UK: London, 23 April 2009

Organisations need to create deeper connections with all their key stakeholders customers, shareholders and employees in order to succeed, believes Barry Gibbons, the former global CEO of Burger King. Speaking to an audience of leading IT executives at the "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" Fujitsu Executive Discussion Evening in London, he urged, "Understand that you can't cut your way to a sustainable connection with your customers. To emerge healthier, leaner, fitter and wiser, you have to deliver more, of better, with less."

Gibbons, who earned the title "Turnaround Champ" from Fortune magazine for reviving the troubled Burger King, also urged businesses to retain strong leadership that is prepared to call on personal intuition at critical times. "Decision making is becoming almost automated," he said. "You can model anything these days. But avoiding risks is clogging up the private sector. If you're going to lead your company in a different direction, you need to use your instincts."

Speaking at the same event, Richard Reeve, director of Demos, the independent think-tank, warned that the core ingredients he believes are essential for institutional resilience - solidarity, energy and autonomy - are being challenged by the current economic climate. "All three get threatened by downturns," he said. "But if we don't carry on doing them, well pay the price."

About Fujitsu Executive Discussion Evenings

EDEs are executive forums featuring leading industry speakers and tackling board-level issues. Over 30 EDEs ran in 2008 across the UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Ireland and Spain.