Written by:
Emily Eitches

Spotlight on the Seminar Series: How to Succeed in a Changing Corporate World

After a brief Occupy Princeton encounter, Business Today welcomed Tom Quinlan for a conversation on how to succeed in today’s changing business world. Mr. Quinlan joined RR Donnelley in 2004 and now serves as CEO, President, and Director. RR Donnelley is the world’s largest commercial printing company, well known for printing the Harry Potter series. Mr. Quinlan was accompanied by Miss Julie Jalelian, Managing Director for Bank of America. Both the commercial printing industry and the financial services industry face many difficulties in the continuously changing corporate world.

Mr. Quinlan emphasized that he wanted this seminar to be as interactive as possible. He opened by asking the audience who planned on working for a corporation after graduation. Nearly every one of the students in the audience raised their hands. Teach for America, academic research, and a few other unsure shrugs were expressed, but Mr. Quinlan emphasized that the work force will be increasingly competitive in the coming years. 

Mr. Quinlan describes RR Donnelly as the “largest smallest corporation.” In such a company, in any company, it is important to be able to work with others around you. Social media may be a blessing, but Mr. Quinlan warns us that in today’s Internet world, everything you’ve done in your past is going to be considered. 

Mrs. Jalelian continued to speak on the topic of staying afloat in a changing finance world. Mrs. Jalelian began her career with an internship at the UN. She then served in Cameroon in the Peace Corps. She then began working in a banking position at Bank Boston, serving first in global markets, then in the media-telecom group. The media-telecom industry was first hit after the Internet boom with the onset of 9/11. This was Mrs. Jaleian’s first encounter with massive corporate lay-offs. Despite all the movement and merging going around, she stayed very close with her clients. Spring of ’08 was probably the last time that corporate America felt the easy access to capital. September of ’08 shocked the banking industry and Mrs. Jalelian described when Bank of America was hit quite hard. Many of her colleagues were laid off after the merger with Merrill Lynch. “It was as if this big earthquake had struck,” she described. Mrs. Jalelian emphasizes that it is continually important to always push yourself out of your comfort zone. She also advises finding good mentors. In the end of the day it really is all about personal relationships and building on those personal relationships. 

Mr. Quinlan then added to Mrs. Jalelian’s point that everyday you should do something out of your comfort zone. You might not want to, but it is important to always push yourself. You also have to learn from your intuition and learn from the experiences that you’ve had.

When asked about the profitability of print media, Mr. Quinlan explained that the physical distribution of content is still there. But, media has taken different forms. The electronic distribution of content is increasing. Magazines have evolved from direct-mail pieces to the electronic medium. RR Donnelly is one of the best in the world at physical distribution of content, but Mr. Quinlan admits that they must increase their electronic distribution of content.

Another student asked what trends can be seen in the publishing world. Mr. Quinlan sees that each one of us is a publisher now. With publishing books, content is the most important. What do people want to read? What do people want to know? Certain writers don’t even need publishers anymore because of the social media aspect that is out there today. Publishers are in a bit of a quandary.

One student asked for advice on what to do to climb the corporate ladder. Mrs. Jalelian answered, “It is all about team and relationships.” It goes without being said that one has to work hard and do his or her job, but you are always working on a team and you need to figure out that role. The people who are most successful really genuinely love what they’re doing. Ultimately, people want to be around people who are positive.

Image courtesy of LouisPagan.com