McCombs TODAY

Eric Hirst, associate dean of the MBA program, launched the VIP Distinguished Speaker Series Sept. 29 in an interview with Stacy Smith, CFO, Intel. Smith has been with Intel since he earned his MBA from McCombs in 1988. Below are a few highlights from the interview.

Smith on Leadership.mp3 (1m24s, 1.4MB)
Smith recommends taking on the tough tasks to stand out among others and to hone leadership skills.

Smith on Constructive Confrontation.mp3 (2m4s, 1.4MB)
Smith talks about the concept of constructive confrontation, which goes back to Intel founder Andy Grove’s days.

Eric Hirst Interviews Stacy Smith.mp3 (47m12s, 45MB)
The entire interview.

EH: Tell us about your first job and how you got on this path that you’re on.

SS: While I was in school here, I got the opportunity to see Steve Jobs speak, and it just struck me that here was a guy in the industry who was really changing the world. After that, my biggest desire was to join Apple and change the world, but, unfortunately, Apple wasn’t hiring so I ended up at Intel. (laughter)

EH: What set you apart from your peers at Intel?

SS: At Intel our history is that the people who do best in finance do best because they’re strong operationally. The finance position is like an assitant general manager, so I’d say a lot of it is common sense and having a good business head on your shoulders.

EH: What are some of the challenges that have to do with a U.S. company doing business abroad, where business practices may sometimes even conflict with laws that we have here?

SS: At Intel we only have one way of doing business. We only have one code of conduct that applies everywhere in the world that we operate. Everywhere that we operate we want to do the right things right. What that means is to operate at the highest level of integrity and give back to the communities that we operate in. All of that is a stricter, tighter guideline than just complying with the laws.

EH: Did you have anything happen when you worked internationally that really just surprised you?

SS: When I was in Malaysia I had a factory manager come into my office. He looked a bit sheepish, and he said that he had a problem. When I asked how I could help, he said “Well, I have a ghost in the factory,” which is not a problem I had run into in Arizona. The reason this was a problem was because with the bad feng shui in the building, the ghost could get in but couldn’t get out, and this wasn’t very good for productivity with the operators.

There was a guy that could come in and get rid of the ghost for us, but he cost about $500. I suggested we pay out of our own pockets so there was nothing in Intel paperwork that says we paid for an exorcism. Then the finance manager in the next cube popped his head up and said “No this guy is an authorized contractor. We’ve used him before.”

That was one of those days that when you go home and your family asks how your day was and you say “I just don’t even know how to describe it.”

EH: How did you develop your leadership skills?

SS: It hasn’t been a conscious journey. As I think back, I have been pretty fearless. I’ve taken jobs that other people would think twice about taking, and I think that does a couple of things. If you do those jobs well, it causes you to stand out no matter what level you are in the organization. Also, just by their nature the hard jobs are the ones that hone your skills.