CWT Exec To Grow Global Biz

<I>Fort Lauderdale</I> - Now that Carlson Wagonlit Travel has finalized its new global entity, it has hired global strategist Mylle Mangum to transform the vision to reality.

However, Mangum sees her role as senior vice president of expense management and strategic planning for CWT's global business travel operation in much more pragmatic terms than strategic planner. She prefers the term "strategic management" and explained that "everybody's job is to put together the strategy and live it day by day."

Mangum is charged with growing the company's travel management business around the globe. She reports to Travis Tanner, president and CEO of the worldwide business travel organization.

Foremost on her to-do list is deploying CWT's corporate card globally.

Although CWT and Household are delivering the card in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, Carlson must team with another card issuer or issuers to bring the card to other countries. The task has taken much longer than anticipated, due in part, insiders contend, to the fact that no one was officially tasked with global deployment. That's changed with the hiring of Mangum, along with the promotion of Ed Surko, who directed the card rollout in North America, to global card director.

"We can't underestimate the competitive marketplace and global nature of it today," Mangum said of her new task, "but growth is my shtick." Particularly, international growth.

Mangum comes to CWT from Holiday Inn Worldwide, where she served on the company's board and capital committee and directed strategic and marketing efforts worldwide. Prior to HI, she spent seven years at BellSouth, including as president of BellSouth International, and 13 years at General Electric, where she was responsible for 21 worldwide manufacturing plants and oversaw systems operation for GE units including high technology. She was involved in financial services products at both GE and BellSouth.