Thought Leadership | 製造業

Energy companies are finally starting to take IT seriously, says Egon Zehnder consultant Trent Aulbaugh in an interview with Bauer Business Focus.

The mining industry is still reeling from the withdrawal of a China-induced ‘supercycle’, as the Chinese economy transitions from an investment-driven model to consumer-led growth.

Airline profits are flying high, thanks to healthy load factors, low fuel prices, and capacity discipline. But there’s another downturn ahead, and airlines must prepare for it now – by leading the way in digital transformation, and boosting their future talent bench.

The share of women on boards in Switzerland is growing, but there is still room for improvement, reports the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

The prevailing narrative around the Industrial Revolution in its first, second and third iterations is only partly true. Steam power, electricity and modern computing were in fact breakthrough technologies that rapidly came to the fore, disrupting established industries and creating new ones.

Amoco, Anheuser-Busch, Chrysler, Motorola, Wrigley. Great Midwestern companies that failed to adapt to global competition and ended up being acquired. Many others have suffered the same fate or declared bankruptcy, and now the ongoing disruption from globalization and technological change is putting our legacy companies under further pressure.

A wave of shareholder rebellions and executive retirements that’s left at least six North American oil and gas companies searching for chief executive officers is leading toward a bidding war for the industry’s best leaders.

The stakes have never been higher for energy companies, and experts say the dearth of executive talent in the sector is seriously upping the ante. On the heels of one high-profile CEO resignation — Randy Limbacher at Houston-based Rosetta Resources Inc. (Nasdaq: ROSE) — and the unexpected departure of David Roberts, the heir apparent at Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) in Houston, about a half dozen North American oil and gas companies are looking for a chief executive.

Languishing oil prices are making Chapter 11 a reality for a growing number of energy companies. In their recent article More Than Filling Empty Seats: A Guide to Board Composition for Energy Companies Emerging from Bankruptcy, Steve Goodman and Trent Aulbaugh explain how board restructuring can help firms bounce back after Chapter 11.

Every chief executive and board member in the chemical industry is facing the same chronic talent shortage, unable to find enough rising stars at the director and VP level to fill the succession plans for soon-to-retire GMs, country managers and CEOs.

Given the performance pressures public company boards are under these days, I’m not surprised when nominating committees make prior public company board experience a requirement for director candidates.

Amidst disruption throughout the business environment, we are seeing some of the industrial sector’s major players rearrange themselves though a string of merger-spinoff combinations.