articles have been published in domestic and overseas newspapers and publications.

For his management skill and hard work Zhou was appointed president of China Minmetals Corporation on December 2004. It became evident early on that he was not ordinary business head. He immediately proposed a new strategic goal of doubling the business revenue and profit of Minmetals within 5 years. This propelled the company into a new development phase.

Under his leadership China Minmetals has been cited by industry organizations as one of the best performing enterprise in its industry. The company that Zhou leads is actually an international heavyweight being one of the largest corporations in the world.

The firm is based in Beijing, China and was founded in 1950. It has long played an integral role as a major import and export channel for metals and minerals in China. With Zhou at the helm it is now an internationally competitive and respected company.

Teruo Asada: Staying The Course

A ship captain has the responsibility of keeping the ship safe and ultimately reaching its destination. If there is a storm it’s his responsibility to make sure the ship is alright.  Like the captain of a ship Teruo Asada was able to keep Japanese trading giant Marubeni safe and actually making a profit during tough economic times.

Teruo Asada has worked at Marubeni all his life. He joined the company straight out of college. Among the higher positions he has held include being the Senior Corporate Officer of Investor Relations and Corporate Vice President of Marubeni starting 2002. He also served as Corporate Senior Vice President of Marubeni Corporation as well as the General Manager of the Finance Department.

Asada served as the CEO and President of Marubeni Corporation from 2008 to April 1, 2013. Things were tough in 2008 but he skillfully guided the company through it as well as during the Japanese tsunami in 2011 and still managed to keep the balance sheet in the black.

Asada is a non-traditional Japanese manager and does not like to follow the seniority based ways of many large corporations. With the results he has produced it’s hard to argue with his philosophy. He now sits as Chairman of Marubeni.

  

Brian L. Roberts: Taking It To The Next Level

Brian L. Roberts was born on June 28, 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and also currently resides there. His father Ralph J. Roberts co-founded cable provider Comcast Corporation. Brian only had one job in mind and this was to work for his father’s company.  He obtained his Bachelor of Science from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1981.

Brian was appointed president of Comcast in 1990. He became CEO in 2002 and chairman in 2004. Along the way he built Comcast into the largest cable-television operator in the U.S. The firm is the owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which operates 30 news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts.

Aside from this Comcast is majority owner of Comcast-Spectator, which as major stakes in the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team and the Wells Fargo Center, a large multipurpose arena in Philadelphia.

Brian has been active outside of Comcast. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA) where he served as Chairman for two consecutive terms from 2005 to 2007 and from 1995 to 1996 a time when the landmark deregulatory 1996 Telecommunications Act became law.

Brian is Director Emeritus of CableLabs, which is the research and development consortium for the cable industry; he served three terms as Chairman. He is a member of the CEO only, Business Roundtable, an organization based in Washington, D.C.  Brian also served on the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

His leadership skills have been recognized in business and in the industry.  In 2009, Institutional Investor magazine named him one of America’s top CEOs for the sixth year in a row. In 2011, he and his father were inducted into Babson College’s Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame. In 2012, Fortune Magazine recognized Brian as “Businessperson of the Year.

Brian is an exceptional business executive who brought Comcast to the next level.