Margaret C. Whitman Meg Whitman

Margaret C. Whitman

Meg Whitman

(http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/biography/S-Z/Whitman-Meg-1956.html)

The success of eBay and the consumer model that it created is one that is well-known. Ebay transformed the way "...in which people buy and sell" on the Internet. (Meg Whitman 1956-)

At the helm of this groundbreaking company was the expertise and entrepreneurial know-how of Margaret C. Whitman.

At present Whitman is an executive in the eBay Company and acts as a special advisor to the President and Chief Executive Officer. (Margaret C. Whitman Profile ? Forbes.com) From 1988 to March of this year she was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. She has also served as an executive position in companies such as toy company Hasbro Inc., FTD Inc., the Stride Rite Corporation, the Walt Disney Company, and Bain and Company. (Margaret C. Whitman Profile ? Forbes.com) She also serves on the board of directors of the Procter and Gamble Company and DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (Margaret C. Whitman Profile ? Forbes.com)

This impressive profile is evidence of her business acumen and achievements as a top executive. Furthermore, Whitman was named one of the most influential women in the world by Time Magazine, among seven other women. (TIME Names the World's Most Influential People) Whitman has also become one of the wealthiest business women and CEO's in the country, with an estimated worth of $1.4 billion in 2007. (Top Executive Profiles, Margaret C. Whitman)

Education and family background

Whitman was born in 1957 in Spring Harbor, on the north shore of Long Island, New York. (Meg Whitman 1956-) Her father was a businessman but she claims to have inherited much of her particular entrepreneurial spirit from her mother, whom she describes as a."..free-spirited and adventurous soul." (Meg Whitman 1956-)

Her tertiary education began in 1974 when she entered Princeton University, intending to pursue a career in medicine. (Meg Whitman 1956-) However, she decided to change and study economics after "A summer spent selling advertising for a campus publication." (Meg Whitman 1956-) After graduating from Princeton in 1977, Whitman earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979.

Reasons for her success

Margaret Whitman achieved renown for the way that she guided and steered the initially small company of eBay to become a leading ecommerce and international success. In essence, she managed a small startup company with thirty members of staff to become "... An international behemoth with nearly $6 billion in annual revenue and a stable of Web properties, including Rent.com, Shopping.com, and internet-telephone service Skype." (Top Executive Profiles

Margaret C. Whitman)

Among the many reasons that have been put forward for her success in developing and running this company is her expertise in the art of brand building. Allied with this is her extensive knowledge of consumer technology. (Meg Whitman 1956-)

Her initiative, knowledge of the consumer market and her insight into the often complex online business environment, can also be ascribed to her past experience and successes. For example, she served as the senior vice president of marketing for the Walt Disney Corporation in 1989. (Meg Whitman 1956 -) During this period she was "...instrumental in helping the company move into publishing with the acquisition of Discover magazine. She also launched the first Disney store in Japan." (Meg Whitman 1956 -) She is also credited with "reorganizing Hasbro's foundering Playskool division, returning it to profitability within a year." (Top Executive Profiles ? Margaret C. Whitman)

This wealth of experience was to stand her in good stead in terms of future challenges in the business world, and with regard to the immense challenges in the managing and running of eBay. "Working for Disney enabled Whitman to understand how to run a business, knowledge that proved invaluable later on." (Meg Whitman 1956 -)

The experience that she had gleaned for her prior positions was implemented in her management and strategies for eBay. For instance, she was responsible for changing the image of the company to suit the new vision of business and interactive commerce on the Internet. "She redid the Web site graphics, making the designs brighter and separating firearm and pornography offerings into age restricted areas." (Meg Whitman 1956-)

She also showed business acumen in the expansion of eBay, for example, into the fine art market via the purchase of Butterfield. Butterfield was an auction house that competed with Christies. The success of her strategies can be seen in the fact that in 1999 the eBay customer base increased from 750,000 members to more than seven million. (Meg Whitman 1956-)

Her expertise is also evident in the way that she understood the threats to the growing company and in her negotiating skills in ensuring its success. This can be seen in her realization that the greatest threat facing eBay on the Web was the strong competition from larger companies. Consequently she extended eBay's relationship with AOL. As one commentator notes, "The move was critical because it forestalled AOL from starting its own auction site and allowed Whitman to continue building the company." (Meg Whitman 1956-)+

She was also responsible for entering into other markets and expanding the interests of the company. She negotiated the purchase of Kruse International, which is a collectible car house, as well as Alando de AG, which is the largest online-auction house in Europe. (Meg Whitman 1956-)

4. Management style

Her approach to business and her attitude to her role as an executive are also referred to as playing an important part in her success. She is known as a decisive leader but also one who "...uses a soft touch." (Top Executive Profiles

Margaret C. Whitman) by this is meant that she understands the importance of developing a spirit of collaboration and involvement with and among her staff. As one study notes, she is "...just as likely to be seen rubbing elbows with eBay sellers as with other high-powered executives." (Top Executive Profiles

Margaret C. Whitman)

If follows as well that she avoids a distant and authoritarian management style. This had led to positive assessments of her character and her leadership style. This also refers to her hands-on approach to dealing with staff and customers.

Through the company's highs and lows, Whitman remained a steadying presence. Her colleagues found her hard working, dedicated, consistently upbeat, and relentlessly optimistic. She met problems head on and sought realistic solutions. At company headquarters in San Jose, she kept in close contact with employees, using a cubicle as an office and, on occasion, fielding phone calls and emails from customers.

Business Biographies: Meg Whitman)

Personality and interests

The type of management style that Whitman displays can possibly be related to her personality and to her commitment to family and those around her. As one study a note, Whitman is family oriented.

A she has an open cubicle in the workplace and is surrounded by family photos and dozens of mementos which she treasures from her past. it's obvious that Meg Whitman has a strong family connection and it's one of the charms about her.

Women Leaders: Meg Whitman)

In essence, Whitman does not fit the stereotypical image of the successful and dynamic CEO. She is more concerned with people and communication and is in constant interactive contact with those around her. As has been suggested above, this is one of the reasons for her success through her contemporary vision for eBay and through an understanding of consumer needs.

Other aspects of her personality that shed light on her particular working style and philosophy are her views relating to motivation and independence. She supports a philosophy of "... giving the people the power and tools to be in control of their own businesses and incomes rather than allowing the government to grow and oversee such aspects of individuals' lives." (Meg Whitman (CEO, eBay) on Mitt Romney)

The glass ceiling.

Mention should also be made of the way that the example set by Whitman is related to the issue of the 'glass ceiling' in business. The debate about the glass ceiling has bedeviled many women entrepreneurs in business. Briefly, this term refers to the obstacles that prevent women form being upwardly mobile in the contemporary corporate world. (Madden, 2000)This is seen as artificial barrier to female advancement up the corporate ladder and the general view is that it has been created to maintain male dominance and hegemony in important business structures. A common definition of the glass ceiling is, an invisible barrier that determines the level to which a woman or other member of a demographic minority can rise in an organization." (Glass Ceiling: definition)