Name: Jojie A.

Dador Course & Year: BSBA 3rd Year

Subject: CBMEC: Strategic Management MIDTERM Examination

World Greatest Strategists

Strategic Guides:

1. Study the biography of Richard Anderson, CEO of Delta Airlines. Include his childhood, if there is
something significant, his interests, his educational attainment, professional and career
orientation, and other facts that might have contributed to the success he is enjoying now.

Anderson was born in 1955 in Galveston, Texas. His father worked as an office worker for the
Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Both his parents died of cancer when he was 19, leaving
him to take care of his two younger sisters.1
He took jobs as a ditch digger and plumber's assistant to support them and began pursuing an
undergraduate degree at Texas Tech and the University of Houston, from which he graduated in
1977 with a degree in political science.2 In 1982, he graduated from South Texas College of Law
with a Juris Doctorate degree and took a job in the prosecutor’s office in Harris County, Texas.
Anderson had no aims toward a corporate career, but in 1987 he applied for an open position at
Continental Airlines in their legal department. Anderson was hired and served as the company’s
legal representative for a crash that took place, putting Anderson in the industry spotlight.1

In 1990, Anderson took a job with Northwest Airlines as the deputy general counsel, specializing
in labor issues and government regulations, a position that provided him a deep knowledge of
the workings of the company and the airline industry in general.

2. Study the beginnings of Delta Airlines, the challenges it encountered through the years, and its
journey toward success.
- By 2001, he worked his way up the corporate ladder to the company’s CEO position. It was a
critical time for the airline and the industry as a whole. Anderson immediately had to
contend with a recessionary economy, declining revenue, expensive labor contracts, and the
aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
- In 2004, Anderson left Northwest Airlines and the airline industry entirely to accept a job at
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) as executive vice president. In 2005, he took over the role of CEO
of UnitedHealth's data subsidiary, Ingenix, and also was president of the company's New
Commercial Services Group. By 2007, it looked as if Anderson might be in line to take over
the role of CEO. However, in another surprise move, Anderson left his $4.3 million a year job
at UnitedHealth Group to return to the airline industry.
- In April 2007, Anderson joined the board of directors for Delta Air Lines, a time when the
company was just emerging from bankruptcy. By August 2007, he was tapped for Delta's
CEO job. With his experience with both Northwest and Delta, he was able to successfully
bring them both together to form the world’s largest airline in 2008 in a merger valued at
$2.6 billion.
Name: Jojie A. Dador Course & Year: BSBA 3rd Year
Subject: CBMEC: Strategic Management MIDTERM Examination

3. From the management, result-driven, practical, and inspirational strategies implemented by

Anderson at Delta Airlines, which struck you as something worth imitating? Explain your answer.

Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson is obviously a contrarian who is seen in the industry as brilliant, an
incredible operator, unafraid and strategic.

He is also perceived as arrogant, provocative and completely unapologetic about what he feels is best
for Delta, its employees, customers and shareholders.

AirwaysNews.com spoke with aviation observers on Anderson’s bold moves, his drive to change the
industry’s business model, his lone wolf status and his legacy.

Henry Harteveldt, founder and travel industry analyst and advisor at Atmosphere Research Group, says
that Anderson’s story at Delta is overwhelmingly positive.

“Richard has helped oversee one of the three most important changes — making it a business
powerhouse in the airline business — behind the carrier’s evolution after deregulation and handling the
aftermath of the 9/11 attacks,” he said. “The fact that American Airlines views Delta as a primary
challenger says an awful lot about the impact of Richard and his team.”