PERCY BARNEVIK: CHAIRMAN, ABB ASEA BROWN BOVERI; ZURICH

WE DON'T NEED ANY MORE BRIGHT IDEAS. IN BUSINESS, SUCCESS IS 5% STRATEGY, 95% EXECUTION.

Percy Barnevik is in full flight, his long arms flinging one transparency after another onto the overhead projector to show figures from the latest European Union study on global competitiveness. "Pitiful," he snaps at one slide on Europe's low investment in Southeast Asia. "We are clearly losing ground," he says, slapping down a chart on the dwindling European share of world trade. When he finishes his downbeat presentation at the E.U. headquarters in Brussels, a reporter asks if he has any fresh proposals to solve the problems. "We don't need any more bright ideas. There are lots of them around," he...

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