Economic Recession and Dennis Carey

Despite the fact that we all keep hearing how the country – and indeed the world – is undergoing a huge economic recession, things might not be as bad as they seem after all. According to a survey undertaken by Korn/Ferry International (where Dennis Carey is Senior Client Partner), it seems that investor relations officers haven’t been suffering at all, at least not in the fiscal department. This survey – conducted with the National Investor Relations Institute – found that the salaries of these employees “held steady between $126,000 and $150,000.”

Dennis Carey and Finances

Korn/Ferry International in which Dennis Carey is involved, is an extremely successful international company. Happily for those in the industry its findings showed that those employed in this area are not suffering as much as the public would have been led to believe. True, the survey did also find that bonuses were reduced and salaries did remain on an even keel (as opposed to enjoying an increase) but they didn’t decrease so that has to be a good thing. Nonetheless, still more than 40% of respondents who, “received an annual cash bonus of more than $100,000.” So it seems like businesses such as the ones Dennis Carey play an active part in might just be the way to go when it comes to remaining unaffected – or at least minimally affected – by the recession.

5 Key Business Practices According to Dennis Carey

Dennis Carey is an esteemed executive recruiter who has authored three books about best business practices and who helps companies with, among other things, their CEO succession plans. He offers 10 key tips to help companies create smooth transitions when one CEO leaves and another arrives. Here, we will touch on five of Dennis Carey’s 10 recommended tips.

Dennis Carey Key Practices

When undergoing a CEO succession, Dennis Carey urges companies to take the human drama out of the process as much as possible. Certainly, this entire process is very difficult on the number two people in the company, and the less drama that there is, the better off everyone in the company will be.

Business Advice with Dennis Carey

Tie some of the CEO’s compensation to succession planning and progress so that the current CEO will feel responsible for helping with the smooth transition. Pay your directors in stock and let them know that you expect them to make additional investments in the company’s shares.

Finally, the last two tips include calibrating the internal candidates together with the external ones and developing a culture within the company that encourages succession.

Carey Contributes to 'Merger and Acquisitions'

Published in April, 2001, Harvard Business Review on Mergers and Acquisitions is a book which will help managers think clearly about the consequences of merging their company so that they can make a truly educated decision about such a strategic business move. This is an important book today considering the modern trends toward merging companies, including buyouts and joint ventures. Keeping track in today’s world of who owns which company is difficult, but not as difficult as deciding if this is the right direction for a particular company. Luckily this book, which includes discussions from major experts in the world of business today, can help make this decision easier. Among the many informed discussions in this book are:

• Lessons from Master Acquirers: A CEO Roundtable on Making Mergers Succeed by Dennis Carey;

• The Fine Art of Friendly Acquisitions by Robert J. Aiello and Michael D. Watkins;

• Are You Paying Too Much for That Acquisition? by Robert G. Eccles, Kersten L. Lanes, and Thomas C. Wilson;

• Stock or Cash?: The Trade-Offs for Buyers and Sellers in Mergers and Acquisitions by Alfred Rappaport and Mark L. Sirower

Returning Chairmen Bring Experience and Success to Boardroom

Executives with years of experience behind them are to a greater and greater extent being recruited to help faltering companies get back on the road to success. This trend of bringing retired executive back up to the plate is continuing as the economy, and businesses, come out of crisis mode and begin the long climb to stability and success.

These older, but wiser executives are being used as “outside chairmen” to bring to the table their well-earned expertise to guiding companies out of the mud of financial instability into the clear waters of financial success.

As Dennis Carey, one of the key executive recruiters contributing to this trend puts it: "These chairmen are strategic equal partners of the CEO because they already demonstrated a successful 'in the trenches' style of management."

The new-old “outside chairmen” enter the picture by leading a board review of the company’s overall business strategy. In addition they evaluate the possibility of spinoffs and acquisitions, while simultaneously running the company in partnership with the CEO and also the business coach.

Since the idea is so successful it is not only utilized by struggling companies, but often companies that are doing just fine will bring in an outside chairman with years of experience in order to do even better. In the year 2004, for instance, only 14 former CEOs became chairmen of new companies, while today there are at least 46 ex-CEOs chairing different companies.

Corporate Structure Continued

The Board of Directors is elected by the shareholders, and is comprised of two types of representatives: insiders who have worked and still work for the company every day, as manager or other job like CEO or CFO. The second type of member of the board comes from the outside; chosen externally and independent of the company. In this way the board can monitor the performance of the managers of the corporation, making sure that the interests of the stockholders is protected.

Corporate Structure

Corporate structure evolved as a result of the growth of companies and their public nature. A public company is one whose ownership is shared among a large number of people who have purchased their power by investing in the company through the obtaining stocks. We have all heard of CEOs, CFOs, presidents and vice presidents, but what is their relationship to each other and to the company that they lead?

Briefly, a corporation is a company or business which has legal rights as an entity separate from its owners. The result of this status is that the liability of the owners is limited and shares are issued as easily transferable stock which allows shareholders certain controls of the company.
Due to the fact that the company is publicly owned a need is created for management and ownership to function separately. This is a two-tiered structure where the board of directors (or governors) is elected by the shareholders and oversees that the company is functioning with the welfare of the shareholders in mind. The second tier is the upper management, responsible for the successful functioning of the company. The upper management is hired by the Board of Directors.

Corporate Guidance from Dennis Carey

Dennis Carey recruits corporate leaders to fill the positions of CEO, Chairman of the Board, and Board members. He knows what it takes to bring a faltering company going through challenges up to the successful outcome they can achieve. Whether it is hard economic times or the natural event of executive corporate transitions, Dennis Carey will guide the company through it, helping to bring a positive resolution and outcome to the event.