Leadership Incident
Case Incident 2
Leadership Factories
Companies differ markedly in their ability to produce future leaders, as several recent analyses of the 1,187 largest publicly-traded U.S. companies revealed. Among the CEOs in one study, a remarkable total of 26 once worked at General Electric (GE).
But as the table below shows, on a per-employee basis that earns GE only tenth place in terms of the likelihood of a current or former employee’s becoming CEO of a large company. Top on the list is management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Amazingly, if we extrapolate into the future from the current stock of McKinsey alums who are CEOs, of every 690 McKinsey employees, one will become CEO of a Fortune 1000 company.
Company | Size (employees) | CEOs produced | Odds | McKinsey & Co. | 11,000 | 16 | 690:1 | Deloitte & Touche | 17,170 | 8 | 2,150:1 | Baxter International | 48,000 | 11 | 4,365:1 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | 47,750 | 10 | 4,775:1 | Ernst & Young | 103,000 | 12 | 8,585:1 | Merrill Lynch | 62,200 | 7 | 8,885:1 | Motorola | 66,000 | 7 | 9,430:1 | Intel | 88,100 | 8 | 11,010:1 | Proctor & Gamble (P&G) | 138,000 | 12 | 11,500:1 | General Electric (GE) | 300,000 | 26 | 11,540:1 |
Some companies did not fare nearly as well, such as Citigroup (odds: 30,180:1), AT&T (odds: 23,220:1), and Johnson & Johnson (odds: 15,275:1).
While some might dismiss the results, not surprisingly, the companies at the top of the list do not. “We are a leadership engine and a talent machine,” said retiring P&G CEO A. G. Lafley.
Questions
1. Management consulting firms did very well on a per-employee basis, partly because they are mostly comprised of managers (as opposed to blue-collar or entry-level workers). How big a factor do you think composition of the workforce is in likelihood of producing a CEO? 2. Do you think so-called leadership factories are also better places for non-leaders to work? Why or why not? 3.
Leadership Factories
Companies differ markedly in their ability to produce future leaders, as several recent analyses of the 1,187 largest publicly-traded U.S. companies revealed. Among the CEOs in one study, a remarkable total of 26 once worked at General Electric (GE).
But as the table below shows, on a per-employee basis that earns GE only tenth place in terms of the likelihood of a current or former employee’s becoming CEO of a large company. Top on the list is management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. Amazingly, if we extrapolate into the future from the current stock of McKinsey alums who are CEOs, of every 690 McKinsey employees, one will become CEO of a Fortune 1000 company.
Company | Size (employees) | CEOs produced | Odds | McKinsey & Co. | 11,000 | 16 | 690:1 | Deloitte & Touche | 17,170 | 8 | 2,150:1 | Baxter International | 48,000 | 11 | 4,365:1 | PricewaterhouseCoopers | 47,750 | 10 | 4,775:1 | Ernst & Young | 103,000 | 12 | 8,585:1 | Merrill Lynch | 62,200 | 7 | 8,885:1 | Motorola | 66,000 | 7 | 9,430:1 | Intel | 88,100 | 8 | 11,010:1 | Proctor & Gamble (P&G) | 138,000 | 12 | 11,500:1 | General Electric (GE) | 300,000 | 26 | 11,540:1 |
Some companies did not fare nearly as well, such as Citigroup (odds: 30,180:1), AT&T (odds: 23,220:1), and Johnson & Johnson (odds: 15,275:1).
While some might dismiss the results, not surprisingly, the companies at the top of the list do not. “We are a leadership engine and a talent machine,” said retiring P&G CEO A. G. Lafley.
Questions
1. Management consulting firms did very well on a per-employee basis, partly because they are mostly comprised of managers (as opposed to blue-collar or entry-level workers). How big a factor do you think composition of the workforce is in likelihood of producing a CEO? 2. Do you think so-called leadership factories are also better places for non-leaders to work? Why or why not? 3.