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OCTOBER 9, 2006
Launching A Career: Insights And Indignation Your criteria for "The best places to launch a career" (Cover Story, Sept. 18) include opinions of career services personnel regarding campus buzz, questionnaires filled out by companies, and surveys of undergraduate students, almost without regard to which companies actually launched the most successful careers. Isn't it surprising to you that General Electric Co. (GE ) is only No. 8, and Procter & Gamble Co. (PG ), which launched the careers of Jeff Immelt, Steve Ballmer, Jim McNerney, Meg Whitman, and a host of others, isn't even mentioned? Ditto McKinsey. In future surveys, consider the possibility that a better metric for the best place to launch a career in business might be past successful arrivals at the CEO destination. Gary M. Stibel, CEO New England Consulting Group Westport, Conn. Editor's note: P&G and McKinsey were invited to participate in BusinessWeek's survey, but neither company agreed to provide data. "The best places to launch a career" focused on national large players and did not discuss the advantages of medium-size firms. I launched my professional career in a large public company doing human resource consulting. My scope of work was limited. I grew to understand 100% of what I was working on, which was only about 15% of the HR field. I learned after moving to private-sector medium-size companies that although your client load may drop 95%, your scope of work expands tenfold. A strong midsize organization (200-plus employees) with good infrastructure and a wide scope of work will provide the knowledge base needed to develop new graduates as fast as, or faster, than larger firms. The added bonus of personal interaction with senior management and exposure to local markets and business leaders can help in generating the contacts needed when it is time to move on. Paul T. Shea Director of Human Resources Nodarse & Associates Inc. Winter Park, Fla. As the proud parent of two children of the "Millennial" generation, I am very concerned about this generation's outlook on what a job and career must offer. It strikes me as unsettling that "personal fulfillment," vacation time, job flexibility, and project satisfaction is what tops the list for their entry-level positions. Whatever happened to hard work, learning an industry/business, and asking what skills and value you must bring to an employer that is providing you with development, experience, and compensation? Numerous BusinessWeek stories have debated the struggle to maintain global competitiveness and stem the tide of global outsourcing at many companies. I am afraid if your predictions come true, this Millennial generation will see their careers continue to move overseas and they will lament that they are the first generation that has been unable to truly enjoy the U.S. lifestyle provided by the many creative yet hard-working generations before them. Scott Hennessy Memphis, Tenn. I am not a "young college grad," nor am I a "young job seeker." I am in my early 40s and, after a 20-year absence, am back in school to finish my degree. I'm not alone. The average age of the American college student is on the rise. Whether for financial reasons, relationships, or lack of a clear goal, people currently in the workplace are discovering that options for growth are limited without any type of degree. According to the U.S. Education Dept., 26% of adults completed a four-year degree after the age of 25 -- a 5% increase from 10 years ago. In the future, don't forget the "older" crowd. There are more of us than you know, and since we're already well into debt with mortgages, car payments, insurance premiums, etc., we need all the help we can get! Helene Kremer San Ramon, Calif. "Money is less important than personal fulfillment on the job," say 78% of the teens interviewed for your cover story. As a 50-ish occupational therapist, community college instructor, mother, and grandmother, I feel sad and concerned for today's young adults entering the workforce. People of any age should seek balance in their life and not expect their employment to satisfy all their needs. A job is merely one piece of who we are and what we do. Debra L. Karplus Champaign, Ill. We read with interest your cover story on the 50 best places to launch a career. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been ranked as the top-rated federal regulatory agency at which to work, and the No. 3 employer in the entire federal government by the Partnership for Public Service and American University's Institute for the Study of Public Policy Implementation. The nuclear field is growing rapidly. Check us out. We're a great place to work. And we're hiring significant numbers of entry-level employees. Eliot Brenner Director of Public Affairs The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Rockville, Md. Great article, if I were 22 again. How about a feature on what all too many of us in today's working world need, namely "The 50 best employers for downsized, middle-aged workers with lots of skills and life experiences"? Peter Doherty Jr. Enfield, Conn. 
Options Fraud: Who Didn't See It Coming? In "How the options mess got so ugly -- and expensive" (News & Insights, Sept. 11), David Henry notes that the temptation to cheat when issuing options took over as their issuance soared. Is it not quite clear that any compensation that allows such easy manipulation is improper a priori and needs regulations and controls from the start? How long does business fraud have to exist before we learn to shut the vault before the funds flow out? This isn't rocket science. David Horn Oakland, Calif.   Tech Executives Should Stand On Their Own Two Feet Re "The LBO gang storms the Valley" (News & Insights, Sept. 11): Is the siren call of a leveraged buyout attractive because Silicon Valley executives are frustrated or simply ineffective at grappling with the dramatic changes of the post-dot-com era? Contrast the LBO targets with successful competitors (AMD) (AMD ), Apple (AAPL ), Cisco (CSCO ), Oracle (ORCL )), which are able to manage without falling back on excuses such as a Wall Street that purportedly doesn't understand them and the burden of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, among others. Struggling tech executives are compensated very well to manage these elements while working on the long term. If they and their board members had a higher degree of accountability, they would implement the tough strategic and operational actions that typically result from an LBO while still public. Instead, the "it's not our fault" hand-wringing continues. Then an LBO calls, shareholders (the owners, after all) make a small gain (if any), and the executives, who failed to deliver in the first place, are rewarded handsomely. Go figure. Michael O'Keeffe Boulder, Colo. In The East Or The West, Big Brother Requires Hardware "Helping big brother go high tech" (Special Report, Sept. 18) is very timely and informative. In the name of maintaining social stability, the Chinese government is devoting exorbitant resources and employing both high- and low-tech methods to control the population. However, with far more advanced technologies ready at hand, a government in the West can potentially operate a far more effective and discreet surveillance program in the name of fighting terrorism and protecting the nation. I shudder at the thought of that (hopefully unlikely) scenario. Gang Guo Croft Assistant Professor, Political Science & International Studies University of Mississippi Oxford, Miss. It takes about your first 15 minutes in any of China's major cities to realize that China has arrived. Politically motivated restrictions by the U.S. government in most technological areas are a quaint nod to a time when the U.S. might have had some influence. So guess who it helps if Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO ) or Oracle Corp. (ORCL ) are forced to stop selling security products in China: their international competitors, or indeed, Chinese tech firms. Now, guess who it hurts: Cisco and Oracle shareholders. U.S. restrictions are value-neutral to China's political dissidents or spiritual cults. Kim Lathrop Portland, Ore. I find Cisco's China President Thomas Lam's statement, "It is our users, not Cisco, that determine the applications they deploy," to be transparent and disingenuous. Given such an amoral position, it's a good thing Cisco is not in the centrifuge business! Eric Braun Scotts Valley, Calif. Credit For A Green Building Where Credit Is Due In "The green stamp of approval" (Environment, Sept. 11), I think it's important to point out that the Genzyme Center (GENZ ) was designed by Behnisch Architects. Julie D. Taylor, Principal Taylor & Company Los Angeles The New Safeway, For Better Or For Worse Safeway (SWY ) has been working very hard to improve the quality of the perishables we sell and has invested substantially in improving the shopping environment in our stores through an accelerated remodel program. Justin Hibbard noted these changes in "Put your money where your mouth is" (Design, Sept. 18). We would like to clarify that the design and implementation of our Lifestyle stores has been carried out by an internal group of very capable, hard-working Safeway employees with input from retail, marketing, design, construction, and executive management. While Orangetwice (then Avizia) assisted us in an advisory role with ideas and concepts early in the process, the basis for our transformation was clearly internally driven. Brian G. Dowling Vice-President, Public Affairs Safeway Inc. Pleasanton, Calif. While safeway has made some changes for the better with store makeovers, our McLean (Va.) store has seen a dramatic plunge in the quality of customer service and in inventory controls. The aftermath of a new labor contract led to an exit of some great people and an arrival of a new generation, which appears to be poorly trained and has a bad attitude on top of it. Shelves are often empty and products are in disarray. Andrei Quinn-Barabanov McLean, Va. Longtime grocery shoppers in Chicagoland got a taste of how Safeway ruined Dominick's Finer Foods when they acquired this quality food retailer. Within a short time, Safeway dramatically raised prices, popular local brands were no longer on the shelves, and some produce items were so bad that I would not have placed them in my cart, even if they were free. I used to love shopping at Dominick's. Unless Safeway's compelling "authentic market story" quickly and actually delivers the promise of improvement, my food dollars will go to Whole Foods and Costco. James Lentz Wheaton, Ill.
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