A Jar of Vegemite, a Window on Kraft†

Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2009 — The recipe for Vegemite, a salty brown yeast spread famous in Australia, remained unchanged for more than 80 years. Then Irene Rosenfeld became chief executive of Kraft Foods Inc.

This summer, a milder version of Vegemite appeared on store shelves across Australia. Ms. Rosenfeld had almost nothing to do with the reformulated taste, its new packaging or its rollout — which says a lot about how she has tried to transform Kraft since taking over as the food giant's CEO in 2006.

H-P Plans to Fuse Printer, PC Units†

Move Would Mark Reversal of Fortune as Once-Laggard PC Division Now Is the Company's Rising Star

Wall Street Journal, September 30, 2009 — Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Mark Hurd, in what would be one of his biggest moves yet to overhaul H-P's inner workings, is finalizing a plan to combine H-P's printer and personal-computer businesses into one unit under current PC chief Todd Bradley, said people familiar with the situation.

Clinton's Road to Second Place†

Wall Street Journal, June 4, 2008 — Sen. Hillary Clinton, once positioned to be Democrats'"inevitable nominee," won't be. On Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama won enough delegates to claim the party's presidential nomination.

Inside the Clinton campaign and out, the finger-pointing has begun. The bottom line is this: She called the biggest plays, and she got them wrong.

Still, these people say, Sen. Clinton is responsible for what one confidant called "grievous mistakes." Those help explain why Sen. Clinton — the best brand name in Democratic politics, and an early favorite to be the first female nominee in U.S. history — lost to a relative newcomer who would be the first African-American major-party nominee.

New Breed of Business Gurus Rises†

Psychologists, CEOs Climb in Influence, Draw Hits, Big Fees

Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2008 — Psychologists, journalists and celebrity chief executives crowd the top of a ranking of influential business thinkers compiled for The Wall Street Journal. The results, based on Google hits, media mentions and academic citations, ranked author and consultant Gary Hamel No. 1

But Dr. Hamel is the only traditional business guru in the top five, which includes two journalists, Thomas Friedman and Malcolm Gladwell, and a former CEO, Bill Gates. Mr. Gladwell is among three thinkers in the top eight who focus on psychology.