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Cisco Systems

John Chambers is the CEO of Cisco Systems. His legacy will not soon be forgotten at Cisco. As one writer put it, "Perhaps no CEO in history has ever risen to this point, fell hard and came back so quickly." After Chambers became CEO in January 1995, Cisco's dominance and competitiveness in the industry was so strong that it led to the early exit of quite a few competitors. BusinessWeek has ranked Cisco one of the 50 best performing companies in the market, Fortune has ranked Cisco one of the "Most Admired Companies" in America, and Forbes has called Cisco one of the "Leading Companies in the World". Business Ethics Magazine ranks Cisco in its "Top 100 Business Ethics" list.

However, it wasn't a smooth ride all the way. Starting in early 2001, things started to change. A number of carriers and Internet service providers - some of them among Cisco's largest customers - have experienced dramatic declines in sales and profitability. As a result, they stopped purchasing Cisco equipment. The negative impact on Cisco's performance has led some industry experts to question Chambers' leadership capabilities. The rooms remained unaffected. His strategy for reviving Cisco was twofold: first, downsizing the company by immediately deep cuts in personnel, and secondly implementing a new organizational structure that focuses on teamwork across departments and collaboration at all levels of the company. Low-performance products were phased out as part of Cisco Recovery.

Presenting his argument for change, Chambers said that the future belongs to those who cooperate. He said that there is an urgent need for some kind of cooperation that links traditional geographical, institutional and functional borders. In a world marked by the need for corporate agility, global competition, and the emergence of emerging markets, a focus on cooperation within and between organizations is imperative. Chambers asserts that collaboration between functional groups and organizations will help companies become more productive and innovative.

Cisco's recovery is largely attributed to Chambers' leadership and brilliant strategic mind. He is said to be an excellent and stimulating interlocutor. Cisco's comeback has caused some analysts to suggest Chambers had risen to an underrated level, such as former CEOs Jack Welch of General Electric and Andy Grove of Intel.

Support your answers to the following questions with specific case and slide / textbook information, or with information you get on the web or other source.

To learn more about John Chambers and Cisco Systems, visit the Cisco website at //www.everydayhealth.com/drugs/

1-What are the team leadership characteristics of John Chambers that make him so effective?