Harvard Business Review

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Earlier this year, I asked a CEO of Fortune 100 company how he dealt with analyst pressure. What he said was this: "I don't know any CEO that would want to run a company the way analysts would want us to.". Nobody writes a paean to the search for 9 percent EPS growth. It's a strategic and operational straight-jacket.

GAAP 8

GAAP Short-term P&L EPS 8

Harvard Business Review

FEBRUARY 24, 2017

In a recent survey , 70% of respondents said that CEOs focus too much on short-term financial results, and nearly 60% said that they don’t focus enough on positive long-term impact. It’s easy to fault CEOs for being too fixated on the short term. It’s easy to fault CEOs for being too fixated on the short term.

CEO 9

CEO Short-term Long-term EPS 9

Harvard Business Review

MARCH 17, 2011

A friend of mine, Godfrey Sullivan , asked me to consider running the operations for the Americas unit at Autodesk. The Carol he was referring to was Carol Bartz , now of Yahoo, then CEO of Autodesk. By the CEO. A seriously ass-kicking CEO. Here's what happened. Only sheer politeness kept me from hanging up.

EPS 15

EPS Strategy Reference Execution 15