Setting Your Organization's Ethics | Can Raising Wages Translate To Shareholder Value? | Tory Burch On Leading Through The Pandemic

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Shifts in the C-suite continued this past week, notably at Wendy’s and Marsh and McLennan, which each announced new CIOs. And with the appointment of a new CFO named at Nasdaq, Ann Dennison, the stock exchange becomes the fifth S&P 500 company to have women helming the CFO and CEO roles.

In this week’s CxO newsletter, we also spotlight trends in talent and culture development—key areas for all executives to prioritize, now more than ever—including building ethical organizations and creating winning teams.

And a new study from the Conference Board, in partnership with the Business Council, shows that a majority of CEOs are optimistic about the economic environment, writes Forbes Assistant Editor Christian Kreznar. Their level of confidence jumped sharply in the final month of the third quarter. Interestingly, the survey found that 80% of respondents believe that pandemic-fueled digital transformation will be one of the greatest silver linings of this crisis, while nearly half anticipate longer-term changes in corporate communication, transparency and structure.

Certainly, 2020 has been a year for the record books, and C-level executives continue to make decisions that not only respond to but drive the changes that are for now and for what’s next.

This digest of Forbes content is your weekly touchpoint as you negotiate internal, external and cultural factors. We hope you find it useful, and let us know what else you’d like to see here.

Comings & Goings

Effective March 1, Nasdaq’s chief accounting officer, Ann Dennison, will take over as the company’s chief financial officer. With Dennison’s appointment, Nasdaq will become the fifth S&P 500 company to have women as CEO and CFO.

Kevin Vasconi, who led Domino’s digital transformation during his eight-year stint as the pizza chain’s CIO, has found a new home at Wendy’s. Can he make lightning strike twice?

Marsh and McLennan Companies has appointed Paul Beswick as its new CIO, effective January 1. Beswick, a two-decade veteran of Oliver Wyman, currently serves as the insurance brokerage and risk-management firm’s deputy CIO.

Talent & Culture

Along with managing risks, setting timelines and devolving responsibilities, members of executive teams need to purposefully communicate clear codes of conduct and ethics to employees. Public trust in businesses is flagging; ethical organizations can restore it.

Leaders looking to build effective, motivated teams would do well to set expectations. Even more important, however, is earning the respect of employees. Show workers you’ll fight for them, and they’ll return the favor.

One way to strengthen those relationships: Fellowships. Temporary positions that reward learning and innovation, fellowships are known to foster authentic relationships and encourage long-term behavioral changes.

By The Numbers

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The portion of small business owners who were unsure if they would be able to pay insurance premiums after August.

Now that a second stimulus package has become a political football and likely won’t be passed until after the election, small businesses have found themselves in increasingly dire straits.

Money & Markets

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing it of monopolistic practices in its search engine and advertising businesses. The lawsuit is part of the Justice Department’s larger antitrust campaign against tech giants such as Amazon and Facebook.

A new study from the Conference Board finds that the CEOs of major companies are far more optimistic about the economy than they were in August. However, those same chief executives also largely anticipate downsizing and slow wage growth.

President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden sparred over raising the minimum wage during Thursday evening’s debate, with Trump insisting that it would be disastrous for businesses. But new research finds that raising wages doesn’t harm shareholder value.

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