(The following story by Bertrand Marotte appeared on the Globe and Mail website on January 20.)
MONTREAL — In a nod to his taking on one of the toughest fix-it jobs in Corporate Canada, Bombardier Inc. boss Paul Tellier has clinched the title of most respected chief executive officer in an annual survey of CEOs provided exclusively to The Globe and Mail.
Mr. Tellier, who is just completing his first year as top troubleshooter at Bombardier after being recruited away from Canadian National Railway Co., handily won the top CEO spot for 2003 in the annual KPMG/Ipsos-Reid survey of Canada’s most respected corporations.
The beleaguered company Mr. Tellier runs, however, dropped in the survey to fifth place from second.
It marks the second year in a row Mr. Tellier has won the title. He was selected last year by his peers while still at CN.
This is the ninth annual Canada’s Most Respected Corporations Survey, sponsored by KPMG and conducted by Ipsos-Reid. The poll, which surveyed 255 business leaders, singles out the most respected company and CEO in the country from among their peers, and provides an outlook on economic and business conditions in Corporate Canada.
The CEOs were asked to pick the most respected corporate leaders, other than themselves, in a write-in ballot.
Fifteen per cent selected Mr. Tellier, up significantly from 6 per cent a year ago.
Next was Dominic D’Alessandro, CEO of Manulife Financial Corp., with 6 per cent.
“This is a vote of confidence for Paul Tellier. He’s had to make some tough decisions,” said John Wright, senior vice-president at Ipsos-Reid who has worked on the study since its inception.
Mr. Tellier, who turns 65 in May, is also likely winning recognition just for agreeing to take on the daunting task at Bombardier, the Montreal-based aerospace and rail giant, Mr. Wright said.
“He decided, probably when he didn’t have to, to step into the lion’s den. His stature has grown in moving from the public sector and becoming the restructuring giant.”
Mr. Tellier is a former top federal civil servant who garnered kudos for turning around sluggish CN before being recruited in late 2002 as Bombardier CEO by chairman and member of the controlling shareholder family, Laurent Beaudoin.
Mr. Tellier said in an interview that his job at Bombardier has turned out to be more difficult than he expected.
“The challenge perhaps was larger in some ways than I had anticipated,” he said, singling out two major problems that have come to the fore: locating financing for commercial airlines’ purchases of regional jets in a harsh lending environment and offsetting the lower advances now being paid by public authorities in Europe for Bombardier railway cars and other products.
“It’s not a question of saying, ‘The business model of Bombardier had been successful. Let’s stick to it.’ Part of my job is to adjust the company to a fast-changing environment and adjust the business model so that we can reap, after a couple of years, the benefits,” he said.
Bombardier is now in cost-cutting mode — Phase 2 of a restructuring program that began last year with a financial overhaul — Mr. Tellier said.
The company should be in a position to start “reaping the benefits” of his turnaround beginning in 2005, he added.
The other chief executive officers who garnered the most votes in the poll were:
Rick George of Suncor Energy Inc., with 3 per cent.
Clive Beddoe of WestJet Airlines Ltd., 3 per cent.
Raymond Royer of Domtar Inc., 3 per cent.
Peter Godsoe of Bank of Nova Scotia, 3 per cent.
Gwyn Morgan of EnCana Corp., 3 per cent.
Rémi Marcoux of Transcontinental Inc., 2 per cent.
Frank Stronach of Magna International Inc., 2 per cent.
Gordon Nixon of Royal Bank of Canada, 2 per cent.
Isadore Sharp of Four Seasons Hotels Inc., 2 per cent.
Asked to rate the most important attributes of their chosen peers, 42 per cent of the CEOs surveyed cited “vision, focus, discipline or good strategy,” according to Bill Dillabough, managing partner of markets with KPMG.
Thirty-nine per cent singled out track record, while 38 per cent opted for financial performance and 34 per cent for corporate governance or leadership.
The survey was conducted between August and November of 2003.
About the survey
These are findings of the ninth annual Canada’s Most Respected Corporations Survey, sponsored by KPMG, conducted by Ipsos-Reid and provided exclusively to The Globe and Mail. Conducted between August and November 2003, the survey involved a randomly selected sample of 255 of Canada’s leading chief executive offices. It identifies the most respected company and chief executives from among their peers, and provides an outlook on economic and business conditions in corporate Canada. A full breakdown of the rating can be found at http://www.ipsosreid.com and http://www.mostrespected.ca. The series, as it rolls out this week will also be available at http://www.globeandmail.com/business.