Highlights of the June 27, 2005 Issue of FORTUNE
SPECIAL: FORTUNE 75th ANNIVERSARY PACKAGE
Part two of FORTUNE's 75th-anniversary celebration is devoted to decisions—and to helping people in the business world make better ones. "We wanted to create a package of delectably good reads," says senior writer Jerry Useem in his introduction to the package. "But visiting a flaming Colorado mountainside or the hallways of the Pentagon or the Siberian oil frontier isn't just a way of bringing decision-making alive. You'll come away with a set of ideas, tools, and questions that you can carry into any decision-making context."
- 20 That Made History, page 58
The best decision-makers were capable of seeing the present as if it were already the past. FORTUNE looks at 20 decisions—going back as far as 1876—that shed light on how people can change the course of history. Some of these decisions were exceedingly good, some hideously bad—but all were important.
- Jim Collins on Tough Calls, page 89
When FORTUNE asked business guru Jim Collins to discuss the art of decision-making, he pored over years of research and interviews he had amassed to write his popular books. In a conversation with senior writer Jerry Useem, Collins explores business history through the lens of decision-making—and comes up with surprising insights.
- Great Escapes, page 97
In order to show how predictable errors are preventable errors, FORTUNE presents nine common problems—ranging from "analysis paralysis" to "self-interested thinking"—and nine devices that can be used to solve them, paving the way for business people to steer clear of the most common wrong turns.
- How I Make Decisions, page 106
FORTUNE asked eight bold, creative people—from the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs to the publisher who discovered Harry Potter to the woman who picks next year's hip colors—to describe what guides their decision-making.
- In the Heat of the Moment, page 125
The 1994 fire on Storm King Mountain in Colorado was not only a natural disaster, but a result of human actions. One firefighter, Don Mackey, made several big decisions that day—some good, some bad, and at least one heroic. In this decision-making case study, Michael Useem shows how Mackey was a product, and perhaps a victim, of a system that failed to teach how to make good decisions.
- Billion-Dollar Bets, page 138
Though it sometimes seems that risk has gone the way of Bell Labs and the three-martini lunch, look a little deeper and it becomes apparent that when competition, stagnation, or investor pressure ups the ante, 21st-century executives are just as capable of laying down a high-stakes gamble as any 19th-century robber baron. Alex Taylor profiles five companies that are pursuing innovation.
- The Wisdom of Dumb Questions, page 157
The "dumb question" can cut to the heart of the matter, posing a blunt challenge to someone or something—an authority, a policy, the established order. Geoff Colvin looks at a powerful insight into business success: Dumb questions lead to smart decisions.
Cops of the Global Village, by Marc Gunther, page 158
The drive to meet rising global standards of one kind or another is affecting just about every multinational FORTUNE 500 company, and U.S.-based companies that sell globally are scrambling to comply with an array of European environmental laws that are much stricter than those they face home. But as Marc Gunther reports, though American companies roam the globe in search of low-cost labor, many export health and safety standards when they open factories in the developing world, while others keep an eye on suppliers to avoid having a sweatshop label attached to their brand.
Gates and Ozzie: How to Escape E-mail Hell, by David Kirkpatrick, page 169
For years, Bill Gates called Ray Ozzie—the inventor and programmer of Lotus Notes—"the best programmer who doesn't work for Microsoft." Now that Gates has purchased Ozzie's startup, Groove Networks, which enables teams of workers to create shared online spaces in which they can collaborate on documents, both men plan to come up with better collaboration software and other tools to help workers get beyond today's e-mail travails. In their first-ever joint interview, they tell David Kirkpatrick how technology will shape the way people work in the next decade.
The Dogged Scientist, the Old Lab Vial, and the Quest to Stop Cancer, by David Stipp, page 175
The wait between a drug's discovery and its approval is usually well over a decade, and often longer. Most experimental drugs fail, and world-class researchers can spend their entire careers working on flop after flop. But once in a while this landscape of frustration is lit by an intense glow. To understand the traps and hurdles that next-generation medicines must survive on their way to market, David Stipp looks at the story of PTK, an experimental cancer drug, and tells the tale of an arduous, often-frustrating, decade-long journey that could lead to a new product—or no product at all.
PLUS: FORTUNE Global Forum
Three FORTUNE editors tackle issues raised at FORTUNE's Global Forum in Beijing in May. In China Rising, Rik Kirkland asks if the U.S. will be flattened by a flatter world. In Fast Forward, David Kirkpatrick explains why China won't protect intellectual property until its own products need protection. And in Value Driven, Geoff Colvin posits that China is on the verge of creating its own brands—and that Western companies need to prepare for a new kind of Chinese competition.
DEPARTMENTS
In FIRST: Calling Off the Dogs An era of corporate crime fighting is ending. What's to keep fraudsters from striking again? Offshoring: A Reality Check Despite all the apprehension, just a fraction of the world's service jobs can be outsourced to developing countries. Intel Wins a Date With Steve Jobs Intel's deal with Apple could give the chipmaker more bite in hot consumer markets. On the Radar After falling to last place in the ratings race, NBC cuts its ad prices for the new fall shows. GM's New Crop: Hot or Not? Desperate for some positive buzz, GM is previewing future models. Sam Zell: Pay Me or I'll Pay Myself The Chicago financier used to be the unpaid chairman of Rewards Network, but after receiving complaints about his advisory firm's fee, the outfit has shifted payment—to Zell. Question Authority Hollywood's Jerry Bruckheimer is the newly crowned king of TV (and he's still going strong in the movies). SketchbookRooting for baseball's fat cats. In COLUMNISTS: Street Life It's iPod's revolution—we just live in it. In INVESTING: On Google, Bubbles, and Market Madness Henry Blodget shows how buying during a frenzy is saner than it might appear. Why Does Google Keep Rising? The search giant has everything going its way. Marvel Flexes Its Muscles Riding high in Hollywood, the comic-book company is pursuing risky new growth. A Window on the Future Fund manager Nick Calamos sees big profits in e-mail. In BUSINESS LIFE: Security Alert How to get back what the airport confiscates. Gadgets Akimbo uses broadband Internet to deliver shows to your TV that you're not likely to see anywhere else. Workplace Winning a corporate board seat.
# # # For further information please contact:
Susan Brown
212-522-0133
susan_brown@timeinc.com
Amy Mahfouz
212-522-2134
amy_mahfouz@timeinc.com
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