Ever ask a CEO to state to his or her company's values?
Too often, the response would make you feel as though you've asked about something distasteful. It's a question that often appears to be off-limits — one akin to asking how much a person weighs.
"Houston, we have a problem," the CEO signals as his eyes roll like Goodyear radials across the room. With a knowing stare, an alert IR person signals back: "The patient will be returned to the ward shortly."
Try asking a CEO about values in a room full of Wall Street analysts, and they'll come for you with a net.
True, we're stretching it a bit, to make a point: The values question needs to be asked and seldom is. Of course, it's a question that can never be answered by a number, and for that reason any answer is weightless, at least according to those whose view of the world is snapped through the narrow lens of financial measures. Strangely, the cautionary "values erosion" tales of the Enron Age have done little to change this.
In this issue's cover feature, "The Origin of Species," we got to pose the "values question" more than once to Accenture CEO Joe Forehand. Accenture's leader never grimaced or rolled his eyes. Fortunately, for Accenture as well as for the consulting profession, Forehand appears to be thinking a lot about corporate values these days, and he doesn't mind talking about them even when they come with no numbers attached.
Jack Sweeney, Editor-in-Chief
Sidebar: Kennedy Information Appoints New CEO, Consulting Magazine Publisher
Kennedy Information, parent of Consulting and leading information source for the management consulting and executive recruiting industry, has named Joe Bremner as its president and chief executive officer.
Bremner, who brings over 20 years of publishing experience to the company, will succeed Wayne Cooper, CEO, and Marshall Cooper, president, both of whom will continue to serve on Kennedy's board of directors. He will also succeed Wayne Cooper as publisher of Consulting.
Kennedy's new CEO has served as a management consultant for numerous publishing companies over the past 20 years. Before joining the ranks of consultants, he served as chief operating officer of Management Contents, a publisher of business publications and information services later acquired by Ziff-Davis.
Bremner has written and spoken extensively on information industry developments, both in the United States and in Western Europe. He has served as a board member for publishers and associations. He helped to organize the Publishing Division of the Information Industry Association (now SIIA), and is a past chairman of the Proprietary Rights Committee of the IIA. He has been a recipient of the IIA's Distinguished Service Award for his "outstanding contributions to the development of the information industry."
Kennedy Information, a subsidiary of BNA Inc. of Washington, serves the leading professional service firms in the management consulting and executive recruiting industries with magazines, newsletters, research reports, and conferences, including the Consulting Summit held each year in New York City.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.