Paul O'Neill's Value Based Management

Running head: PAUL O’NEILL’S VALUE BASED MANAGEMENT

Paul O’Neill’s Value Based Management

Cortni Jordan

Wesleyan College

Author Note

This paper was prepared for Gender in Business Management, taught by

Dr. Glenna Meyer.

PAUL O’NEILL’S VALUE BASED MANAGEMENT

Abstract

This paper explores the management style of former Alcoa CEO Paul O’Neill and his utilization of the four functions of management; planning, organizing, leading and controlling. The research examines several theories of management that provide a conceptual framework to help further understand how Paul O’Neill was able to, within twelve years’ time, more than quadruple Alcoa’s net income (Duhigg, 2012, p.100). This paper reviews The New York Times’ investigative reporter Charles Duhigg’s research from his book The Power of Habit;Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business as well as a host of other book articles that detail the importance of an organization’s values and how one small change can make a huge difference in the total revenue of a firm.

PAUL O’NEILL’S VALUE BASED MANAGEMENT

Paul O’Neill’s Value Based Management

In October of 1987, former government bureaucrat Paul O’Neill introduced himself to a Manhattan hotel ballroom full of prominent Wall Street investors and stock analysts as the new CEO of Aluminum Company of America – Alcoa (Duhigg, 2012). According to Duhigg’s (2012) book, Paul O’Neill’s meeting left investors puzzled, and some, without delay, called their clients ordering them to sell their stock immediately. O’Neill’s unorthodox charge to make Alcoa the safest company in America did not go over well with the audience as they were expecting to hear the usual talk about profits, taxes, and capital ratios...