Are you involved in setting the direction for your company's IT budget or strategy?
Apply today for a FREE subscription to CIO Magazine!
» Subscription Services
» Reprints
Mon, May 5, 2008 15:50 EDT
Starbucks Hires New CIO From Outside Retail Industry
|
Posted by: Meridith Levinson in News Topic: Personal Management Blog: Movers and Shakers
Current Rating: |
Stephen Gillett is joining Starbucks as its new senior vice president and CIO on Monday, May 12. Gillett comes on board in the midst of a high-profile revitalization effort at the Seattle-based coffee company. He replaces Bryan Crynes who left Starbucks in January, shortly after Howard Schultz was reinstalled as CEO. Chris Bruzzo, Starbucks' CTO, had been serving as interim CIO.
Gillett most recently served as CIO of Corbis, a stock photography and footage company owned by Bill Gates and based in Seattle. Previously, Gillett held senior leadership positions with Yahoo and CNET .
Rating:
Starbucks is entitled to hire anyone they want. But in my not so humble opinion, hiring a CIO outside of their industry should be met with the same quizical look from the industry as would be hiring any other "C" level executive there.
So, if hiring a non-retail CIO is no different than hiring a non-retail CEO, CFO, or CMO, etc. then no big deal. But if Wall Street, CFO Magazine or Chief Executive Magazine were to react in utter amazement, challenging the wisdom of that decision, then why not the CIO?
Answer - because no one knows what he does!!! He really only needs to keep the systems running, right? Ha!!!
Right.
Rating:
Stephen Gillete? what are they thinking? hiring a guy who has been a CIO for 1 year at a mom and pop shop like Corbis. I wonder what SBUX is thinking and as a stockholder, this just pisses me of that they would not hire a hot shot CIO with SBUX name and they settle for Stephen Gillete. Someone that Corbis did not want as CIO and they settled for
"Hot shot" CIOs aren't always the most effective. Some of them are known for instituting a lot of change that yields good short term returns but the changes they initiate sometimes put the companies they work for at a disadvantage over the long term. Sometimes CIOs who aren't well known are more effective. This might be precisely what Starbucks was looking for when it hired Gillett.
I'm curious to know how you define "hot shot CIO" and why you think a "hot shot" would be a better fit for Starbucks.
About this Blog
The lowdown on new appointments, retirements, job changes and other career moves among IT executives.
Hot Conversations
Five indicators that hiring execs may not know how to hire
Posted by Laurie M. Orlov in Best Practices | 4 comments
Project Management Nightmare: Records from the Bush Administration
Posted by Kim S. Nash in Rants | 4 comments
How does an upcoming recession affect your job search?
Posted by reCareered in Best Practices | 2 comments
Boomers Moving On: Brain Drain or Wisdom Gain?
Posted by Michael Hugos in Soapbox | 4 comments
Starbucks Hires New CIO From Outside Retail Industry
Posted by Meridith Levinson in News | 3 comments
Start a Conversation
Got something to say? We want to hear it! Click the Post button to get started. GO»
Surprise! What HP’s Multi-Billion Dollar Bid to Buy EDS Means for You
It's Your Bug. But It's Not Your Job Anymore.
Just Forget About Yahoo, Microsoft, and Go After SAP
Starbucks Hires New CIO From Outside Retail Industry
RIM BlackBerry 9000: No Touch Screen, Battery Issues or Front-Facing Camera...Yet
Facebook Blocked Me and Labeled Me a Spammer
Banish “The Business Side”
Boomers Moving On: Brain Drain or Wisdom Gain?
Why Is Bob DeRodes Leaving Home Depot?
Internal EDS Memo on HP Buy: Rittenmeyer Remains
advertisement
|
|
Enterprise Content Management: From Strategy to Solution
Enterprise content management (ECM) has become an important competence and infrastructural technology, particularly for large and medium-sized organizations.
Hear about industry trends for ECM and why standardizing your ECM platform is so critical to your success during this roundtable discussion.
Sponsored by IBM
View This Webcast »
Get Rich or Get Thin: The Secure Client Webcast
Malcolm Harkins, General Manager of Intel's Information Risk and Security group, looks at the increasing sophistication of attacks. He also talks about he pros and cons of thin and rich clients in fending off those attacks.
Sponsored by Intel
View This Webcast »
The Greening of the Data Center
This report outlines a four-part strategy companies can employ to achieve an energy-efficient infrastructure.
Sponsored by Sepaton
Read this White Paper »
More Partners »
Resource Alerts
Get instant email notifications by topic when white papers, webcasts, and case studies are added to our library.
Sign-up for the Advice & Opinion Newsletter
