Most business schools spend a signifiant amount of instruction time teaching students how to think strategically, how to motivate a company and its employees, and how to reach (or at least strive for) the corner office. Much time is spent on “staying in the game” and setting achievable goals as well as “stretch”
goals—all aimed at becoming “numerouno”: the boss. It appears that 2010 may have been the year that introduced a new concept: the end game or exit strategy—or how to get off the field before the game is over.
Often, so much instruction time is spent on personal motivation and developing self-discipline—
staying focused—that little or no time is spent on recognizing when the “game” is or should be over. It is just as important to recognize when the “game” has become too much and is exacting a toll far more personal and less business-oriented than was expected. Jeffrey Kindler, CEO of Pfizer, Inc, the world’s largest drug company, abruptly quit as CEO, admitting that the job wore him out. He was only 55 years old. He had tried for months to convince his board of directors that he needed someone to lighten his load. The board did not act fast enough. Mr. Kindler did.
Compared with a few years ago, pressures on CEOs “are substantially different—especially in certain industries,” said Steve Reinemund, retired CEO of PepsiCo. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of the Yale University School of Management added that many CEOs now look at the corporate throne “. . . as a position with a limited term of offi ce. They rarely seek to stay a minute more than a dignifi ed decade.” Sonnenfeld may be optimistic with his decade timeline.
Some CEOs wear themselves out. Sometimes enough is enough. Kellogg’s CEO David Mackay announced to his board in December 2010 that he is retiring at the start of 2011. He was tired after facing two of the largest product recalls in Kellogg’s history, being slapped by federal regulators for crossing the line on nutritional profi les on its packaging, failing to anticipate an aggressive campaign by its closest competitor (General Mills Inc.), watching cereal sales get battered by supermarket house brands, and coping with the fl ooding of a waffl e-making plant. At least the board got a two-week notice.
Adding to this pressure-cooker environment is an acknowledgement that the corner office has plenty of windows. Everyone is watching and they are monitoring and measuring. The motivation to assume and stay in the offi ce grows smaller. In 2010, Kenexa Research Institute conducted a survey to measure the eff ectiveness of senior corporate management based on several attributes, for example, people management skills and commitment to quality products. Of the 29,000 respondents, globally 55 percent of employees rated their senior managers highly. In the United States—the country that practically invented the “B-School”—only 56 percent of employees gave their managers high ratings.
Who fi nished in the top fi ve spots? The top fi ve scores in the leadership-eff ectiveness index were India with employee ratings of 72 percent, China with 71 percent, Switzerland with 63 percent, Mexico with 62 percent, and Russia with 59 percent Japan, once the icon of global competitiveness and internationally centric management, fi nished “dead last” with a 39 percent rating.
Sometimes the pressure prompts strange actions or the need to employ “gamesmanship” more along the lines of “brinksmanship.” When the Prime Minister of Fiji, Voreqe Bainimarama, announced a 15-cent/
liter tax on bottled water, Fiji Water, which bottles 3.5 million liter/month, announced it was closing the plant. This move eliminated the largest company from Fiji tax rolls. It was also an act of hari-kari for Fiji Water; it could not produce “fiji” water elsewhere. Everyone realized the “lose-lose” positions in this game and reversed themselves a day later. Newton’s law—every action fosters an equal and opposite reaction—
seemed to be in play.
This was not a one-time use of gamesmanship or brinksmanship. Lynda Resnick, owner/CEO of POM Wonderful LLC, launched a $10 million dollar advertising campaign against the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for criticizing her company for its pomegranate juice product.
The FTC and the FDA were not amused. What is the connection? Lynda Resnick and her husband, Stewart Resnick, through a holding company, Roll International, own Fiji Water. Sometime the best response to pressure is to return in kind......

QUESTIONS
1. What theories of motivation seem useful in understanding why one might want to become the CEO of a corporation?

2. Based on the information in this case, how has the motivation to be CEO changed and how might it change in the future? See if you can find examples other than the ones mentioned in the case.

3. What might an organization do to motivate high-quality individuals to seek the CEO position?