2010 Career Energy Pharmaceuticals 
Harvard Business Review
NOVEMBER 9, 2011
Of the 97 largest listed companies in the UK and the Eurozone in 2010, only 37 had a COO in their executive ranks. When we analyzed the careers of all the incumbent CEOs of the companies in our sample, we found that only 23 of them had previously been COOs. Few European companies have COOs, although their numbers appear to be growing.
Harvard Business Review
SEPTEMBER 20, 2011
One obvious reason was that the huge trillion-dollar investment bets, most of it taxpayer money, in synthetic biology, robotics, nanotechnogy, space, and alternative energy did not pay off. The Corporate Elite continued to do what they did most of their careers: increase efficiencies, boost scale, and lower costs to maximize profits.
Expert insights. Personalized for you.
13 
Let's personalize your content