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Steve Jobs shows no signs of retiring any time soon, but Jess McMullin, who runs the great Business+Design blog, thinks ahead and pre-emptively wraps his head around Apple's succession planning. In an open letter to the Apple board, he urges the directors to consider Jonathan Ive, Apple's SVP of industrial design, as Jobs' successor, if need be. (Mullin was obviously inspired by Bruce Nussbaum's "CEOs Must Be Designers, Not Just Hire Them" post several months ago.)

Jonathan Ive

(Credit: Apple)

And yet--a designer as CEO? (Wearing the marketing hat for a renowned design consultancy, I am posing this question as innocently as I can without getting harassed by my creative colleagues.....)

McMullin: "It's not that there's no talent in the C-suites at Apple. But those people are well-oiled parts of the Steve-machine. They do their work to enable Jobs to do his. They're amazing catalysts for Steve's chemistry, and because of this they will never have the independent vision to provide continued market leadership. You might argue that Jonathan Ive is no different. But that's not true: he's a designer who taps into the wells of unmet consumer need that fuel Apple's ongoing growth. With the exception of Steve himself, he's tuned to the zeitgeist that determines winners more than anyone else at Apple. Moreover, he's able to articulate that vision with consistent grace and precise execution. He's got a track record of hitting home runs. If you want to keep the innovation leadership that makes Apple, well, Apple, then you've got to have the driver's seat firmly bolted to the flow of trend, meaning, and consequence. That's the domain of Design, and Jonathan Ive is your Designer."

McMullin may have a point, but in the subsequent paragraphs of his letter, he sort of backtracks. "Of course," he concedes, "he [Ive] may not turn out to be the consummate sales guy that you need to sell dreams to the switchers of tomorrow, or keep the Apple legions loyal." And "he'll need coaching to round out his business fluency." And of course "he'll need a strong team of C-level support."

In other words: maybe what Jonathan Ive needs is an MBA? Maybe it's not such a good idea to lift a designer into the chief executive chair after all? Maybe there's still a vast gulf between managing design and managing a business? Maybe design is "more than just style" but business is also more than just design?

No man (or woman) is an island, but I think some CEOs behave as if they're God's gift to corporate America. And what do we do to discourage that perception? Not much, I'm afraid. You don't think they get way up on those pedestals all by themselves, do you?

Lest we forget, CEOs are hired by their boards to lead a staff of highly qualified individuals in managing an enterprise. Yes, they are ultimately responsible for corporate performance--for which they are typically well compensated--but by no means are they solely responsible.

In fact, most CEOs have little or no direct or line responsibility for operating or administrative functions; those are typically handled by other executive officers. Exceptions are either temporary or dysfunctional, in my opinion.

In any case, this post is not about culpability and I don't wish to confuse the issue with facts. Dysfunctional behavior runs rampant in the executive ranks. Rather than try to be a shrink, I thought I'd provide some much needed feedback and unsolicited, practical advice to help CEOs cope...also to help us cope with them. ... Read more

Printing has long been one of Hewlett-Packard's most reliable businesses, but recent moves show the company is trying to adapt to the very mobile and Web-centric world of documents.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-PC maker laid out its new plan to focus on the intersection of printing and the Web at an event last week in New York. After the glut of announcements regarding its new Printing 2.0 campaign, HP said Tuesday it has chosen someone to lead a new unit devoted to this effort.

David Murphy, 45, has been appointed senior vice president of the newly formed Web Services and Software unit within HP's Imaging and Printing Group. Murphy was formerly the chief financial officer at Mercury Interactive, the management software company purchased last year by HP for $4.5 billion.

Murphy will oversee all Web services and software groups within IPG, which is largely made up of small private companies cherry-picked by HP over the last two years: online photo service Snapfish (acquired in 2005), Web-based printing software Tabblo (acquired in March), online design service company Logoworks (acquired in April).

Hmmm, which would you choose?

Sitting in a dreary classroom to bone up on an MBA, or stretched out in an easy chair honing your business leadership skills while engaged in a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)?

A study released by IBM and collaboration software maker Seriosity found significant parallels between business leaders and MMORPG gamers.

MMORPG games, which include World of Warcraft, Eve Online and EverQuest, can include millions of players who come together in various groups to accomplish a specific mission or task.

Gamers learn collaboration, self-organization, risk taking, openness, influence and how to earn incentives when involved in a MMORPG, according to a study of 200 members of IBM's internal gaming community.

"Smart organizations are recognizing valued employees who play online games and apply their skills and experiences as virtual leaders to their 'real world' jobs," says Jim Spohrer, IBM Research Center's director of services research.

Half of survey participants said playing MMORPGs improved their "real world" leadership skills, while 4 out of 10 surveyed indicated they have applied such game leadership techniques to the workplace.

The survey found that leadership roles are far more fleeting among MMORPG players than in the real world. Leadership is viewed as a role an individual plays to accomplish a specific task, rather than one that remains for an indefinite duration.

"The implications of this for corporate settings are obvious," the study notes. "Given the rapid pace of change in today's global business environment, the need for this kind of leadership flexibility is apparent, having the option of swapping leaders in and out, depending on the task, the time frame of a project and the skill sets of the available team members."

The study notes, however, that MMORPGs also can identify those with exceptional relationship skills, managers who can build a large group of direct reports and keep them headed in the correct direction for longer periods of time.

All this may be prove new hunting grounds for executive recruiters, who may turn to MMORPGs for their next assignment.

In the midst of a federal investigation into its accounting practices, Dell has appointed a new chief accounting officer, Thomas Sweet.

Sweet, formerly Dell's vice president of finance for the public sector, succeeds Joan Hooper in the role. Hooper's new title is vice president of finance for the Americas region.

A Dell representative called Hooper's new assignment part of the company's rotation of executives and a "restructuring of its global finance leadership team," and would not comment on whether the move is related to the current Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the company's accounting practices.

Dell's internal investigation into the matter turned up "evidence of misconduct," the company reported in late March.

The PC maker has undergone several leadership changes in the past months, beginning with the departure of CFO Jim Schneider in December. Then in late January, Kevin Rollins left and was replaced as CEO by company founder Michael Dell. Shortly after, John Hamlin, head of global online and brand marketing, also left the company.