The Class of 1977
Lessons in Leadership
by Desmond Wong (MBA '77)
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| Photo by Todd Rosenberg Desmond Wong is partner and national director of China for Ernst & Young. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Wong, who is fluent in Chinese, focuses on helping Western companies do business in China to stay competitive in a global economy. He has been Class Secretary for the Class of 1977 since 1981. A loyal HBS alumnus who says he “truly bleeds Harvard crimson,” Wong has played a leading role in every '77 reunion since graduation. He has served on the HBS Alumni Association Board and the graduate schools committee and the clubs committee of the Harvard Alumni Association. He is a former president of both the Harvard Club and the Harvard Business School Club of Chicago. When asked why he works so hard for the School, Wong responds, “There's an old Chinese proverb that says, ‘Drink water, ponder source.' Harvard has had a positive impact on my life, as it has on so many others. I view my volunteer efforts as a way to perpetuate the University as a renewable resource that will benefit others for generations to come.” |
Twenty-five years ago, members of the Class of 1977 departed with confidence from the safe haven of the HBS campus, eager to tackle the business challenges of the day. Our two years at Soldiers Field had prepared us to size up a competitor, motivate employees, and gain market share, but we could not have anticipated the many other ways in which our leadership skills would be put to the test.
Much has been written about the accelerated pace of change during the last couple of decades. But the transformation only really hits home when you begin to recall the details of the 1977 business landscape. Sears was where America shopped, as was Montgomery Ward and W.T. Grant. Wal-Mart was nowhere on our radar screens. Westinghouse was a household name, but Microsoft was a risky start-up founded by some kid who left Harvard early. “High tech” had a slightly different meaning: Nice offices had big IBM Selectric II typewriters featuring a prancing steel ball. Fax machines were cutting-edge, and we were among the first to enjoy the added prestige of business cards that included fax numbers. Cell phones did exist, but they were rare, heavy as a brick, and available only to a privileged few. States — and in some cases entire U.S. regions — had just one area code. Numbers-crunching was done by hand with an HP-12C. Nobody had even heard of a PC or a spreadsheet.
The rush to “go international” was fast and furious when we came on the business scene. “Emerging markets” was the new catchphrase. The robust Japanese economy was the world's envy, and sushi bars were the place to take your date. If you wanted to make a trade, you had to go through a stockbroker at full commission rates. Strategic planning was the newest and the best management tool. A young HBS professor named Michael Porter was giving fascinating lectures on competitiveness. In those days before the kinder and gentler CEO came into fashion, the command-and-control model of leadership had a firm grip on corporate America.
Starting salaries averaged $22,500 in 1977. Neckties were wider, and the corporate uniform was dark business suits for men and conservative skirts and jackets for women. Saving time for family commitments was a low priority in the race to the corner office, in keeping with employers' traditional expectations. Our HBS tuition was a hefty $4,000 a year, but we were certain that we would be able to pay off the debt since The Gospel According to Harvard Business School predicted that one in six of us would someday be a corporate chairman, president, or CEO.
Fast-forward to 9/11/01. More than three thousand people from eighty countries perish on a single day in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. On the heels of that horrific tragedy, this year's subsequent business headlines have been dominated by news of an economic downturn, stock market collapse, hidden debt, asleep-at-the-wheel boards of directors, and multiple mega-bankruptcies. We have watched with disbelief the disintegration of a major accounting firm, the discrediting of an alarming number of CEOs, and the growth of a widespread distrust of corporate America. What a year.
The news has not been good, but at a time when the virtues of free enterprise are rightfully being questioned, there is encouraging evidence that HBS graduates are using their leadership skills — both in the public spotlight and behind the scenes — to put the business world back on track. The efforts of high profile alumni such as President George W. Bush (MBA '75), Labor Secretary Elaine Chao (MBA '79), and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (MBA '66) are well known to everyone, as is the impact of other newsmaking senior executives such as IBM's Lou Gerstner (MBA '65), Leo Mullin (MBA '67) at Delta Airlines, Hank Paulson (MBA '70) at Goldman Sachs, 3M's Jim McNerney (MBA '75), Merrill Lynch's Stan O'Neal (MBA '78), and Jeff Immelt (MBA '82) at GE.
In our own class, there are many examples of corporate chiefs — A.G. Lafley (Procter & Gamble), Rick Wagoner (General Motors), Lukas Mühlemann (Credit Suisse Group), Orit Gadiesh (Bain), Bill Foote (USG), John Hess (Amerada Hess), and Allan Moss (Macquarie Bank Limited) among them — who are using what they learned at Soldiers Field to make a real difference. Within days of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America, for example, Rick Wagoner launched a surprise “Keep America Rolling” zero-percent financing campaign on GM vehicles to keep GM's, and its suppliers', production lines rolling in the face of an unprecedented national crisis. Rick's quick and decisive action against conventional wisdom did right by all GM stakeholders, and the company single-handedly helped lessen the severity of a national recession.
Soon after his appointment as P&G's CEO in June 2000, A.G. Lafley publicly acknowledged that the company had forced too many changes too quickly, thus signaling to the rank and file that the new CEO was not afraid to confront reality. He then methodically proceeded to rationalize P&G's cost structure, sold some businesses, acquired Clairol, and delivered upside revenues and earnings surprises within months.
Rick and A.G. are two shining examples of how capable company veterans, well-coached by mentors and steeped in company knowledge, can and did revitalize companies quickly. Corporate board members, please take note!
The impact of our classmates also can be seen across the globe. Raymond Kwok's astute management of Hong Kong–based Sun Hung Kai Properties has created great value for shareholders for decades from the development of commercial and residential real estate. Orit Gadiesh helped Bain emerge stronger than ever from one of the most turbulent periods in its history. Bill Foote took USG into Chapter 11 to shield a healthy core building-materials business from the ruinous asbestos claims he had inherited. Lukas Mühlemann revitalized CSFB with new management and restored its institutional competitiveness on Wall Street. John Hess runs Amerada Hess, a Fortune 150 multinational oil and natural-gas company in the energy sector vital to the lives of citizens in every industrialized nation. Allan Moss has built Macquarie into his native Australia's premier merchant bank and in June won wide acclaim for leading the winning consortium to privatize Sydney's airport.
Still other classmates have created value in ways not measured in earnings per share. Paula Duffy took her knowledge and experience in publishing to her recent appointment as director of the prestigious Univer-sity of Chicago Press. She has leveraged a Mellon Foundation grant to set up a digital printing facility and BiblioVault electronic repository that will enhance access to the rich intellectual content of the UC Press and fourteen other university presses.
As volunteer vice chairman of New York–based Do Something, Inc., Dave Mazza is one of many classmates to put his skills to work in the community. Dave combined his career's worth of executive search contacts with his personal passion for sports to enlist sports and entertainment industry celebrities to help raise money for nationwide public-school projects.
Of course, not all HBS graduates are heroes, and a few have surely missed the mark. But the School's ability to attract, matriculate, and prepare world-class leaders who can and will make a difference is without equal. In the pages that follow, you will read about a few of the many members of our class who, through their high character, well-applied intelligence, impeccable integrity, and boundless energy, have created enormous social and economic value. On the occasion of our 25th Reunion, we ask them to take a bow as we celebrate their achievements.
