Alliance Perspectives

The implicit understanding among Alliance members is that, in exchange for their willingness to share their own experience and knowledge, they gain access to the extraordinary collective wisdom of the Alliance community of CEOs. Our members do amazing things and here we've collected some of their lessons learned to preserve and highlight the wealth of knowledge in our membership. Alliance Founder & CEO, Paul Witkay, also shares his perspectives on topics such as leadership, strategy and innovation.

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Trends - Search Results (14)

Achieving Connection and Accountability in a Hybrid Work World
December 09, 2021

As business leaders grapple with the emerging work paradigm as the pandemic grinds on, the decision to remain fully remote, return to the office, or explore the option of finding balance with a hybrid plan is an ongoing point of consideration. Every business has different needs to consider regarding how to navigate this new chapter of the working world. Here, Alliance members Anne Bisagno of Xantrion, Rob Chamberlin of Security 101 and Tootie Tatum of Blackhawk Genomics share their insights on this very relevant topic faced by many leaders today.

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Case categories include: Culture   Founder’s Insights   Health   Leadership   Trends   

Building Community in the Age of Exponential Change
March 23, 2018

Healthy communities of the future will need to not only foster trust but also life-long learning, as well as be socially and economically inclusive. Here, Alliance Founder & CEO Paul Witkay, shares his learnings from Thomas Friedman’s latest book, Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations, and the value of local communities providing a solid foundation to help people adapt to inevitable progress.

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Case categories include: Founder’s Insights   Leadership   Trends   

“Return to Workplace” Planning and Strategies During COVID-19
April 29, 2020

In the spirit of sharing the collective wisdom of our Alliance community during the COVID-19 crisis, we invited leaders from world-class organizations to share their critical considerations for “Return-to-Workplace” (RTW) planning at our Alliance Leadership Forum on April 29, 2020.

Presenters in areas of Health Issues (One Medical), Employee Issues (Lattice Semiconductor), and specific industries including Manufacturing (Flex), Construction (Webcor Builders) and Scientific Laboratories (Triple Ring Technologies) shared their Back-to-Office principles and timelines, employee health, safety and training plans, strategies for risk mitigation and more.

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Case categories include: Culture   Health   Human Resources   Leadership   Operations   Strategy & Planning   Trends   

How COVID-19 Is Affecting Alliance Companies - Week 1
March 19, 2020

In a flash survey completed by members of the Alliance of Chief Executives taken on March 19, 2020, just a few days after the USA’s first shelter-in-place order, 75% of the CEOs report negative impacts, while 9% are being positively impacted. Collectively, these Bay Area leaders believe it will be 4.9 months before we return to “normalcy.” The survey was completed by CEOs in the six Bay Area counties who were issued the shelter-in-place order on March 17. The State of California just expanded this order statewide on March 20, and more than likely, other states will follow. CEOs in other regions can look to this data to help make their own plans.

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Case categories include: CEO Survey   Health   Leadership   Strategy & Planning   Trends   

Are Virtual Workforces Worth the Effort?
January 25, 2019

As Alliance members Evan Bailyn of First Page Sage, Ann Barnes of Intelligent Medical Objects (IMO), Ross Fernandes of Q Analysts, Everett Harper of Truss, Paul Lipman of BullGuard and Bernie Tobin of Crescendo Bioscience will argue, leveraging a virtual workforce is definitely worth the effort. While the benefits can be significant, there are no guarantees of success. Only by planning properly, finding employees with the right mindset, focusing on culture and investing wisely in technology, can leaders ensure their teams are all on the same page, even when they aren’t in the same place.

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Case categories include: Culture   Operations   Organizational Design   Trends   

Going ‘Live’ - Running a Business in Real-Time
October 03, 2018

With the increasing speed at which technology is fueling change, running a real-time business can be a huge difference maker. But as Alliance members Chris Beall of ConnectAndSell, Victor Chapela of Suggestic, Yvonne Linney of Transcriptic, Dennis O’Malley of Caliva, Rodney Pearlman of the Bluefield Project and Jack Peurach of Ekso Bionics can attest, theory and practice are two different things. One thing is certain, running a business in real-time can lead to incredible breakthroughs and achievements, but it also comes with a heavy set of challenges.

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Case categories include: Leadership   Operations   Sales   Strategy & Planning   Technology   Trends   

Preparing for the Next Wave in Data Privacy
June 01, 2018

Alliance members Ian Cohen of Experian Consumer Services, Himanshu Dwivedi of Data Theorem, Ted Elliott of Jobscience, Ju-kay Kwek of Switchboard Software, Ersin Uzun of Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and Christy Wyatt of Dtex Systems, discuss the sweeping new Data Privacy and GDPR rules taking effect, and how organizations should reconsider the ‘what, where and why’ behind their data practices.

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Case categories include: Finance   Human Resources   International Business   Marketing   Operations   Sales   Strategy & Planning   Technology   Trends   

Tom Siebel, Chairman & CEO, C3 IoT

Tom Siebel: CEOs Must Take the Tech Reins
February 09, 2018

In an exclusive interview with the Alliance of Chief Executives, Tom Siebel, Chairman & CEO, C3 IoT, says a major “extinction event” is under way in the form of a multi-layered digital transformation that will crush organizations that aren’t prepared to survive. The technologies driving this transformation include cloud computing, big data, social media, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). And every CEO should understand them all.

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Case categories include: Leadership   Technology   Trends   

In Pursuit of Growth in a Gig Economy
January 30, 2017

Alliance leaders know that today’s labor force is experiencing fundamental, permanent change. Alliance members Laura Bergheim of Wordsmithie, Andy Berkenfield of Duncan Channon, Nathan Collins of SRI International, Ross Fernandes of Q Analysts, Glo Gordon of Cisco-Jasper, Kathy Zwickert of NetSuite, and Alliance Director Marion McGovern, share their strategies for growth in the gig economy. This transformation will create critical questions for today’s leaders, and their solutions will be customized for each unique situation. Given the track record of Bay Area innovation, we think it’s not a matter of if the answers will come, but when.

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Case categories include: Human Resources   Leadership   Operations   Strategy & Planning   Trends   

Todd Johnson

The Foundation of Trust and Transparency: Essential Executive and Internal Communications Topics
January 04, 2017

If trust is the foundation of all strong, positive inter-company relationships, then transparency is the primary path to achieving that trust. This article by Alliance member Todd Johnson, President of Kollective, identifies and describes the essential categories of content that form the foundation for best practices in employee engagement; content that builds trust and positively influences company culture long-term. Keep these ideas in mind as you build and fine-tune your own blueprint for internal communications success.

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Case categories include: Leadership   Operations   Strategy & Planning   Trends   

Preparing for Tomorrow’s Customers Today
October 28, 2016

In a fast-changing world, Alliance members Joe Budelli of ABBYY USA, Bill Grosso of Scientific Revenue, Arwed Niestroj of Mercedes-Benz R&D North America, Barb Paldus of Finesse Solutions, Glen Shu of Bay View Funding and Antoine Villata of Planisware USA share their strategies for preparing to meet future market needs.

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Case categories include: Entrepreneurship   Leadership   Strategy & Planning   Trends   

An Innovation Straight From the Heart
July 01, 2016

Ebbe Altberg, CEO of the virtual reality pioneer Linden Lab, recently shared a curious facet of his company’s culture at an Alliance meeting. Called the “Love Machine,” this innovation sparked instant curiosity and captured the imaginations of the CEOs in the room. Just what is the Love Machine?

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Case categories include: Human Resources   Leadership   Operations   Trends   

Rick Martig

CFO: Need to Know
October 24, 2014

Today’s CFO faces more challenges than ever. Staying ahead of vital business trends is one of those challenges. Hear from a panel of Ernst & Young professionals and CFOs, include Alliance member, Rick Martig, as they discuss what every CFO needs to know about digital.

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Case categories include: Executive Development   M&A   Technology   Trends   

Finding the Green in Green Biz
August 08, 2008

With gas prices averaging over $4.50 a gallon, could there be any better time to be selling electric motorcycles? Probably not. But that doesn't mean Alliance member Zero Motorcycles - which sells an electric trail motorcycle that gets up to 40 miles on a single battery charge - has got an easy ride.

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Case categories include: Trends