On Wednesday night, April 24, Fairfield dressed in its best to welcome the broadcasting of “The Charlie Rose Show,” as part of the 2nd Annual Dolan lecture series, featuring a conversation between Emmy-winning journalist Charlie Rose, and Chairman and CEO of AT’T, C. Michael Armstrong.
In the sea of Fairfield students and faculty one could see ex-Andersen CEO and alum Joe Berardino along with Charles and Helen Dolan. The Dean of the School of Business, Dr. Norm Solomon opened the program, stressing his enthusiasm to “bring business to campus.” Father Aloysius Kelley, S.J. referred to “The Charlie Rose Show ” as “the last refuge of intelligent conversation on television.”
There was a relaxed, yet captivating ambiance resonating through the Kelley Theater as the two gentlemen began the segment. Rose first focused his questions on the state of AT’T when Armstrong took the helm in 1997 after his tenure at IBM and Hughes Electronics.
“When you came in 1997, what did you find in this great American company?” Rose asked. Armstrong, collected and articulate, responded, “AT’T was an American icon. It was the center of families, the center of commerce. When you were a child, you’re mother would yell at you: ‘shut up your dad is on long distance!’
Now AT’T is becoming more service based, high speed, globally based, with 3.5 million digital cable customers.” Armstrong explained that the current AT’T is not the company that our parents remember. Often throughout the segment, Armstrong referred to the emotional attachment Americans have with the name ‘AT’T.’ During the Question and Answer period following the interview, one man referred to the emotions he felt while in China, when he picked up a phone and heard, “AT’T, how may I help you?”
Business Professor Winston Tellis said of Armstrong, “I thought he provided a great deal of information from different perspectives: from a managerial perspective where he talked about strategic decisions, and from a technical perspective. I learned something as a person, as a manager and as a technician. I was impressed with him.”
Armstrong spoke about the strategic decisions he had to make in order to keep AT’T with the pace of technological change. As a CEO, he sponsored the idea of AT’T splitting into four smaller companies, due to the wide range of services the company offered. This idea “did not go over well with Wall Street” and is in part responsible for the company’s current state of deterioration, with 19 percent systematic decline in its long distance service.
On the technical side, Armstrong expounded upon Broadband Technology and the promise that it will replace much technology, as we know it. Broadband, which he says is “available to 70 percent of the U.S,” costs around $42 a month and is being accepted faster than color TV, radios, and CDs. With a 12 percent penetration in two years, broadband will enable consumers to facilitate video-on-demand, as well as cable and Internet. Armstrong said that with broadband, “information is going to be like electricity.”
Armstrong addressed the layoff of some 30,000 AT’T employees, his view on the Enron issue, the future of telecom, the effect of 9/11 on business, and the competitiveness of the United States in this technological field. “The U.S. will unquestionably lead this revolution because we can adapt to change. There are two billion websites in the U.S… We are unrivaled in U.S. history… I don’t think we will ever fall behind.”
Student participation in this event was less than satisfactory, with only two out of 150 students in a particular Networking class of Professor Tellis’, but those students in attendance made their presence known during the Question and Answer period and all the students gained something intellectual from the segment.
“I thought Mr. Armstrong provided some insight into the decisions a CEO of a major corporation needs to make, and how those decisions affect us as consumers,” said Sean McGowan, ’02, a business student.
These positive feelings were resounded by professors and deans alike, with special mention of Charlie Rose. Tellis mentioned the fact that he has “a great deal of respect for [Rose]. Every single night, unlike the Jay Leno’s on television, he speaks one on one in depth for an hour in a different field each night.” Guests on “The Charlie Rose Show” have included Nelson Mandela, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Michael J. Fox, and George W. Bush.
Last year, the University sponsored former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, moderated by the editor of Fortune. What is the future of the Dolan lecture series? Only time will tell, as Dr. Solomon reflects, “the better we get now, the better [the speakers] will get in the future.”
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