M: Business 3rd Edition by O. C. Ferrell, Geoffrey Hirt, Linda Ferrell

Exercise 90

In 2009 Ursula Burns became the first black female CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation when she took over the top position at Xerox. Burns credits her rise from intern to CEO to hard work. While she admits that Xerox’s support of diversity probably helped her at the beginning of her career, Burns’s straightforward style and strong work ethic helped her rise to the top.

Raised in poverty by a single mother who worked hard so that her children could attend private school, Burns learned the value of hard work at an early age. She first went to work at Xerox as an intern in 1980 and never left the company. Burns was quickly promoted, finally becoming president in 2007. Thanks to her no-nonsense management style, Burns helped Xerox find success by improving efficiency and customer service.

According to her peers, Burns has all the skills necessary to successfully lead Xerox as the company’s top manager: technical expertise and conceptual, analytical, and human relations skills. Burns will need these skills in coming years. During the last economic recession, Xerox faced losses as customers purchased less and product prices fell. People and businesses are also beginning to use less paper as they move from copies to e-mail to share information. However, Burns has a strong history of innovation and is making plans to expand Xerox’s capabilities.

One of her strategies is to adjust the company’s corporate culture. She hopes to use the downturn as a time to encourage her employees worldwide to become more independent and self-managing. Her goal is to establish trust between herself and her workers, empowering them to make the right decisions on their own. Burns’s shared commitment to both employees and innovation may be just what Xerox needs to point the company in a new direction.

What kind of skills do you think are most useful to Ursula Burns as CEO of Xerox?

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UB was on summer internship at company X and with her excellent skills she turned this internship into a full-time employment. Her talent and skills made her the CEO at the same company and she be acme the first black American women leading the Fortune 500 company. Her success story is a lesson to learn that how education can be used to forge a successful career.