"I did not feel that Pearson had any expectations of the chiefs following the trips," Mr. Melmer said.
The public markets–in particular, the public equity markets–have failed to live up to the expectations of dozens of chief executive officers who took their companies public in the last five years.
Moreover, Mr. Wexler said, "the expectations for chiefs are higher than ever, because of the new belief that chiefs can do something about reducing crime".
Investor confidence was shaken in April when GE's weak first-quarter results and lowered 2008 expectations came on the heels of Chief Executive Jeff Immelt Jeff Immelt 's sunny confidence during a shareholder Webcast and in his annual letter.
The interest rate on the 10-year note does not change solely because of investors' expectations of inflation, said David A. Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor's DRI.
The bids that BankUnited and its adviser, Goldman Sachs, had received came in well below the expectations of the firm's chief executive, John Kanas, according to a person briefed on the matter.
"We are confident of delivering a year of good growth slightly ahead of our previous expectations," said Roger Whiteside, chief executive of Greggs.
Expectations of public chairs and their chief executives have, arguably, never been greater.
"People have high expectations of their usage," said Brian Sharples, chief executive of HomeAway, which runs several vacation rental Web sites.
"Right now there is a disconnect between the run-up in tech stocks and the technology spending expectations of C.I.O.'s," said Edward Yardeni, chief investment strategist at Prudential Securities.
