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Month: April 2023

Since retiring in 2008, Franz has remained an active consultant in Business Intelligence and Marketing, Retail Innovation, AI, and Business Process Improvement. Franz has also consulted with groups like GE Aviation and as an adjunct professor at Columbia University. Franz has a degree in astrophysics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master’s in Industrial Mathematics from the University of Florida. With the rapid advancements in AI changing every day, things discussed in this March 2023 conversation may already have moved – but there are a lot of fundamentals in this candid conversation that make sense.

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Ed also served on the boards of American Express, Delta Airlines, GTE, and Teradyne. He was active in foreign affairs and an influential advocate of world trade and on President Clinton’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations. 

With Ed’s recent passing in April 2023, we wanted to honor his memory, by replaying our 2020 conversation where Ed shared his perspectives on the importance of storytelling and the competitive advantage of integrity. His stories illuminate concrete lessons from both P&G’s successes and failures which speak directly to the challenges business leaders continue to face today.

READ THE BOOK — For more on Ed’s life and learnings – be sure to purchase his memoir / oral history: “P&G the Globalization Years: Lessons Learned during Procter & Gamble’s Transformation from an American Exporter to a Global Marketer”

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Daniela has also served as a member of the board of WPP, the world’s largest agency holding company, and the French Luxury goods company, and graduated Magna cum Laude from the University of Rome—La Sapienza (Italy) and holds degrees in Political Science and International Studies. Prior to that, she completed professional studies in classic and modern dance at the National Dance Academy in Rome. She speaks fluent French, English, Spanish, and Italian. You’ll enjoy this candid talk on leadership, heritage & modernity from the 2019 P&G Alumni Global Conference in Madrid.

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About the P&G Alumni Foundation:
The P&G Alumni Foundation, the charitable arm of the P&G Alumni Network, has a mission of creating opportunities for those less fortunate—a mission grounded in the shared values that unite us as Alumni. Through strategic grant-making, the Foundation improves the quality of life around the world by economically empowering individuals in need to achieve greater financial independence and economic well-being for themselves, their families, and their communities.

Bringing its mission to life, the Foundation invests in programs and projects that contribute toward real and sustainable employment. What makes us unique is that a P&G Alumni sponsor must be actively and meaningfully involved with the charitable organization making a grant request. Learn more or donate by visiting: pgalumnifoundation.org.

As early as 1975, while leading P&G’s European operations, Ed made growing the international businesses of the Company a top priority. This would culminate during Ed’s tenure as our CEO, as he made the globalization of P&G his priority, expanding into the world’s fastest-growing markets and creating scale by globalizing the planning, internal structure, communications and execution of new business activities.

Ed spent considerable time throughout his career developing employees. One of his most enduring contributions is the creation of P&G College, the predecessor of our current training programs, which became the cornerstone of our worldwide training efforts. He was also a courageous advocate for diversity, measuring and rewarding management for leveraging the unique backgrounds and experiences of employees to create new advantages as we became a global company.

Current Chief Executive Officer, Jon Moeller, reflected on the influence Ed Artzt had on the Company, “Ed had the foresight and competitive spirit to position P&G for success, and he led with conviction and courage.”

Procter & Gamble

In the conference center at P&G headquarters that bears his name, there is a quote from Ed Artzt.

“This is not a company of ordinary individuals.  It’s an organization of high energy, creative, articulate people who like to set higher standards for themselves than anyone else can set for them.”

When I meet younger alumni and even employees who did get to know the man, I remind them of these words. I think it says a great deal about a company when its leaders credit success to their people. I think it also says a great deal about such a leader.

Ed Tazzia, Chairman
P&G Alumni Network

 

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Bracken’s a longtime “Friend of the Pod,” so we wanted to feature another chat he had with our favorite Humor Engineer and Co-host Andrew Tarvin, in one of Drew’s ”Humor Talks.” You’ll enjoy hearing Bracken share his recognition of the power of humor for creating a fun workplace. Now more than ever, it’s important to be able to be your authentic self at work, and for so many people, that includes humor. But Bracken knows that humor at work doesn’t have to mean telling jokes (he doesn’t think he’s a particularly funny person). He’s more in the moment, improvising or reacting quickly to what is said—a great mindset for building humor. This conversation may also feature stories about Jack Welch, and the naming of a cat in this candid conversation that, no surprise, is a fun one.

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