Dennis Carey Info.

In a Wall Street Journal article in 2008 entitled, “ Speed is Key Question as New CEOs Remake Team,” Dennis Carey explains that “faster is generally better than slower” for replacing a CEO.  However, he also cautions that “too much churn can be very disruptive.”

Certainly, when a new CEO comes to the team, there are many decisions that the new leader must make. One of them is to decide how quickly to turn over pieces of the team.  Within his first two months as CEO of VeriSign Inc, for instance, Bill Roper hired two new deputies.  He then quickly replaced another executive and named two more new lieutenants.

Executive recruiter Dennis Carey explains that the speed of the chances usually hinge upon the circumstances under which the new CEO was hired.  For instance, if the promotion was an internal one for a well-run company there might be few turnovers.  If, instead, an outside comes to a troubled company, the executive changes are usually much faster and broader.  In general the jobs that will change first, under these circumstances, are the CFO, the general counsel and the human resources head.

Since its inception in 2001 by Dennis Carey, a well known executive recruiter, the CEO Academy has met yearly in New York.  The point of this unique meeting is for CEOs to learn from veteran corporate and business leaders and to share their experiences.

Moderated most years by Larry Bossidy, this forum is an off-the-record opportunity for CEOs to learn from each other and to expand their expertise and knowledge base.

Past speakers as part of the CEO Academy have included:  A.G. Lafley, The Procter & Gamble Company; Bob Lane, Deere & Company; Andrew Liveris, The Dow Chemical Company; John Lundgren, The Stanley Works; William McComb, Liz Claiborne, Inc.; Joseph McGrath, Unisys Corporation; Steve Odland, Office Depot, Inc. and many others.

In a recent article entitled, “Don’t Force Firms to Split CEO and Chair,” Executive Recruiter Dennis Carey explains why Senator Charles Schumer’s bid to split the chairman and CEO roles at public companies is a bad idea.  He explains that Washington, while focusing on the troubled global economy, is making business decisions that make no common sense.

Many companies, as Dennis Carey points out, show both good management and governance as they are, with the combined chairman and CEO roles.  More than 60% of today’s largest corporations have these roles combined, according to a Korn/Ferry study of the Fortune 100.  To date, there is no evidence that companies that have split these roles, as so many have in Europe, are doing better than are those that have these roles under one leader.

As Mr. Carey asks, “As a recruiter who recruits CEOs and directors, I am wondering where one will find the hundreds of directors who will have time, beyond that which they already spend serving on their current boards, to become a board chairman. Will this change in role make them more effective than they already are as lead directors?”