Word: gerstner
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Nabisco, lost his bid for control of the giant food and tobacco company in a $25 billion leveraged-buyout brawl last year, he also lost his job. Last week RJR's new owner, the buyout firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, announced its surprise choice for Johnson's replacement: Louis Gerstner, 47, marketing maven and president of American Express...
...Gerstner, who was widely expected to succeed American Express Chairman James Robinson, 53, has never run a tobacco business. But KKR partner Henry Kravis chose Gerstner for his prowess as a strategic planner. Among other accomplishments, Gerstner launched the successful Platinum card. As chairman at RJR Nabisco, he will have to engineer the sale of about $8 billion in assets to pay off some of KKR's buyout borrowings. But his compensation will be as tall as his task: as much as $45 million over five years...
...shock has been particularly strong in the service industries. At American Express, which expects to fill 75,000 entry-level positions in the next five years, profits depend on good customer relations. Says Amex President Lou Gerstner, whose company spends $10 million annually to teach its new workers basic English and social skills: "I lie awake at night wondering where I'm going to find well-qualified employees for the future." Even the art of cooking requires more of workers than ever before. Last year Domino's Pizza of Ann Arbor, Mich., discovered that its fledgling bakers had trouble understanding...
...course, better-skilled workers do not guarantee profits. Economic policy, trade agreements, technology, labor costs all play a role. But progress still depends on people who can communicate effectively, calculate accurately and act conclusively. "You can make the exchange rate anything you want," says American Express's Gerstner. "If you don't have the human capital to equal or exceed your competitors, you will fall behind." The report cards are out, and businesses are going to great lengths to make the grade...