A discussion on Championing an Innovative Culture & Embracing Disruptive Ideas in a Global Corporation with Maria Bartiromo, Beth Comstock, and Anjali Joshi.
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Bio
Maria Bartiromo
Maria Bartiromo is the anchor of CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo", and host and managing editor of the nationally syndicated "Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo," which was also recently rated the most watched financial news program in America.
"The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo" is a nationally syndicated business, financial and economic news program, distributed by NBC Universal Domestic Television Distribution. The half-hour weekly newscast appears on over 200 stations each week and provides the clarity, depth and insight of The Wall Street Journal in a television magazine format.
In 1995, Bartiromo became the first journalist to report live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on a daily basis where she covered breaking news for the network's unscripted and fast-paced business morning program, "Squawk Box."
Bartiromo joined CNBC in 1993 after five years as a producer and assignment editor with CNN Business News. She has anchored the television coverage of New York City's world famous Columbus Day Parade since 1995. In 2004, Bartiromo was honored with The Union League of Philadelphia’s prestigious Lincoln Statue Award, for significant contributions to the United States of America. In 1996, Bartiromo was nominated for a CableACE Award for her three-part series on the Internet and its implications for investors. In 1997, she received the Coalition of Italo-American Associations' Excellence in Broadcast Journalism Award. In 2002, Bartiromo was nominated for a Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism for her piece on the widows of September 11. In May 2008, Bartiromo received a Gracie Award in the category of Outstanding Documentary for her documentary "Greenspan: Power, Money & the American Dream." She was also awarded a 2008 News and Documentary Emmy for her "Bailout Talks Collapse" coverage. In December 2009, Bartiromo was featured in the Financial Times as one of the "50 Who Shaped the Decade."
She has written monthly columns for Individual Investor, Ticker and Reader's Digest magazines and she has been published in theFinancial Times, Newsweek, Town and Country, Registered Rep and the New York Post. HarperCollins published her book, Use the News: How to Separate the Noise from the Investment Nuggets and Make Money in Any Economy in June 2001. The book was on the bestseller lists of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
In addition to being a member of the Board of Trustees of New York University, Bartiromo is on the Board of Directors of the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York; as well as PENCIL, Public Education Needs Civic Involvement and Leadership, which is a non-profit group focusing on improving New York high schools. She is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum. She is also a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and the Board of Governors of the Columbus Citizens Foundation.
Bartiromo graduated from New York University, where she majored in journalism and minored in economics.
Beth Comstock
Beth Comstock is Chief Marketing Officer and SVP of GE. She leads the company's organic growth and commercial innovation initiatives, and the sales, marketing and communications functions. She is responsible for the GE-wide business platforms ecomagination, devoted to reducing environmental impact and new technology, and healthymagination, focused on achieving sustainable health through innovation by lowering costs, improving quality and reaching more people.
She returned to the CMO role after having spent over two years as President of Integrated Media at NBC Universal. Beth oversaw the television ad sales, marketing and research teams, with a focus on new advertising innovations. She led the company’s digital media development and distribution, including the formation of hulu.com, Peacock Equity and the acquisition of ivillage.com.
In 2003, she was named GE's first Chief Marketing officer in more than 20 years and as such, helped reinvigorate marketing across the company, introducing ecomagination, Imagination Breakthrough innovations and the "imagination at work" brand campaign.
Previously, Beth held a succession of publicity and promotions roles at GE, NBC, CBS and Turner Broadcasting. She began her career in local television production in Virginia.
Beth is a trustee of the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary. She and her husband have two daughters.
Anjali Joshi
Anjali Joshi is an accomplished technology executive who has held significant leadership positions in high-growth companies. She is a currently a Director of Product Management at Google where she leads groups focused on the software, network and computing infrastructure, translation products and internationalization/localization of Google products. Most recently, she has been integral in managing Google's Fiber to Communities effort, which will ultimately bring ultra high-speed broadband access to as many as 500,000 people across the United States.
Prior to joining Google, Anjali was Executive Vice-President of Engineering at Covad Communications, the first DSL Competitive Carrier in the US and helped the company grow from a start-up to a public company. Anjali spent several years at Bell Labs working in the areas of voice and high speed data communications. Anjali received her BTech in Electrical Engineering from IIT, Kanpur, a Masters in Computer Engineering from SUNY and a Masters in Engineering Management from Stanford University. She was recently selected as one of the top 50 alumni who have graduated from IIT Kanpur in the last 50 years. She is on the board of the IIT Kanpur Foundation and has served as a board member of TiE, Silicon valley.
Major U.S. corporation and one of the largest companies in the world. Its products include electrical and electronic equipment, plastics, aircraft engines, medical imaging equipment, and financial services. The company was incorporated in 1892, acquiring all the assets of the Edison General Electric Co. (founded as Edison Electric Light Co. by Thomas Alva Edison in 1878) and two other electrical companies. The company established a research laboratory in 1900, and many of its later products, including various home appliances, were developed by in-house scientists. In 1986 GE purchased the RCA Corp., including its television network, NBC. GE's headquarters are in Fairfield, Conn.
What a great perspective to compare strategic innovation between two iconic companies; one a decade old and one a century old. Beth did a great job in defining GE's strategy, but I was somewhat disappointed in Anjali's answers being quite general and vague. But this can be explained simply by looking at the positions of the two: Beth is senior VP, which is a very strategic position compared to Anjali's. Vic Gundotra of Google would've been in better position for this interview. But one thing is clear: GE is focused on marketing innovation; Google is focused on product innovation, hence explaining the difference in their approach to innovation.
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