Issue 15 | theinnovationenterprise.com
16
Profiling the world’s top female CEOs This list looks at the four most prominent female Fortune 500 CEOs and what they’re doing to become successful 26
Just how difficult is Amazon’s recruitment process? Read about the importance Amazon places on hiring the right people
Who uses their desktop anymore? We investigate the likely implications of Google’s algorithm change on mobile searches
editor’s letter Welcome to the 15th edition of the
Do you use the words strategy
Chief Strategy Officer magazine.
and tactics interchangeably? We
On the back of our workplace diversity focus in April’s edition of CSO, we’ve included a rundown of who we feel are the world’s
look at why there’s a marked difference between the two, and why this differientiation is key for
We hope you enjoy the magazine,
includes individuals who are not
it has been created to help spread
only recognized as leaders of their
new ideas within strategy, so if
respective companies, but also
you have any feedback please get
for their wider industry influence
in touch with me at
by prestigious publications like
sbarton@theiegroup.com.
Amazon has over 150,000 employees, with every single individual hand-picked to make sure that the online-retailer has the capacity to maintain its position as the market’s dominant force. We take a look
Simon Barton
organizational success.
top four female CEOs. The list
‘Time’ and ‘Fortune’.
Managing Editor
Also, if you like the magazine, please share it.
Editors George Hill James Ovenden
Art Director Chelsea Carpenter
Simon Barton Managing Editor Are you are looking to put your products in front of key decision makers?
at the hurdles Jeff Bezos insists
For Advertising contact Emily at
upon in order to find the perfect
ekutchinsky@theiegroup.com
Contributors Harriet Connolly Max Bowen Michaela Jeffery-Morrison
candidate. This edition will discuss future business trends, focusing on the impact of digital technology on recruitment, supply chains and collaboration. In keeping with the international spread of the CSO role, Max Bowen looks at the developing digital scene in Australia and how the country is currently in the midst of a transformation.
General Enquiries sbarton@theiegroup.com
2015 contents
8
THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT’S NEW DIGITAL STRATEGY
We take a look at how Australia is transforming its digital fortunes
5 FUTURE BUSINESS TRENDS The impact of digital technology on divisions across every company including: recruitment, supply chain and collaboration
20
12 THE FINANCIAL TIMES’ NEW ONLINE ADVERTISING EXPERIMENT George Hill looks at the Financial Times’ new online advertising model
22
STRATEGY VS. TACTICS
WHO USES DESKTOP ANYMORE?
We discuss the difference between strategy and tactics and what both concepts mean to organizations
We see what the implications of Google’s algorithm change are likely to be for mobile searches
16
CEO
CEO
PROFILING THE WORLD’S TOP FOUR FEMALE CEOS This list looks at four of the most prominent female Fortune 500 CEOs and what they’re doing to become successful
26 JUST HOW DIFFICULT IS AMAZON’S RECRUITMENT PROCESS? Read about the importance Amazon places on hiring the right people
chief strategy officer
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Future Business Trends by james ovenden editor
“
As digital technology opens new opportunities to innovate, old markets are increasingly being disrupted.
”
n his seminal work, The
I
Christensen’s idea was that a
Innovator’s Dilemma, Clayton
new company invents and begins
M Christensen argues that
marketing an inferior product in
the process that causes great
the eyes of industry incumbents,
companies to fail is ‘disruptive
who fail to see it as a threat
innovation’ driven by technology.
because they don’t believe
Christensen has gone on to
it would interest established
become something of a hero
customers. Customers, the
figure for Tech in particular, with
incumbents believe, desire the
technology companies leading
premium quality, attentiveness
a cavalcade of disruptive forces
and incremental improvements
through a number of different
they offer them. This failure to
industries in recent years,
appreciate the unstated needs of
causing permanent realignment
their customers and adapt leads
in sectors unused to change.
to the collapse of companies.
chief strategy officer
6
FUTURE BUSINESS TRENDS
This is currently being seen
Deloitte’s report argues that the
more effective, cut costs,
across the business spectrum
very nature of the ecosystem is
and mitigate risk. Increased
on an unprecedented scale.
changing, and is set to change
globalization will also feed
Business is undergoing a profound
further. Customers will become
into these value webs, and
change, at a pace that even
even more active participants,
firms will see value being
Christensen himself would not
the Internet of Things will grow to
created not only within firms,
have anticipated. The nature of
upwards of 26 billion devices, and
but in the rich interactions
disruption is now different to what
there will be a multitude of new
between them, creating
it was when he studied Disk Drive
platforms, filling functions that
thousands of partnerships in
technology firms. Driven by the
even current disruptors may fail
the process. A further trend
amount of venture capital being
to provide.
will be that globalization
pumped into new enterprises, the value of data as an asset, and the influence of Christensen’s work itself - which has been treated as advice by his acolytes, and has in
combines with localization.
Deloitte’s report argues that
Deloitte’s study points to
businesses will have to adapt to
Nestlé, which operates its
the changing nature of ecosystems
networks according to the
in a number of ways.
basic principle: ‘Centralize
opportunities to innovate, old markets are being disrupted. Every piece of data is being digitized, and the global business landscape is becoming more connected. Everything that worked in the past
The Internet of Things is
what you can.’ Economist
set to be a major cause of
Brook Adams once argued
disruption. Much low-skilled
that all economies move
work will be automated,
toward centralization, and it
giving way to a new staffing
will be a skilled balancing act
structure with a greater
for firms to fight that natural
focus on workers with niche
instinct.
specialities, as well as more
is having to be re-evaluated in this
contract workers. Talent
new environment, and previously
sourcing and recruitment
strong arrangements are being
will be irrevocably altered
destroyed. Deloitte Consulting’s
as a result, and freelance
recently released business trends
platforms will become more
report, Business Ecosystems Come
prevalent.
of Age, subsequently uses the metaphor of ecosystems to world.
chief strategy officer
Outside the supply chain, businesses will also depend more on collaboration in other areas. The move to contract workers will see companies share employees and talent, as well as
supply chain
describe the current business
collaboration
As digital technology opens new
what must, but decentralize
recruitment
some ways become self-fulfilling.
The IoT will also have a
ideas and innovations,
massive impact on supply
bolstered by the advances
chains, helping them to
in communication and
evolve into so-called ‘value
platforms that make
webs’. These value webs
connecting with other
span and connect entire
companies easier. Advances
ecosystems of suppliers and
in Big Data mean that
collaborators, which will be
information is set to be
7
traded like never before. All
performance improvement,
Deloitte’s survey implies
of this will lead to entirely
and help hone capabilities.
a level of destruction, as
new business models,
Leaders who recognize
opposed to disruption in future
models that emphasize
the importance of such
business trends. One case
agility in the market place.
platforms will understand
study beneficial to looking at
that the greatest opportunity
how businesses are currently
is to find the influence points
progressing when faced with
that capture a larger share of
such disruption is the private
the value created there.
car industry. Faced with the
As the nature of business changes, so too will the way it is taught. More and
introduction to the market of
more business degrees are incorporating innovation and disruption. The Deloitte study also points to an increase in degrees being offered with a social focus. These are designed to suit the sort of high-achieving entrepreneurs looking to have an impact on the social sector and catalyze change - to make a difference to society as well as succeed in their field. Deloitte notes are replacing the old type of leaders, for whom this was far less of a consideration.
regulation
education
FUTURE BUSINESS TRENDS
With innovation moving
Uber and Hailo, taxis have been
forward at such a pace,
up in arms as they attempt to
regulators are already
block their perceived ‘intrusion’
struggling to keep
into the sector, often citing
up, and firms such as
things like their ability to avoid
Uber and Airbnb are
the same regulations that they
testing the boundaries
face, despite black cabs having
of their frameworks.
a range of advantages over
More important than
their new competitors.
conventional regulations now is reputational risk. Social media is such a powerful force that keeping business behaviour in line is a completely different proposition to what it was, one that is arguably far more
platforms
difficult than when there Platforms are set to be vital
was just a regulator with a
moving forward. As well
list of rules. Now there is an
as aggregation platforms,
unruly and often irrational
social platforms, and
mob of Twitter users
mobilization platforms, there
looking to shame corporate
will be a fourth platform
wrongdoers for any small
introduced in response to
malfeasance, often with a
the dynamic and demanding
seemingly arbitrary level
environments created. These
of outrage.
are ‘learning platforms’, which will make work lighter for their participants, as well as aid knowledge, accelerate
Some firms have, however, adapted to this change in the market place. One example of this is Addison Lee, which has dealt with Uber’s meteoric rise by improving its own technology and developing its App, as opposed to trying to compete on price or changing its service. In February, Addison Lee reported profits for 2014 of £33.5m, up 55%. This may be the way we see existing models cope with the influx of disruptors. Those who adapt quickly to new technology yet still emphasize their point of difference and don’t compromise on price will flourish, consolidating their position by buying up those who fail to do the same. chief strategy officer
8
The Australian Government’s New Digital Strategy by max bowen director, strategy events
“
The lack of coverage in more indigenous areas of the nation is still a problem, but it was addressed in 2013 as part of Australia’s strategy to reform itself to be ready for digital.
”
A
ustralia is in a period of digital disruption. It is
struggling to achieve its goals though, with former News Corp Australia CEO, Kim Williams, stating, ‘[Australia] is not managing the change at all well,’ and that ‘the opportunities will be infinitely larger and more interesting, [but] the journey is still in its infancy.’
chief strategy officer
9
THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT’S NEW DIGITAL STRATEGY
“
“
The country’s clearly going through a process of change at the moment and is planning accordingly.
”
This comes only a year or so after the Australian government embarked on an initiative to include lessons about technology on the school curriculum from foundation to year 8.
”
chief strategy officer
10
Kim Williams says,
We’re up
This comes only a year or so after the Australian government embarked on an initiative to include lessons about technology
or a fascinating
in the school curriculum from
ride’. foundation to year 8.
To help this, the Australian government has pumped nearly
THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT’S NEW DIGITAL STRATEGY
Here are a few eyeopening statistics from the australian Bureau of Statistics
Whilst this is positive news, focusing on the number of connections as a metric is somewhat shortsighted. Perhaps a more telling statistic was that only 30.2% of Australian businesses used the internet to take orders, with industries such as agriculture, finance and insurance almost
AU$7 million dollars into higher
untouched by online ordering.
education, with the hope that more students will take up IT
Although it’s difficult to ascertain
related courses designed to help
much from these statistics
fill the current talent gaps in the
shown in Figures 1 to 3, they are
Australian workforce.
the problem, with most having
of Australian businesses had used the internet to take orders
a reliable internet connection.
Fig 1.
Getting people online is not
However, the lack of coverage
low, especially for a country as developed as Australia. If these percentages were to increase, it’s probable that the nation would be home to more efficient companies, which could well help Australia
in more indigenous areas is still
overcome its problems with digital.
a problem, even though it was addressed in 2013 as part of
The country’s clearly going
Australia’s strategy to reform itself
through a process of change
for the digital age.
at the moment and is planning of web use is from desktop
accordingly. Its plans to roll out
Fig 2.
the nation, coupled with further
Wi-Fi to the indigenous areas of education expenditure and medical benefits to allow doctors to see their patients through video, should also put them on the right path - not to mention the government’s plea to companies
of the population have access to the internet Fig 3.
chief strategy officer
to implement cloud computing and open data in their working operations.
As
Kim Williams
says,
‘We’re
up
for
a
fascinating
ride.’
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The Financial Times’ New Online Advertising Experiment by george hill editor
chief strategy officer
13
THE FINANCIAL TIMES’ NEW ONLINE ADVERTISING EXPERIMENT
T
he Financial Times (FT) was
The advertising change is one
not known as the most
of the most significant and with
progressive newspaper until a
their previous success with the
decade ago, mainly because it
paywall transferring to many other
has a 127 year history and when
publications, it may be that this
you have that much time behind
same approach is adopted by
you, it can sometimes take a
other advertisers.
while for changes to occur.
Traditional online advertising is
However, last week they
charged based on impressions
managed to change the way that
and clicks. They get a certain
advertisers pay for ads on their
amount of money for the number
site and it seems to have worked
of people who have seen an ad
well. This follows on from their
and then more money every
successful online subscription
time somebody clicks on the ad.
service (or paywall) that has been
The problem with this system is
widely emulated by other titles
that the impressions could have
across the world.
little impact as there is no way of knowing how many people have paid any attention and click throughs are easy to falsify, leaving them open to abuse. The FT have taken the idea of brand recognition and brought it into the online advertising space. They have found through their research that readers who see an ad for five seconds or more are up to 50% more likely to display familiarity and association with a brand.’ It means that the more people are shown a particular advert, the more likely they are to have recognition of that brand or product in the future, increasing the likelihood that the customer will make a purchase.
chief strategy officer
14
THE FINANCIAL TIMES’ NEW ONLINE ADVERTISING EXPERIMENT
By charging advertisers a per hour
that the readers who sign up for
rate, it means that ads are shown
the initial offering will develop a
to readers for longer and in a
reading habit and feel compelled
far more targeted way. It allows
to sign up for the full product.
for not only increased brand
They believe that people will not
recognition for the advertiser, but
be able to develop this habit with
also a guaranteed income for the
limited access to content.
publisher. It is a much simpler and more effective way of advertising that allows for a highly targeted campaign and 10% more time on page than traditional CPM advertising.
articles each month, which gives the FT the opportunity to advertise to them without the necessity to subscribe, further opening its potential to advertise to passing
By using Chartbeat to help make
interest visitors or those looking
the process more productive
only for specific subject matter.
through data, the FT have put a system in place where advertisers are only charged after an ad has been seen in a prominent position for over 5 seconds. Rather than hoping that people have seen an advert through an impression or paid attention to it due to a prominent position, they are almost guaranteed to have noticed it if the algorithm has flagged it. A new approach to paid advertising has perhaps been prompted by their announcement in March that they have slightly adjusted their paywall policy to firstly attempt to get more subscribers and secondly to increase their online ad revenue. They have given people the opportunity to pay ÂŁ1/â‚Ź1/$1 for the first month before paying the full list price in order to become full subscribers once that month ends. The thinking behind this is
chief strategy officer
A non-subscriber can also read 8
The question is whether the new advertising model will be something adopted by others. As it requires a considerable feedback loop and analytics based system to establish the validity of each ad and whether these five second have truly engaged the customer. Regardless of spread, it will be interesting to see how it works in future and whether this is a genuine game changer.
ie.
The Leading Global Voice in Strategy HOW STRATEGY LEADERS EXECUTE ON BIG PROJECTS TO ACHIEVE GREAT RESULTS
16 by harriet connolly director, global operations
Profiling the World’s Top Four Female CEOs L
ast year, Quantopia, an American trading platform,
identified that female-led Fortune 1000 companies had performed better than S&P 500 organizations between 2002 and 2014. With this in mind, we are going to look at four of the most prominent female CEOs working for Fortune 500 companies, determining what strategies have made them so successful in their field amongst a male dominated job role.
chief strategy officer
CEO
17
PROFILING THE WORLD’S TOP FOUR FEMALE CEOS
2 3 4
Mary Barra general motors
Indra K. Nooyi
General Motors has a historic
pepsico
company culture, and with the recent ignition switch debacle,
Meg Whitman hewlett-packard
Having taken the reigns at Hewlett-Packard in 2011, she
Indian-born Nooyi became CEO of
where 32 deaths were linked to
PepsiCo in 2006. Cleary someone
faulty cars still fresh in everyone’s
who puts a lot of emphasis on
minds, being the CEO of General
innovation, R&D costs at PepsiCo
Motors is a real challenge.
have risen by 25% since 2011.
Mary Barra has come out fighting
was immediately thrown in
The success of this spending
however, when in 2014 she
at the deep end, with the tech-
is evident in the fact that products
unveiled General Motors growth
giant experiencing one of its
launched in the last three-years
plans, which included expansion
leanest spells.
now make up 9% of their revenue.
into China and growing their
Whitman’s tenure hasn’t been
She held the top-spot on Brendan
without its blemishes however,
Woods International list of the
In April 2014, she was on the cover
with Bloomberg labelling her as
world’s most powerful female
of Time’s ‘100 Most Influential
the most underachieving CEO
CEOs for five years, with her reign
People in the World’ and rightly
in 2013.
ending in 2014.
takes her place as second on
She should however be praised for
She was recently named
the fact that in the third-quarter
by Fortune magazine as the
of last year Hewlett-Packard’s
sixth most powerful woman in
sales rose for the first time in
the world.
Cadillac brand.
this list.
three years. With the New York Times stating that Whitman was one of the likeliest females to first make President, she definitely deserves a place amongst the world’s most powerful female CEOs.
chief strategy officer
18
PROFILING THE WORLD’S TOP FOUR FEMALE CEOS
Virginia Rometty ibm
IBM’s CEO, Virginia Rometty, oversaw a decline in her company’s revenue in 2014, the second consecutive year. It’s her relentless investment in new technologies and strategic partnerships however that makes Rometty stand out. For example, mobile and cloud services revenues rose by 69% last year. She’s also agreed a partnership with Apple, which will see IBM provide its services on the iOS platform. A member of the ‘Time 100’ in 2012 and a frequent name on Fortune’s ‘50 Most Powerful People in Business’, Virginia Rometty is currently the most powerful female CEO in the world. Despite the careers of the women above, an imbalance at the highest echelons of the world’s biggest companies continues to persist. Currently, women hold a mere 5.2% of Fortune 500 CEO roles. This is clearly something that must be addressed if we want to work in a business environment that promotes equality.
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20
Strategy vs.
Tactics by simon barton managing editor
“
People commonly use the words ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’ as interchangeable - this is a misconception, they’re different and both serve separate functions.
”
W
hen two boxers get in the ring they’ve normally
had months of intense physical training and trash-talking. Whilst the sport is seemingly surrounded by brutishness alone, a boxer’s ability to punch will rarely win him a fight. The reason for this is the minute margins between success and failure at the elite level, meaning that strategy and tactics are imperative when attempting to wear down an opposing fighter.
chief strategy officer
21
STRATEGY VS. TACTICS
People commonly use the
Time orientation also marks a
Front-line workers need to be
words ‘strategy’ and ‘tactics’
significant difference between the
as knowledgable about tactics
interchangeably - this is a
two. Strategy, whilst not always
as senior management. For this
misconception, they’re different
about the future, is predominately
reason, thinking tactically as an
and both serve separate functions
about setting targets for
entire company is an operation
when attempting to achieve a goal.
development. It allows company
requires experienced leadership
If we revert back to the boxing
decision makers to visualize
and a strategy that can be
analogy, the strategy could be to
where the company is going in a
communicated easily,
unsettle the opponent early-on,
particular industry.
with the tactics to start fast and go
Anyone who has the responsibility
Tactics on the other hand are
of setting a company’s strategy
almost exclusively about the here
should understand the tactics
For organizations, strategy can
and now. They are concerned with
that go behind achieving it. It will
take many forms. A company
analyzing the current business
then be possible for companies
might want to guarantee its future
environment and finding ways to
to disseminate their strategies
by investing in youth. The tactic
solve any predicaments they are
to every echelon of their
would be to promote from within
in. Thinking tactically is basically
organizational structure quickly
or even put on management
the building blocks to strategic
and effectively.
courses. This is a clear distinction,
development.
for body shots.
showing that strategy is the ‘what’ and tactics the ‘how’.
Due to the nature of both of them, they are also carried out by
In a recent Harvard Business
different parts of the organization.
Review article they explained
“
that many organizational leaders can’t execute planned strategies because they don’t really
Strategy is the job of the board, and the ‘thinkers’ within the organization,
understand how they’re going
whilst tactics is something
to achieve the goals they’ve set -
which the whole company
emphasizing the importance of
should be involved in.
tactical awareness.
”
chief strategy officer
22
about
contact
features
Who Uses Desktop Anymore?
by james ovenden editor
chief strategy officer
gallery
23
WHO USES DESKTOP ANYMORE?
G
oogle’s ‘Inside Adwords’ event was broadcast on a
live stream on the 5th May 2015, during which the search giant revealed a number of new product updates. These however took a backseat with Jerry Dischler’s announcement that Google had hit an inflection point where in countries such as Japan, Canada and the United States more Google searches were taking place on mobile than desktops. Google handles around 100 billion search requests each month, but it’s not known what the exact total made on mobile is. What this news has done however is inspire Google to proclaim ‘micro-moments’ as the source of the mobile-revolution. They also revealed that 91% of people use their phone to look something up in the middle of a task - Dischler explained that this could entail a user comparing running shoes in a store or looking up a cookie recipe in the middle of cooking. Due to this, the customer journey has been distilled into short, instinctive moments, where their needs are served on-demand. These bursts of activity are what’s driving mobile - with convenience clearly an important factor.
chief strategy officer
24 so what are the
implications
?
of this
WHO USES DESKTOP ANYMORE?
Well firstly it’s meant that Google
sites which don’t rely heavily on
has changed its search algorithm
organic searches, but more from
to favour mobile friendly sites.
links from other sites, shouldn’t
Therefore, when a user searches
be as concerned as they won’t be
for their cookie recipe they’ll
missing as much traffic.
be shown mobile-optimized sites before websites which are not. This has caused online publications such as Business Insider to label the move as ‘Mobilegeddon’ - with even the Washington Post unable to resist labelling the development as the next ‘apocalypse’. Whilst it would be naive to suggest that this wouldn’t have an impact on traditional companies which have yet to implement mobile
It does however seem that we’re getting to a stage where nonoptimized sites will eventually be more and more ostracized. Making your website mobile friendly is not as easy as flicking a switch either, it often demands that a site’s redesigned and reconfigured so that it’s easily readable on smaller screens. The desktop will remain an important part of Google’s strategy, but as recent developments demonstrate, it’s going to become secondary to mobile. With at least 50% of Google’s searches now going through mobile platforms in many countries, its users ‘micro moments’ will be what they want to focus on. As we all know, Google’s changeup is only likely to be the start, as when they do something, everybody else is likely to follow.
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Should Your
Recruitment Process
?
Be More Like ‘s
by michaela jeffery-morrison head of strategy
“
T
With some of Amazon’s interview questions including, ‘How would
he job market has never
it’s up to companies to attract
been as ruthless as it is now
them. However, this change
for young graduates. In the UK,
has yet to hit many professional
you solve problems if you
the average graduate spends six
industries and it’s clear that we’re
were from Mars?’, there’s
months searching for their first
going to be waiting some time
no doubt that many of
full-time job, and more often
before candidates are, in effect,
Amazon’s interviews will
than not, the role isn’t aligned
interviewing companies.
have an interesting twist.
with what they studied, or their
”
future ambitions.
organizations make candidates
For the most desirable roles,
jump through hoops to get a
those at established companies
chance to contribute to their
with higher than average salaries,
success. One of these companies
recruiters expect at least 100
is Amazon, who under the
applications, with the final number
leadership of Jeff Bezos, have
often closer to 1,000. Not only
reshaped the retail industry,
are these figures daunting, it also
putting many bricks and mortar
throws up questions about the
establishments in real danger.
importance of higher education.
chief strategy officer
The world’s most innovative
One of the keys to Amazon’s
There have been claims that the
success is its incredibly arduous
job market is becoming more
recruitment process, which sees
primed for ‘sellers’, that is where
potential recruits go through five
candidates hold the power and
two hour interviews.
27
JUST HOW DIFFICULT IS AMAZON’S RECRUITMENT PROCESS?
To add to this, candidates know
Bezos continues to live by
companies like Apple, Amazon
that their application could be torn
the phrase;
and Sony will continue to be
up at any moment if a ‘bar raiser’, an evaluator who already holds a position at Amazon, decides that the application is not aligned to company culture. The main job of Amazon’s ‘bar raisers’ is to make sure that prospective employees fit in with company culture. They also come from a different section of the company than the recruit, meaning that they do not feel the pressure to hire someone just because a position is open. This system has
‘I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.’
difficult. These companies will continue to receive hundreds of applications per post, so prospective employees better do
With some of Amazon’s interview
their research and understand
questions including, ‘How would
what their recruiters are
you solve problems if you were
looking for.
from Mars?’, there’s no doubt that many of Amazon’s interviews will have an interesting twist. With questions like that, it demonstrates that Amazon are looking for people who can think laterally and creatively.
been in place for some time now,
Although the job market is
allowing Bezos to maintain the
changing, getting a job at
Amazon’s employees will tell you that the reward at the end of the process is a well-paid job and a chance to be part of one of the globe’s most exciting companies. Sounds like it might be worth the effort after all.
same company culture he started with two decades ago.
chief strategy officer
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