Washington, D.C., December 1-3, 2008

Program Overview

The agenda for the FORTUNE 500 Forum is in development by the editors of FORTUNE, and will cover a range of business and policy issues. Our highly interactive program will feature top executives from the FORTUNE and Global 500, key figures from the president-elect's transition team, law- and policymakers, Washington insiders, change agents, and leading business thinkers.

Please check back for a full agenda and list of speakers.

Preliminary Agenda

Monday, December 1

11:00pm - 7:30pm

Registration

3:00pm - 3:05pm

Opening Remarks and Forum Overview

  • John Huey
    Editor-in-Chief
    Time Inc.
  • Andy Serwer
    Managing Editor
    FORTUNE
3:05pm - 3:35pm

Update from the Treasury

  • Henry Paulson
    Secretary of the Treasury
    U.S. Department of the Treasury
  • Moderator:
  • Andy Serwer
    Managing Editor
    FORTUNE
3:35pm - 4:35pm

Leadership in Turbulent Times

Jim Collins will share perspectives from his new research into the question of how greatness can be attained in environments characterized by immense turbulence and sustained so that a company does not fall from great to good. He will also challenge business leaders to think about the key drivers that separate great institutions from mediocre ones, and how good organizations can become great.  He will draw upon nearly twenty years of research that led to his books Built to Last and Good to Great, as well as his monograph Good to Great and the Social Sectors.

Speaker:
  • Jim Collins
    Author
    Good to Great
4:35pm - 5:15pm

Innovation amid Global Turmoil

CEOs of companies which have succeeded because of product, technology, or management innovation—either technological or management—will share how that success was achieved and how it impacted their global competitiveness. Will the new administration submit proposals to stimulate innovation?

Speakers:
  • John Hagel III
    Co-Chairman
    Deloitte Center for Edge Innovation
  • Antonio Perez
    Chairman and CEO
    Eastman Kodak Co.
  • Solomon Trujillo
    Chief Executive Officer
    Telstra Corp. Ltd.
  • Wendell Weeks
    Chairman and CEO
    Corning Incorporated
Moderator:
  • Stephanie Mehta
    Assistant Managing Editor
    FORTUNE
5:26pm - 6:15pm

Forging a National Energy Policy

The incoming administration will have energy policy at or near the top of their agenda and will perhaps address broader climate change issues as well. What are their plans? What role can or should business play? What will the NGOs be pushing for? What compromises are likely in the attempt to get global agreement on a successor to the Kyoto Protocol?

Energy policy will be at or near the top of the agenda for the incoming administration. What are their plans for cap and trade legislation, tax credits for renewable energy, emissions and trade policy, the role of the EPA, and nuclear energy? What are their priorities?

Speakers:
  • Andy Karsner
    Former Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

    U.S. Department of Energy
  • Marvin Odum
    President
    Shell Oil Co.
  • Glenn Prickett
    Senior Vice President
    Conservation International
  • Frederick Smith
    Chairman, President and CEO
    FedEx Corporation
Moderator:
  • Marc Gunther
    Senior Writer
    FORTUNE
6:30pm - 6:50pm

Cocktail Reception

6:50pm

Move to Ballroom for Legatum/FORTUNE Technology Prize

7:00pm

Announce Finalists and Present Awards

7:15pm

Depart for State Department

7:45pm - 9:45pm

Dinner in the Benjamin Franklin Room, U.S. Department of State

Speaker:
  • Madeleine Albright
    Principal
    The Albright Group LLC
Interviewer:
  • Richard Stengel
    Managing Editor
    TIME Magazine
  • The Legatum/FORTUNE Technology Prize Winners announced

Tuesday, December 2

7:00am - 7:30am

Registration

7:00am - 8:00am

Continental Breakfast

8:00am - 8:10am

Welcome Back

  • Geoff Colvin
    Senior Editor-at-Large
    FORTUNE
8:10am - 9:10am

The First Hundred Days

Leaders of FORTUNE 500 companies share their wish lists for the first hundred days of the new administration.

Introduction:
  • Jeffrey Bewkes
    President and CEO
    Time Warner Inc.
Speakers:
  • Bradbury Anderson
    Vice Chairman and CEO
    Best Buy, Inc.
  • Dennis Nally
    Chairman and Senior Partner, U.S. Firm
    PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
  • Randall Stephenson
    Chairman, CEO and President
    AT&T Inc.
Moderator:
  • Geoff Colvin
    Senior Editor-at-Large
    FORTUNE
9:10am - 9:35am

NASDAQ Opening Bell, live from the Forum

  • Robert Greifeld
    Chief Executive Officer
    The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
9:35am - 10:00am

CEO Spotlight: Energy Efficiency

  • David Cote
    Chairman and CEO
    Honeywell International
Interviewer:
  • Andy Serwer
    Managing Editor
    FORTUNE
10:00am - 10:50am

The Future of Capitalism

Speakers:
  • Robert Greifeld
    Chief Executive Officer
    The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc
  • Peter Peterson
    Senior Chairman and Co-founder
    The Blackstone Group
Moderator:
  • Allan Sloan
    Senior Editor-at-Large
    FORTUNE
10:50am - 11:15am

Networking Break

11:15am - 12:15pm

Competitiveness Roundtables

  1. Emerging Market Competitors

    A new breed of multinational company has emerged that is changing the nature of global competition. In a more open world emerging economies are spawning their own giants; investment now flows increasingly from south to north and south to south as emerging economies invest both in the rich world and in less developed countries. How has this trend impacted rich-world companies, and what’s likely going forward?


    Speakers:
    • Lawrence Goodman
      Managing Director, Head - Emerging Market Strategy
      Bank of America Corp.
    • Suresh Vaswani
      Co-CEO, IT Business, and Director
      Wipro Ltd.
  2. Moderator:
    • Steve Koepp
      Executive Editor
      FORTUNE
  3. Changing Shape of Global Capital Markets

    One certain result of the global credit crisis is a shift to multipolar markets. How will that affect corporate access to capital markets? Will that, in turn, lead to agreement on global accounting and/or governance standards?

    Speakers:
    • Diana Farrell
      Director
      McKinsey Global Institute (MGI)
    • Edward Knight
      Executive Vice President, General Counsel
      The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
    • Stephen Scherr
      Head of the Americas Financing Group
      Goldman Sachs
    Moderator:
    • Allan Sloan
      Senior Editor-at-Large
      FORTUNE
  4. Attracting, Retaining, and Developing Leadership Talent in a Global Economy

    Not surprisingly, global competition has increased the intensity of the ‘war for talent,’ first coined by McKinsey a decade ago. It’s never been harder for employers to attract and retain top talent for critical positions worldwide. We’ll hear from CEOs on what has worked, what hasn’t, and perhaps some of their plans for the future.

    Speakers:
    • Claudio Fernández-Aráoz
      Partner
      Egon Zehnder International
    • Eric J. Foss
      Chairman and CEO
      The Pepsi Bottling Group, Inc. (PBG)
    • Matthew Schuyler
      Chief Human Resources Officer
      Capital One Financial Corp.
    Moderator:
    • Geoff Colvin
      Senior Editor-at-Large
      FORTUNE
12:15pm - 12:25pm

Switch Break

12:25pm - 1:05pm

Infrastructure: The $3 Trillion Challenge

Aging and overburdened infrastructure threatens the economy and quality of life in every state, city, and town in the nation. What plans does the new administration have for addressing this critical issue? How can we pay for the necessary overhauls? What are the implications for the economy and the country if nothing is done? What is the best role for federal, state, and city governments in addressing the issue? What needs to happen to foster public/private partnerships?

Speakers:
  • James Burnley IV
    Partner, Venable LLP
    Former U.S. Secretary of Transportation
  • Reed Hundt
    Former Chairman
    Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
  • Naveen Lamba
    Global Industry Lead, Intelligent Transportation
    IBM Global Business Services
Moderator:
  • Stephen Koepp
    Executive Editor
    FORTUNE
1:05pm - 2:15pm

Luncheon

2:15pm - 2:40pm

CEO Spotlight: The Banking Crisis and the FDIC

  • Sheila Bair
    Chairman
    Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC)
Interviewer:
  • Jay Carney
    Washington Bureau Chief
    TIME Magazine
2:40pm - 2:45pm

Cities of Opportunity

Insights from a report released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers and the New York City Partnership—Cities of Opportunity: Business-Readiness Indicators.

Speaker:
  • Dennis Nally
    Chairman and Senior Partner, U.S. Firm
    PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
2:45pm - 3:45pm

Is Company-Provided Healthcare on its Way Out?

Nearly everyone would agree that the US healthcare system is in serious need of reform, but there is disagreement as to the nature of the reforms. This session will feature the new administration’s view and the views of CEOs from various industries.

Speakers:
  • Troyen Brennan
    Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
    CVS Caremark Corp.
  • John Hammergren
    Chairman, President, and CEO
    McKesson Corp.
  • William Novelli
    Chief Executive Officer
    AARP
  • Ron Wyden
    U.S. Senator
    State of Oregon
Moderator:
  • Matt Miller
    Columnist, FORTUNE
    Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress
Additional speaker to be announced
3:45pm - 4:10pm

Refreshment Break

4:10pm - 5:00pm

Roadblocks to Trade Agreements

Failure to reach agreement on the Doha Round of trade talks means the incoming administration will need to address US trade policy on both a bilateral and international basis. Calls for labor and environmental standards to be incorporated into any future trade agreements have resonated with some voters. The premise that free trade benefits the economy has been questioned by others. The US position will clearly impact multinational companies and the financial institutions that fund their expansion.

Speakers:
  • Charlene Barshefsky
    Senior International Partner
    WilmerHale
  • William Brock
    Former U.S. Trade Representative
    FORTUNE
  • William Galston
    Senior Fellow, Governance Studies
    The Brookings Institution
Moderator:
  • Nina Easton
    Washington Editor
    FORTUNE
5:00pm - 6:30pm

Free Time

6:30pm

Depart for Embassies

7:00pm - 9:00pm

Reception and Dinner at Embassies

Wednesday, December 3

Focus on Boards and Governance

8:00am - 9:00am

Breakfast Roundtables on Corporate Governance

  1. Succession Planning

    Chair:
    • Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld
      Senior Associate Dean for Executive Programs
      The Lester Crown Professor of Management Practice
      Yale School of Management
  2. Recruitment and Pruning of Directors

    Chair:
    • C.K. Prahalad
      Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor
      Ross School of Business
      University of Michigan
  3. CEO Compensation

    Chair:
    • Geoff Colvin
      Senior Editor-at-Large
      FORTUNE
  4. The Data Policy/Privacy Debate, sponsored by Symantec

    Chair:
    • Adam Lashinsky
      Senior Writer
      FORTUNE
9:00am - 9:15am

Switch Break

9:15am - 9:20am

Welcome Back

  • Geoff Colvin
    Senior Editor-at-Large
    FORTUNE
9:20am - 10:00am

Managing Risk: The Board's Role

Of the many risks that Boards and CEOs face, it is critical to determine which are the most pressing—and whose responsibility those risks are. We will explore which risks fall squarely on the CEO, which on the Board, and which are shared. Is it reasonable to hold Boards accountable for the huge losses brought on by the subprime crisis?

Speakers:
  • Jeanne Jackson
    Founder and CEO
    MSP Capital
  • Shivan Subramaniam
    Chairman and CEO
    FM Global
  • James Turley
    Chairman and CEO
    Ernst & Young
Moderator:
  • Adam Lashinsky
    Senior Writer
    FORTUNE
10:00am - 10:20am

CEO Spotlight: Managing Risk

  • Richard Ward
    Chief Executive Officer
    Lloyd's
Interviewer:
  • Michael Elliot
    Editor
    TIME International

 

10:20am - 11:00am

Boards and the Value Creation Process

How can the board move beyond its traditional compliance role and play a constructive role in the value creation process? Members of boards who have managed to do that will talk about the processes that enabled them to do it and kept them, at the same time, from usurping the role of management.

Speakers:
  • Michael Patsalos-Fox
    Chairman, Americas
    McKinsey & Company
  • C.K. Prahalad
    Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor
    Ross School of Business
    University of Michigan
Moderator:
  • Pattie Sellers
    Editor-at-Large
    FORTUNE
11:00am - 11:25am

CEO Compensation

The issue of CEO compensation is one that never seems to go away. The public has been concerned for some time; some shareholder groups have been demanding a say; Congress is considering ‘say for pay’ legislation; the SEC is asking for what some companies consider proprietary information on bonuses. The Board has to navigate these choppy waters and reach a compensation package that will attract the candidate they seek and salve the noisemakers. What Boards have been getting it right, and how did they manage it?

Speakers:
  • Pearl Meyer
    Senior Managing Director
    Steven Hall & Partners
  • Nell Minow
    Editor and Co-founder
    The Corporate Library
Moderator:
  • Jennifer Reingold
    Senior Writer
    FORTUNE
11:25am - 11:50am

CEO Spotlight: Managing Performance

  • Kenneth Chenault
    Chairman and CEO
    American Express Co.
Interviewer:
  • Geoff Colvin
    Senior Editor-at-Large
    FORTUNE
11:50am

Closing Remarks and Adjourn

  • Geoff Colvin
    Senior Editor-at-Large
    FORTUNE