Carlo Slim was born in Mexico in 1940 by an immigrant parents from Lebanon. Since the tender age, Slim started receiving business lessons from his father on how to increase personal financial resources. His father started his business training with little capital, and taught him to increase the money from his own initiatives. The business training was developed in Slim’s spirit because of his aptitude for numbers. At the age of 12, Slim started buying shares and opened his first saving accounts at Banco Nacional de México. However, the efforts of his father ended because his father died when Slim was only 13 years old. To improve his educational skills, Carlo Slim proceeded his education by attending National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) School of Engineering. While studying in the university, he was taught Algebra and Linear Programming, and at the age of 25 he had already laid foundation for Group Carso Continue reading
Leadership Case Studies
Case Study: Starbucks Survival From the Financial Crisis of 2008
The beginning of the economic crisis of 2008 significantly affected all businesses throughout the country, and this event influenced the companies involved in international operations in the first place. For example, Starbucks faced challenges stemming from the emerging hardships expressed by financial losses and wrong strategic choices, deteriorating its overall position in the market. However, the managers’ external circumstances were not the most critical considerations since the existing problems in Starbucks’ activity were added to the new issues. The failure to adhere to the company’s original vision related to providing not simply a product but valuable experiences led to difficulties in overcoming the crisis. From this perspective, the analysis of all conditions as of 2008 is required to demonstrate Starbucks’ capability to survive in the future. The Company During the Economic Crisis of 2008 During the economic crisis of 2008, Starbucks’ managers were reported to struggle with maintaining operations while Continue reading
Case Study of General Electric: From Jack Welch to Jeffrey Immelt
General Electric is one of the oldest conglomerates that are still actively present on the market. It consists of a wide variety of businesses and is involved in the production of a great multitude of items, resources, and services. The main segments of the company are focused on oil and gas production, renewable energy, aviation, additive manufacturing, lighting, healthcare, power generation, venture capital and finance, transportation, digital technologies, and lighting. General Electric is also involved in a variety of smaller enterprises which diversify its product line even further. The company was originally established in 1892 after Tomas Edison’s Electric Light Company and Thomas Houston Company were merged to create General Electric. The management of the company was focused on utilizing the numerous patents that Edison’s company held, especially those that were related to electricity generation and distribution. The company grew quickly by focusing on the adaptation of its technologies, a Continue reading
Case Study: Starbucks Resilient Turnaround Under Howard Schultz in 2008
Founded in 1971 in Seattle, Starbucks had grown to become a respected global brand, present in 50 states in the US and 43 countries. However, its premium pricing was a considerable disadvantage during the economic slowdown. By March 2008, Starbucks had to close 600 underperforming stores, and its profit had plummeted by 28% compared to the same period in 2007. The following year saw another 300 store closures and 6,700 employees laid off. On January 8, 2008, Howard D. Schultz returned as CEO, taking over from Jim Donald. Schultz, who had been with Starbucks since 1982 and previously served as CEO from 1987 to 2000, found that rapid expansion had diverted the company’s focus from creating inviting cafes and developing new products. In 2007, several factors stood behind Starbucks’ decline, among which one might note a loss of human connection. Howard Schultz observed that the company steadily lost its connection Continue reading
Case Study: Jack Welch’s Leadership Legacy
Jack Welch was the CEO of General Electric (GE) between 1981 and 2001. He was the youngest CEO to be appointed in the company. He joined the company in 1960 and later promoted to be the vice president in 1972. Welch ascended the organizational hierarchy, first serving as the vice chairman in 1979 and later became the CEO in 1981. Jack Welch was born in 1935 and brought up in Peabody, Massachusetts by his two parents who were Roman Catholic. His father worked as a railroad conductor and his mother was a housewife. Jack’s father worked for many hours in order to support his family. Jack and his mother used to go to the train station to wait for his father and as they waited, they had talks with his mother, which served as his early education. He studied at Salem High School, attended Massachusetts University, and attained a degree in Continue reading
Case Study: Leadership Lessons From Disney’s Bob Iger
Bob Iger has a Jewish origin by birth, but he was born in the city of New York, in the year 1951. He is an established businessman in America, he was the former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, from 2005 to 2020, he was the CEO at a stretch, and has achieved a lot, in his career one of the biggest achievements is acquiring Pixar. Before this, he was the president of ABC Television between 1994 and 1995 and was working as a COO for ABC from 1995 until it was acquired by Disney in the year 1996. In the year 2000, Bob Iger was declared the president and COO at Disney, and also succeeded the former CEO, Michael Eisner from the year 2005. During these 15 years of being the CEO of Disney, he expanded the intellectual properties of the organization, in the international markets, and also increased Continue reading