For any executive, the first 100 days (F100D) of a new role are fraught with anxiety.

The greatest businessmen throughout history understood – almost instinctively – what people would value and why, and then delivered it as simply and as easily as possible.

Even great companies lose their way. Consider Procter & Gamble. By the late 1990s, P&G was one of the best known, most successful and most admired companies in the world.

From the vision of Apple to the insight of Zara, the passion of Nike and the customisation of Dell, today's leading brands think and act differently.

In may 2005, Coldplay's single 'Speed of Sound' went straight into the top ten of the US charts – the first time a British group had achieved this feat since the Beatles with 'Hey Jude' 37 years before.

Depending on which papers you read, and when you read them, this year's holiday trading period was either retailing's salvation or damnation.