American Express President Moves his Own Cheese

American Express President Moves his Own Cheese

by Kasey Hendrix

NEW YORK - American Express Co. said Monday its president, Alfred F. Kelly Jr., will step down early next year. Kelly, 51, wants to run a company as a chief executive, a position that is unlikely to come open anytime soon at American Express as chairman and CEO Kenneth Chenault, 58, is entrenched in the job. Chenault said Kelly will continue to lead the card issuer's transition to a bank holding company until his departure. He has been president and head of the global consumer group since 2007. Kelly is just the latest banking executive to leave his position as top-level management has been increasingly turning over in the financial services sector. Last week, Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis said he will retire by the end of the year. Bill Winters left his role as co-CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s investment bank as well. With Kelly leaving, American Express' global consumer, small business and network businesses will report to Edward Gilligan, who is a vice chairman at the company and is 50 years old. Separately, American Express also said it created a global services division that will cover customer service, technologies, operations, business processing and information management. Stephen Squeri, 50, has been named the group's president. He previously was in charge of technologies and corporate development.

The bank also created a new enterprise growth division that is aimed at generate incremental fee revenue and oversee American Express' entry into new payment areas. American Express is currently search outside the bank for an executive to run the unit.

 This story directly relates to “Who Moved My Cheese,” because the current president of American Express literally had to make a decision to stay comfortable in his current situation, or to move on to something more. He was resembled Sniff and Scurry because he was looking for something before he had to. He was ready to move on and had other prospects before his job was in jeopardy. Just like many other executives moving from other major companies in the U.S., he was leaving instead of staying landlocked in a position. One of the lessons in the story was to not simply be comfortable but to always be looking ahead and to always be ready for change. He is just one story of many who have jumped ahead of circumstances in the shaky statuses of jobs currently in the nation. 

Story taken from the Associated Press via MSNBCnews.com

Picture retrieved from American Express.com 

Corzine's Cheese Moves Off Wall Street

Corzine’s Cheese Moves Off Wall Street
by Rebekah Husted

In 2000, when Jon Corzine first ran for governor of New Jersey, his résumé seemed stellar. His years as chairman of Goldman Sachs (as well as the fortune he earned while on Wall Street) boded well for his ability to handle the states’ finances.

Then the economy went south. Goldman Sachs was cast as the villain in the country’s fiscal tragedy. Suddenly, faced with a fiscal crisis and a reelection campaign, Corzine’s résumé is tainted by the very accomplishments that recommended him only a few years ago.

To put the situation into the language of Spencer Johnson’s Who Moved My Cheese?, Corzine’s cheese has been moved by the hand of fate (or perhaps by his and his Wall Street associates’ mismanagement). Corzine and his advisors are now faced with a decision. They can remain mired in the past like Hem in the story, scrounging for moldy crumbs, reliving the glory days and lamenting the circumstances, or they can venture out into the future like the wiser Haw, accepting that times have changed and reacting to that change. In a business like politics, where staying current and connected to voters is the key to success, it is fairly clear which choice would be more profitable.

Of course, even if the governor’s campaign does decide to move on – as they seem to have done – success is anything but certain. Corzine’s past and his association with a now discredited and loathed organization will not disappear. Indeed, his current opponent is unlikely to let voters forget. However, staying in the past, harping on accomplishments that now only condemn him, will guarantee failure. Only by moving on, taking a risk and following the cheese can Corzine hope to win reelection.

Photo: Jon Corzine and Henry Paulson, co-chairmen of Goldman Sachs in 1998. Associated Press photo via nytimes.com.

Can Rio de Janeiro Handle the 2016 Summer Games?

By: Tiffany Cunningham

There is question to whether or not Rio de Janeiro can support the Olympic games in 2016, but the success the winning-candidate city had in 2007 with the Pan American Games (Pan Ams) proves the city can host the Olympics. Even though the Pan Ams showed challenges Rio de Janeiro faced, the 2007 game and the technical project allowed for higher placement in receiving the 2016 Olympic bid.

Rio de Janeiro will be the first city in South American to host the Olympics. The other three contenders Chicago, U.S. Madrid, Spain and Tokyo, Japan have all hosted the events in previous Olympian years. Chicago was eliminated early on Friday, Sept. 2 from its bid to host the Olympics; Chicago was in disbelief when the announcement was made because of Chicago’s high profile support from President Barack Obama.

One of the reasons Chicago lost its bid may have been the issue with welcoming foreigners into our airports. The experience of tourism has been painstaking at times for foreigners and it was seen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a threat to the Olympic games to have Chicago host the events. Efforts by the U.S. to keep our country safe have backfired for an important event to be hosted by city or state in the U.S.

“It isn’t right that the Olympics be held in the U.S. for the eighth time,” Brazilian President Luz Inacio Lula da Silva said in reference to one of the appeals the U.S. had to the IOC delegates. “It’s not fair that Brazil, one of the ten biggest economies in the world for 30 years; that Brazil, one of the world’s most industrialized countries, a nation that has demonstrated the love of sports; it’s not fair that Brazil not be chosen,” Lula said to Andrew Downie, reporter at TIME Magazine.

Lula and Rio officials have been hammering home: “that fair is fair; that this is South America’s turn,” reported in TIME. There are three reasons why Rio won the bid, the first, Rio promises more transport systems to be implemented in the cities transportation system. The proposal was “detailed and of very high quality” stated by the games committee in their most recent report.

Another reason why Rio was chosen is because it has an honored reputation for having the most beautiful and inviting cities to foreigners and tourism. The budget for the Olympics to be held at Rio was also the largest of the four cities. With a budget of $11.1 billion to be spent in connection with the games’ events there was strong public and financial support from multiple levels of government.

The third reason is South American deserves the chance to host the Olympic games. The city needs to make sure to keep its promises, but in June, South America propelled for the Olympics to be held on a new continent. Africa and Antarctica are the only other continents that have not hosted the games, stated on CBSnew.com.

Rio de Janeiro’s push for the Olympics to be held in a different continent connects the need for a committee, a large body of supporters and individuals to be come more open-mined to new ideas and prospects that could enhance the meaning behind an event or Olympic games in this sense. The IOC saw an opportunity to move on from the routine ways of picking a location for the Olympics. The committee branched out and allowed for chance to occur in 2016 when a new city in a new continent will show they will have great success with hosting the summer games.

The book Who Moved My Cheese? written by Spencer Johnson, is a story of two mice, Sniff and Scurry and two little men, Hem and Haw finding the way through a maze. When change is discovered their “cheese,” something they have become used to and comfortable around has disappeared. Each adapts to the change differently and the story reflects the reasons why change is a good thing and letting go is not always bad to find new ambitions and to challenge yourself to a new level of thinking and prosperity.

Rio de Janeiro could have stopped their push after the other bids looked more feasible to the committee, but they pushed and said to the world, “we deserve our chance.” Like Haw, Rio saw the opportunities they had to invest in the Olympics, but did not give up hope for the bid they placed to be chosen. “Rio de Janeiro 2016!” For more information about the 2016 summer Olympic games visit Olympic.org.

Picture assessed through Yahoo News at Yahoo online.

These Hands are Not My Own, but They Seem to be Working

Man Receives First Double Hand Transplant in US

By Morgan Dickerson

In May 2009, Jeff Kepner was the first person to receive a double hand transplant in the United States, after losing both his hands ten years ago from a bacterial infection. Kepner’s lead surgeon was Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, who led a team of ten surgeons to successfully complete the transplant. The surgery was projected to take approximately 20 hours, but was finished in less than nine hours. 

Since Kepner’s double hand transplant, he has continued to have a successful recovery. According to Kepner’s doctors, nerves grow somewhere around one inch every month. Kepner does not have feeling in his fingers yet, according to his mother Doris Schafer. To help Kepner re-learn how to pick up items and use his hands he is playing catch and only picking up small items.

Kepner’s ‘cheese’ was moved a decade ago when he lost his hands and his feet, and this has put through a tough time. Jordan Kepner, 13, is Jeff’s daughter who recalls good and bad memories of when her dad got sick. Jordan gets sad when she knows her dad will be gone for a long period for either surgery or rehab, but she looks forward to doing normal stuff with her dad that has been on hold. Losing any appendage to one’s body could only be devastating, at first. But, this story exemplifies how some choose to find new ‘cheese’ and move forward in life. Kepner not only moved on to find ‘new cheese’ but he set out to find ‘better cheese’. Kepner took on the role of Scurry in our assigned book, “Who Moved My Cheese?” Being Scurry, Kepner dealt with his life-changing loss and continued to live and find other options, which were real human hands.

Kepner is not the only person in this world who has experienced this type of tragic loss, but he is the first and only person in the United States to ever receive a double hand transplant.  Kepner appeared on NBC’s, Today Show, to let all of America see how the surgery has changed his life for the better. Kepner demonstrated that he can bounce and pick up a tiny bouncing ball and slightly move his fingers. Kepner’s story and other stories like his show how individuals who experience tragedy are determined to live life fully and happily by finding newer and better ‘cheese’ for themselves; even though there are those who are too scared to move forward and rebuild their lives.

Image Information: Courtesy of Fox News. Jeff Kepner with Therapist Kim Maguire.

Web Source: Fox News.

MIke and Nike

By: Shayla Boone

According to Espn.com Michael Vick has resigned an endorsement with Nike.  This is the first endorsement that he has been able to rekindle after serving an 18-month sentence in Federal Prison for dog fighting.  Nike originally signed Vick as a rookie to the league in 2001; but ended his contract six years later after he filed a plea agreement admitting his involvement in the dog-fighting ring.  This is an excellent story to explore through the  ‘Who Moved My Cheese?’ book by Spencer Johnson.

 In this case Michael Vick’s cheese can be considered his Nike endorsement.   This cheese was lost as a result of him being complacent like Hem and Haw, he felt that because he had his cheese that it would be there and he would have nothing to worry about, but based upon decisions that he made his cheese moved.  The profound part is that Vick had his ‘ah ha’ moment like Haw in the book and took ownership for his mistake.  He apologized for his mistake and completed everything that was ordered of him by the judge.  Since this was all done without a huge rebuttal there was not much backlash when he returned to the NFL, which could be good sign for future endorsements. 

Family Searches for Sister

Family Searches for Sister

By Melissa Chasteen

After two failed attempts at in vitro fertilization in 2001, Maryann DeSimone and her husband Robert had given up all hope of becoming parents. At that point in their lives they were against adoption, so they thought they would find happiness in their lives through material possessions such as a new boat or more vacations.

Little did they know their lives would soon be changing dramatically. While the DeSimone’s dreams of parenthood were diminishing, three girls from Ukraine, Katie, 9; Darya, 7; and Irina, 6, were in dire need of a family. The girls’ mother died in childbirth and the stress proved too strong for their father, leading him to a life of alcoholism and the girls being placed into an orphanage. With one more attempt at parenthood, the DeSimones signed up with an adoption agency and one year later received an E-mail about the three girls.

The adoption process started in 2003 with many setbacks along the way. In order for the adoption paperwork to get filled out, everyone in Ukraine that was involved in the adoption—clerks, notaries, police officers—had to be bribed before they did anything. Also, the girls’ aunt and uncle, who had nothing to do with them beforehand, showed up to delay the process even more. Fed up with the bribes and setbacks, the DeSimones had considered stopping the adoption process, but instead battled on, with the adoption being finalized in early 2005.

Not long after the girls settled down in their new home in Huntington, N.Y., Darya pleaded with her new parents that they find their youngest sister, Vera. Darya said, “When Mommy went to heaven, Vera never came home.” The DeSimones immediately starting searching for the child, fearing that she may have been sold on the black market. They are continually working with officials in Ukraine, consequently paying more bribes and incentives. Though they’re faced with more setbacks than before, the DeSimones said they refuse to give up looking and will continue to share their story.

In Spencer Johnson’s “Who Moved My Cheese,” two mice and two little people are faced with change when their cheese disappears. The DeSimones’ journey is a prime example of having your cheese moved. Instead of giving up hope of having children, they searched and ultimately changed their lives in order to provide for their new family. They can be compared to the two mice, Sniff and Scurry, because of their commitment to “finding the cheese” and doing whatever it takes to get it. Even more so, the three girls—who before coming to America had never eaten a banana, nor used or even seen toilet paper—had to change their lives dramatically, learning a new language and adjusting to life in a new country and new family.

Image provided by Foxnews.com

Williams Owns Up to Mistake

Williams Owns Up to Mistake
By: Jason Bodin

Women’s tennis sensation, Serena Williams, was recently on the end of a controversial call at the 2009 U.S. Open. Williams was called for a foot fault on a serve, giving her a double fault, which put her a point away from a loss. After the call Williams approached the lineswomen and reportedly said, “If I could, I would take this…ball and… shove it down your throat.”

In a previous set, Williams received a warning after breaking her racket. Thus, the second outburst towards the line judge cost her a penalty point and, in the end the match.

Following the match Williams was fined $10,500 by the International Tennis Federation for “unsportsmanlike conduct” and racket abuse. Many wondered if Williams would lose her sponsorships after the outburst. However, because Williams acted on the change that occurred, due to great public relations work, she was has not seen those ramifications.

This situation is a great example of how people deal with change. Some people do not deal with change well, or at all, while others embrace change and make the best out of each situation.

The book Who Moved My Cheese? written by Spencer Johnson, is a story about how four mice deal with change in their maze. Williams is like the mouse Haw, who faced many challenges but came out on top because of the way in which he dealt with those challenges.

Williams turned a potential crisis on her career into the best situation she knew how. Williams released a statement later that night and again the next day apologizing for her actions claiming, “In the heat of battle I let my passion and emotion get the better of me and as a result handled the situation poorly.”

One little call moved William’s cheese, but she was able to overcome the challenges she created by owning up to her mistake.

Photo received from google images.