Marketwatch has named Ed Zander of Motorola as it’s CEO of the Year. What a well deserved compliment. Motorola’s revenues are up an eye-popping 59% since before Zander joined, and the stock price has doubled. The culture has changed from moribund and stifling to open and aggressive as they chase new opportunities in not only cell phones, but set top boxes and MP3 players.
We blogged Motorola’s success story in early September. The story has been a classic Phoenix Principle implementation as Zander first Disrupted the organization and then implemented several White Space projects. As early as mid-2004 we predicted the success of Motorola (and recommended buying the stock) due to the classic Phoenix Principle steps being taken (see case study here.)
Extremely few turnarounds ever actually regain any sustainable growth – and less than 7% achieve the success of Motorola. It is great that the company should be noted for what’s been accomplished.