Safeco CEO Mike McGavick on leading a turnaround
介绍了Safeco保险公司CEO Mike McGavick在2001年加入后，通过裁员、取消代理机构、出售业务线等重组措施，在11个月内使公司从亏损近10亿美元转为盈利3亿美元，并分析了其领导风格和变革管理经验。
Executive Overview Since its founding 80 years ago, Safeco Insurance Company's primary business has been property and casualty insurance. Before the 1990s Safeco was very successful. However, during the late 1990s, Safeco chalked up five straight years of declining return on equity. In 2001, it lost nearly $1 billion and wrote off $1.2 billion in goodwill related to the acquisition of American States Financial Corporation in 1997. Mike McGavick, at the age of 44, joined SAFECO in January 2001 and led the company through an organization-wide restructuring, which resulted in a 10 per cent layoff of workforce, canceling 10 percent of the company's agency force, and selling several lines of business. This was all done in his first 11 months. The result of these major efforts by the end of 2002 was a profit of $300 million and stock performance that led the insurance industry. Prior to joining Safeco, McGavick held a number of executive positions at Chicago-based CNA Financial Corporation starting in 1995. These included serving as president and chief operating officer of the company's largest operating unit, responsible for the majority of CNA's commercial insurance business. In addition, he engineered CNA's e-commerce strategy. McGavick began his insurance career in 1992, spending three years as director of the Superfund Improvement Project for the American Insurance Association. He served as a lead negotiator for the insurance industry with Congress, federal agencies, and groups concerned about reform of the nation's Superfund laws. Prior to that, McGavick held a series of public affairs positions, including chief of staff for U.S. Senator Slade Gorton from 1989 to 1991 and campaign manager for Gorton's successful comeback campaign in 1988. A native of Seattle, McGavick attended the University of Washington, graduating in 1983 with a degree in political science. Today, McGavick sees Safeco Insurance returning to the achievements and reputation it enjoyed prior to the 1990s. He attributes that turnaround to a multitude of factors, including managing change through reinforcing and modifying the organization's culture.