NOTES from the 2006 Summit
February 28, 2006, The Balboa Bay Club, Newport Beach, California
10:00 am
Mudslinging on Main Street?
As the political and social climates heat up, how should we leverage, harness or curtail rancor in our public conversations and national discourse?
Moderator: Judge Glenda Hatchett
Panelists: Carol Reed, Sila M. Calderon, Cornelia (Connie) Pechmann, PhD, Judy B. Rosener, PhD
Things have not changed that much. In the days of Jefferson and Washington things were equally muddy. The medium has changed. Today, there are less filtering and editing. People can get information on the internet 24/7. The response time is quicker. “You have to tell your story in 10 seconds and people cannot have rational thoughts in 10 seconds.”
People in academia do not want to talk to the media. “They cannot express what they need to express in the allowable time.”
We need to understand the media and not be afraid of it. We need to use the new technology to deliver our message. We have more power today with our computer.
New media: Blogging, podcasting and personal publishing are where things are happening. “We have to learn to control it and participate.”
Mudslinging can happen to anyone. There is a need to prepare, not just react. “We need to think about the values that are important to us -- such as kindness, generosity, and compassion. At the end, these values determine the life that we live.”
Know who you are so that (your opponents) can’t throw you off center. If you do get caught in a situation here is what to do:
- never mention the person by name
- Never address their motives.
- Don’t let them pull you in…never attack the attackers.
But if you have to attack back:
- Do it quickly
- Go where it hurts
- Don’t speak of it again
(The television show Commander in Chief, with a female president, is preparing the way for the possibility of a female Presidential candidate.) Mudslinging against women will be different. It will go underground. There will be no frontal attack on TV. Women will not be able to trace where it is coming from.
There is a cultural difference for women in leadership in the U.S. compared to other countries. “In the U.S., to be a leader is to be male. Women are seen as helpers and nurturers. Nothing is going to change until we get out of this culture.”
“It is a Catch-22 for women. If you are feminine, you are not leader-like. If you are leader-like, you are not feminine.”
Women love consensus but politics does not have consensus.
There is a cultural difference in the U.S. Women are not treated as progressively in power as in the rest of the world. There have been many women presidents and prime ministers but not yet in the U.S. “This is the only country where women have no power politically and we have to change that.”
We have to be sure to demand something for the money we give.
The economic cost of mudslinging to corporations includes low morale and low productivity. It affects the bottom line.
There is a cost to the lack of civility. We are forced to focus on controversy. “In a corporation there are more controls in place than in the larger society because it is so costly to the firm.”
“For society, we are losing a tremendous sense of truth.”
“Where is the public outrage on lying?”
“The only thing that nobody says anything about is somebody that is doing nothing.”
“It takes twice the money to raise $1 from a woman than from a man.”
11:30 am
DIGITAL DELIVERY
How will our lives be revolutionized by the new and exciting forms of digital delivery: in entertainment, education, health, telecom and more?
Moderator: Anastasia D. Kelly
Panelists: Meera Kanhouwa, MD, Katie McDivitt, Paula Silver, Kathleen Conroy
There is a small population of people who are “gadget heads,” but companies have to provide a whole digital experience to cater to the entire population. The trend is not to just sell a consumer product, but to sell a complete digital experience. This requires corporations to coordinate different components.
Businesses have different capabilities to absorb technologies. In order to provide the ‘digital shopping experience,’ the process has to be simplified. “Amazon, through its one-click shopping, is a great example of simplifying the digital experience.”
Digital Delivery is transforming health care. Data access is in crisis: Patient data is spread across doctors, clinical labs, and insurance companies, and it is almost impossible for one person to have access to comprehensive data. A patient with a critical condition can walk into a doctor’s office, but various agencies have her medical information. The doctor cannot access the necessary information immediately. This leads to loss on cost, productivity, and even lives. “What is missing here? The answer is ‘Data Connectivity.’”
The technology required for this is trivial. Nationwide sharing of information is possible and it works. Singapore uses the Countrywide Clinical Exchange to share information; in Canada, patients, doctors and nurses are connected through Infoway. “The United States, on the other hand, will take a lot longer to reach there. Privacy laws make it difficult for us to adopt such a system.”
People care about privacy when they are healthy, but when a patient is sick, the desire for privacy is reduced and she will want everyone concerned to have the needed information. “Doctors will not use an information system if they think the information is not complete, and that patients may have held something back.”
Microsoft uses a common interface that allows doctors and nurses to use the same system. The future will allow online, real-time communication between doctors, nurses, and patients using Smartphones and PDAs.
“The need of the day is to turn data to information and make it available to health care professionals.”
The traditional way of delivering content is changing. Smart houses have entertainment in every room, and use technology to monitor what kids are watching. There may soon be smart phones in every wallet that allow (consumers) to swipe one card, and access all their data.
“We must be cognizant of what stories we are telling the future generation.” In the study, ‘See Jane,’ they found that G-rated movies are gender-biased. That is, in children’s movies the ratio of male to female is generally three to one. This is true even in apparently female-oriented movies like The Little Mermaid. “Peer-to-peer storytelling is going to be increasingly important.”
The biggest issue for entertainment is piracy and, “will continue till people are aware of the magnitude of the problem and how it affects the entertainment industry. The government must help corporations deal with this issue.”
Customers today have high expectations of right price, service, and products. “We have the technology to empower customers.” Companies like Cisco are working at virtualization of customer complaint services. All their resources are available through a common IP network, so irrespective of where the call comes from, the customer can immediately speak to whoever they need to. “This leads to greater customer loyalty and customer retention.”
“Customers want ‘one throat to choke.’ For example, a combination of services from Dell, Microsoft, and Comcast, provide a single digital experience. So, when something goes wrong, customers have difficulty determining who to contact. Companies have to look at their business model so that they can provide better service to consumers.”
Companies have to partner on an annuity basis, and work on who pays for what. The question facing companies today is, “How do I work with competitors who are now bedfellows.” The VHS-Beta VCR war is being played out again, with Sony bringing out Blue Ray and Toshiba bringing out HD-DVD.
On Government influence on businesses providing public information:
Example: Google did not allow the US government to see restricted consumer’s information, but puts up restrictions on its search engine services in China.
Cisco is fully compliant with government rules, but does try to influence policy. They help the government make smart policies to get connectivity out to the people. They do not change their product for any government.
Microsoft works with government to enable economic development. They believe in corporate citizenship and social responsibility. They provide education and healthcare in villages. Corporations have this responsibility because others cannot give back to the community on the same scale.
2:00 pm
Extreme Makeover: Healthcare in America
How can we begin to overhaul an overworked, out-of-balance healthcare system and create new opportunities for business and patients alike?
Moderator: Susan Bookheimer, PhD
Panelists: Susan Bryant, PhD, Christina Jones, Stephanie McClellan, MD, Maureen Spivak, Tiffany Tomasso
Healthcare is big business. The cost of healthcare in the US is $3 trillion, i.e., 16% of US GDP. “The law of supply and demand has no meaning in healthcare. The issue is not just statistics -- there are viable lives needing care.”
“(The) three main problem areas of healthcare: First, many hospitals are not-for-profit and they can grow only with issuance of bonds. Many times they go into more debt just to fund bricks and mortar. Second, it costs $750 million to bring a new drug to market and at the end of the day, pharmaceutical companies are for profit and are trying to meet shareholder expectations. Third, many service providers are all competing for money in a highly regulated market. Overall, healthcare is expensive because of the competing forces that need to make money.”
The greatest cost to healthcare is “not the cost of technology or the cost of the drugs or the cost of maintaining bricks and mortar, but the decrease in talent and human capital going into medicine.”
Malpractice suits and lawyers are still a concern for doctors, but third party payers are a bigger concern. “These third party payers are such a threat because they value technology over face to face.”
Nine million Americans over 75 years of age receive long term care (LTC). The majority (5 million) of that care is provided in the home. Of 4 million units of long term care, 50% are skilled nursing facilities. “50-60% of any group like the group attending BUZZ today is experiencing LTC issues within their family.”
There is no permanent financing for LTC from the government, “and don’t expect anytime soon.” Costs of LTC range from $75,000/year for nursing homes to $300/day for 24 hours/day home care. Costs are covered privately for the most part, but Medicare covers 20% for a maximum of 100 days in a nursing home. Medicaid covers the balance. “Insurance not really set up to pay for LTC; people pay using house values, home equity, and pensions.”
On Stem Cell Research: Stem Cell Research (SCR) takes a long time and is expensive. The research is not well-coordinated with governmental regulations. “It’s hard to predict when but SCR will yield new advancements.”
The end game is cellular therapy to replace cells in the body that have run out, for example islet cells in diabetes and cells with re-myelination properties for spinal cord injuries. These will be somatic cells that the body cannot reject.
“SCR has created an opportunity for a lot of people in this country. The race is back on.”
On Women’s Health: Females don’t have enough information about their health. “The content of conversations for our level of education is not happening. Females with advanced degrees think they can get pregnant with no problems after age 40. What we should know is that the egg is the primary driver of fertility and fertility actually peaks in the 20’s.”
In a study of childless “super-achiever” females over age 40, making over $100,000 a year, most of them declared that it was not their intention to be childless.
Fertility issues today are exacerbated by a decrease in male fertility. “Sperm count is consistently lower today as men are lazy, fat and don’t exercise. This all affects testosterone levels and ‘bad swimmers’ are seen more often.”
The amount workers spend for healthcare as a percentage of their income is huge. Many employees still cannot afford it, and instead they access care in the most expensive place (emergency rooms).
Healthcare is a big business where all players are intertwined, decreasing the size of the market and resulting in war between payers and providers.
Nationalized healthcare is a competitive disadvantage for the US. There’s a threat to the industry, similar to the auto industry in the US.
The days of universal care are over. “We need to concentrate on the basic level of care and regionalize care. Specialists are not needed in all hospitals. All hospitals should align to work on patient care as an outcome.”
Healthcare in the US is only ok; Singapore is better in miscroscopic surgery. “There’s no incentive to try to innovate care. The current system is only creating more gaps between served income classes.” Britain has a completely different healthcare system. “Healthcare should not be an issue around how much you make. There should be a serious discussion for nationalized care and we should look at these nations that have it.”
3:30 pm
CEO, Interrupted
When and where do women leaders pursue the next horizon and find
fulfillment beyond the corner office?
MODERATOR: Nancy Widmann
PANELISTS: Brendan Burnett-Stohner, Susan Cramm, Patty DeDominic,
Karen Neuburger, Patricia Stensrud
“I moved to Rome for a year. I started writing my book, I got involved with volunteer work, I began attending conferences like this one and I met many extraordinary women who are in different stages of their lives. Every time you pick a book, it tells you what you should do. We can learn from one another and we need to remember that the change is constant and we need to understand it.”
“According to my contract I was supposed to stay with the company for three years, but I decided to leave. It was a serious change. You need to have a clear set of expectations. Along the way I became closer to couple of non-profit boards where I got a different perspective from other industry leaders. I had a hobby of buying and selling historical properties. I thought that this can become a full-time thing.”
“M&A is a fact of life and there is a 15% CEO turnover. From that number 40-45% of turnover is due to company performance issues. With Sarbanes-Oxley, directors have new responsibilities and they can’t take it personally. My advice is to broaden your bases from where you get satisfaction.”
“During my career I transformed 7 to 8 times. . . Nice thing is I get to invent and do what I want. . . My board of advisers consisted of a very diverse group of individuals: African-Americans, South Asians, Hispanics, etc. Together we a built a database of 2000 people . . . Reinvent, try to stay positive and do a good job.”
“I learned to share not only wisdom and resources, but also money. There was a strong need for non-profits. I decided that no one was doing financial literacy and self-sufficiency. In 2003 I got together 90 women and every one of them gave 10K. We put $1 million to finance literacy and self-sufficiency and brought non-profits to us.
“I am an entrepreneur. Whether you work for the Company or you are an entrepreneur, whether you are a CEO or head of the company, make sure you know enough about each person you are working with. It requires more time, work and you absolutely have to push yourself to know enough to ask the right questions.”
“I live right now a life that matters. I work with people on a one-on-one basis, helping people be what they are. My first life interruption was when I learned that my husband had six months to live. Stop sign, one of those things…People don’t know their values. We work so hard, where is the life? Read the road signs before the stop...”
In regard to the interview process: Women are smart, listen well, ask good questions. They have a good sense of what the chemistry is, “because working for a company is like a marriage.” They are good researchers and they interview back. What they don’t do well is they don’t empower themselves. They will ask the question, ‘How long before I know that I am in power?’”
“Life Interrupted” is a big stop sign, but we don’t stop for longer than 3 seconds. It is not a permanent stop, but we all should take a pause, look around and decide where to go next.
When asked what support systems panelists have in place:
“I make sure I see my trainer three days a week, try to do cardio four days a week. You need to take care of yourself, make yourself a priority.”
“Networking with girlfriends is like going to church for me. I get inspiration. “
“Helping other women. That is important to me and it matters.”
“Woman who are involved with non-profit get opportunities. “
“You can’t negotiate if you can’t say ‘no’.”
“Some people have huge equity but they have no courage. When I create opportunities for women sometimes they don’t want to take them because they have no courage. “
“As powerful as you are, you need an exit strategy. Plan for it, think about it. “
“Cultivate your relationships with career research firms if you want to be taken seriously as a professional.”
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NOTES from the inaugural BUZZ summit
January 20, 2005
The Four Seasons Hotel
Newport Beach, California:
ROUNDTABLE: YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION?
Do we have to blow up corporate America in order
to rebuild it? Should we completely re-design
compensation? How should corporate leadership
change to tap into the unmined talent and creativity
of our human capital?
Moderator: Ronna Lichtenberg
Panel Members: Judy B. Rosener, PhD, Linda
Stone, Mahvash Yazdi, Karen Wilhelm Buckley, Diane
Davies
SUMMARY:
• “A revolution is marked by a sudden
change – it’s dramatic versus an evolutionary
process.”
• “Since the industrial revolution,
productivity has increased fifty times. This is
still increasing exponentially. Is this evolution
or revolution?”
• “The question really is productivity
versus humanity. We now have the problem of continuous
partial attention. This type of not wanting to
miss anything brings us to taking ourselves to
imbalance. When was the last time you felt someone
pay full attention to you? This is bankrupting
to keeping talent in companies. This revolution
in technology has increased productivity; but
in and of itself we have to ask if that is a good
thing.”
• We need to start looking at business
from a horizontal perspective—looking to
the why and how we do things. Good has become
the enemy of the great. How do we use the revolutionary
changes in technology and productivity to make
the company more responsive? This is an evolutionary
process.
• We also need to ask the question of how
we become more responsive given the rate of information
we receive. We need to give attention to wisdom.
We need to pay more attention to making wise choices—those
that represent the deeper, bigger picture—and
here is where women can play a part. How are we
as wise women? What is the result of revolutions
in business, such as information technology and
the influx of women?
• Women want different things structurally
in corporations. Women want more flexibility.
How do we use this to attract in talent, particularly
when the majority of college and Master’s
degree candidates are now women?
• Revolutions do not come out of nowhere.
We are still seeing a revolution of women’s
roles in the workforce. Revolution can happen
both from within or from the top. We need to encourage
that it happens both ways.
• There are significant differences in
our daughters who are just a half-generation apart.
Women who are 18 have an entirely different world
view than those who are 35. Younger women are
seeing that they can bring their whole selves
to the workplace.
• We need to talk about changes in compensation.
We need to ask people what they want and bundle
compensation accordingly. Further, when you support
families in a company, you support women. Not
everyone wants money and we need to start offering
packages that reflect choice. Many women will
choose time over money. We need to talk about
meaning over money. Compensation can change behavior.
We also need to not be afraid to ask for what
we are worth.
• Where are the new opportunities for women,
post-revolutionary entrance to the workforce?
Things are still moving slowly as women strive
to enter into management. These are the same questions
we were talking about twenty years ago. Women
coming up need to feel the responsibility to continue
to pave the way—making the structural changes
and coalitions necessary to accomplish that. We
need to think about ways to extend both maternity
and paternity leave.
• Women CEOs vs. women as entrepreneurs—opting
in or opting out—to do it our own way. Both
are important. We need better models, beyond Desperate
Housewives. We need to show women who are opting
in.
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