One of the ways we stay connected here at Eastwick is by depending on our hotshot research department to uncover trends, issues and best practices. Recently, they conducted some research on how companies are handling the communications challenges associated with losing a key executive. I thought I’d share some of the things they uncovered.
Common Threads, Observations, and Likely Questions
In reviewing some of the coverage stemming from the executive departures of SAP’s Shai Agassi, Cisco’s Mike Volpi, and JetBlue’s David Neeleman, Eastwick has observed some common threads and a set of questions/issue that come up in the wake of these departures: All 3 men were seen as beacons of innovation at the respective companies. Agassi in particular was seen as a major force in shaking up the corporate culture and leading the shift to more flexible, Internet-savvy software—a major change for the enterprise software behemoth. As a result, the question that always arises, and therefore sparks speculation:
“Will these companies continue to innovate, and how?”
Though Volpi and Agassi will not remain with their respective former employers, both plan on retaining consultative roles at the companies. Both have expressed their interests in pursuing different paths from those of SAP and Cisco. For instance, both are seen as likely to be pursuing CEO positions at alternative energy companies. Volpi has reiterated that he never plans to take a position with a Cisco competitor. JetBlue’s Neeleman will remain as a non-executive chairman at JetBlue and plans to pursue other passions. The questions that arise from this are:
“How influential will these executives continue to be at their former companies, and what companies will they be a part of in the future?”
In the case of Volpi and Agassi, both were seen as likely successors to the current CEO. Agassi’s departure was positioned as a reaction to the fact that the current CEO’s contract was extended (leaving Agassi out of the running). Though Volpi’s departure is talked about as being a decision “almost entirely on personal grounds,” Volpi was often characterized as a major force behind Cisco’s growth. He was often speculated to someday fill the shoes of CEO John Chamber’s and his departure has been painted as clearing the path for CDO (chief development officer) Charles Giancarlo’s succession to CEO. This might give rise to the question:
“Are these executives leaving because they have no chance of inheriting the CEO title they feel they deserve and/or are their departures paving the paths for other executives to succeed the current CEO?”
Charles Giancarlo, Cisco’s Chief Development Officer, was seen as Mike Volpi’s mentor. He is staying onboard at Cisco and is seen as John Chambers’ most likely successor. The question that may arise here is:
“Would an executive leaving a company take his best people with him, and if not, do these people play a significant role in the company’s future?”
One analyst accused SAP of being “slow to react to growing industry trends such as open source and software-as-a-service.” At the same time, Agassi was seen as a driving force to bring these new innovations to SAP. The question that may arise here is:
“Is the company closed off to innovation, thus spurring executive departures?”
Finally, in all three cases of executive departures, executive management has been made available to the press for comment. This appeared to deter some speculation and showed the executive management to be committed to the importance of communicating management changes to the public, customers, and perhaps their own employees. In SAP’s case, the founder Hasso Plattner was available for comment as was Charles Giancarlo of Cisco. JetBlue turned out to be the winner in the communications area, in that in the wake of its operation snafu, they put forth a huge campaign to communicate their apologies and next steps to its customers and the public. The coverage around the departure of Neeleman all reference this positive, active communications effort, perhaps putting much more speculation around his departure to rest. The question that arises here is:
“How open can we be with our customers and the public about an executive departure? Can our candidness work in our favor?”
crisis communications, executive communications, high tech public relations, responsible PR, Social MediaShare on Facebook
March 21st, 2008 by 
barb
Not a week goes by these days that I haven’t counseled a client, especially CEOs and other executives about how easy it is to blog and how if you approach it right it shouldn’t take too much of your time. How the best bloggers are good conversationalists and provide current commentary on the issues of the day. Short posts are sometimes the best. Write about things you know and are passionate about. Blah Blah Blah. I am finally feeling guilty enough about not practicing what I preach that I’m dusting my blog and am getting back into the swing of things. The hot topic with clients these days is how to leverage social media for business purposes. I’ve seen a lot of recent coverage on the topic as well. And even more commentary from the VC commuity on the over-hyped state of social networking. Next week the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives has put together a pretty impressive line-up of folks who can shed light on this issue at their Business Applications of Social Networking conference being held March 25 at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. They include, Ross Mayfield, Chairman, President & Co-founder, Socialtext; Jeremiah Owyang, Senior Analyst, Social Computing, Forrester Research; Karen Appleton, VP, Business Development, Box.net; Katie Jacobs Stanton, Principal, New Business Development, Google Inc.; Teresa Valdez Klein, Director of Web Operations, Parnassus Ventures; Lena West, CEO & Founder, xynoMedia Technology; Robin Wolaner, Founder and CEO, TeeBeeDee; and Gina Bianchini, CEO, Ning.
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