Are You CEO Material?

The year is 1896. You are a successful inventor, and have become wealthy by patenting such inventions as an automatic stock ticker. How do you invest your profits?

Buy stock in railroads, which are expanding rapidly across the country.

Establish a research laboratory for developing new inventions.

Hide your money in a mattress while additional profits roll in.

The year is 1914. Your automobile factory is profitable, but 40 to 60 percent of your employees leave each month. What do you do?

Move your operations to a different country where you take advantage of inexpensive, reliable labor.

Raise wages to twice the industry standard.

Hire large, intimidating "career counselors" to discourage employees from seeking other opportunities.

The year is 1925. Your company operates a chain of movie theaters, and has recently opened a technically sophisticated film studio in Hollywood. How do you continue growing within the motion-picture industry?

Invest in technology that synchronizes a film's soundtrack with the action on screen.

Offer huge salaries to lure top actors from rival studios.

Replace the uncomfortable wooden chairs in your theaters with plush reclining chairs.

The year is 1962. You manage several successful franchises of a variety-store chain, and notice that your discount items are most profitable. You are unable to convince the company leaders to open stores offering only discount items. What do you do?

Take a job at the corporate office and work your way up to a decision-making position from which you can promote your vision.

Find investment partners, buy out the company, and fire the top level of management.

Find investment partners and begin a chain of your own stores, offering only discount items.

The year is 1968. You own several highly profitable waste-collection routes. The government has recently enacted the Solid Waste Disposal Act, increasing standards of hygiene in waste disposal. What do you do?

Hire a team of lobbyists to get the act overturned, recognizing the impossibility of complying with the new standards.

Invest in new, state-of-the-art landfill facilities for your routes.

Establish a nationwide waste-collection company, anticipating the difficulty small, local collection services will face in meeting the new standards.

The year is 1970. You run a billboard-advertising business you inherited from your father, and you are looking to expand in new directions. What do you do?

Buy out billboard-advertising companies in South America's rapidly growing markets.

Purchase a failing local television station and use it as a base for broadcasting low-cost programming nationwide over cable networks.

Purchase a controlling interest in the American Motor Company and ride the success of the AMC Gremlin.

The year is 1976. You are still in college, but together with a friend you have established a software company that is already negotiating deals with major corporations. What do you do?

Complete your degree so corporate executives will treat you more respectfully.

Sell the company to a large computer manufacturer, and use the money to establish a new company after graduation.

Leave school to devote your full time to your company.

The year is 1986. You are a successful talk-show host, and have just achieved national syndication. You want more control over your show, and a greater share of its profits. What do you do?

Threaten to quit the show if you aren't offered a pay raise and greater editorial control.

Join the network's corporate office as director of daytime programming and reinvent the talk-show genre.

Form your own production company and take ownership of distribution rights.

The year is 1994. You are a successful business analyst, and come to think that the mail-order business model could be adapted to online book sales. What do you do?

Quit your job and begin writing fiction to take advantage of the upcoming boom in book sales.

Quit your job, buy out a major book publisher, and restructure its business around online sales.

Quit your job, form relationships with major book wholesalers, and create a Web site allowing customers to order books online.