The end came at a ghost hour: Seven minutes before midnight, software company SAP said it would part with Jennifer Morgan, the first woman to ever run a Dax company in the history of the Federal Republic. Her guest appearance as boss in Europe’s most valuable IT group lasted just half a year.
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It was only in October that the US manager, together with the German Christian Klein, came to the top of SAP in a night and fog campaign. Chairman of the supervisory board and company co-founder Hasso Plattner had flown the two to California, explaining to them that they would part with company boss Bill McDermott. He asked her to take the wheel. Both were surprised, but they don’t say no to Hasso Plattner. It was an honor to be able to follow in his footsteps, and a double leadership was exactly what a global company needs today, it was said at the time. “I am sure that we could not have made a better choice,” Plattner praised his decision. SAP was celebrated worldwide for having promoted a woman to the top.
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On Tuesday night, at 0.47 a.m., the approximately 100,000 SAP employees again received mail from the SAP silverback. “Experience shows that things don’t always go according to plan in private and business life,” the 76-year-old writes to everyone in his explanatory email. “The world as we know it has been turned upside down by a virus that affects our lives, work, families, and businesses in an unpredictable way.” In these times, the co-CEO model was no longer the right one: “This crisis is incomparable and makes speed, clarity and determination urgently necessary,” said Plattner. “For the benefit of our company and our customers, we have therefore decided that we need a single board spokesman to guide us through this time.”
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Read an interview with Morgan from November 2019 here:
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Why Klein and not Morgan?
Plattner does not explain why he chose Klein. From his decision it can be deduced that he does not trust Morgan “speed, clarity and determination” less than Klein. The woman, who has been with the Group since 2004 and the Executive Board since 2017, will leave the company on April 30th. “She is stepping down from her role, Plattner writes, but the speed of her departure suggests that he is forced.
Or was it too good at all too quickly? “I would like to express my deep gratitude to Jennifer. Together with Christian, she implemented decisive changes faster than expected.” Well done, out with you? The group denies that there was a power struggle in the top two. Morgan will “always remain part of the SAP family,” Plattner writes: “Jennifer, I wish you all the best for your next steps.” SAP will benefit from its achievements for many years to come.
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The decision back to the model of a sole spokesman for the board was made earlier than planned due to the corona crisis, reports SAP. In fact, there was no question of implementing the dual leadership in the foreseeable future. The virus does not seem to be a good reason for this radical personnel decision either. The software company continues to work relatively normally, 95 percent of its workforce worldwide can easily work from home.
The news of Morgan’s departure was flanked by the clear profits in the first quarter: the Baden company earned 811 million euros. Although the business with new licenses has decreased by around 30 percent, Klein and CFO Luka Mucic are optimistic about the future. Thanks to the rapidly growing cloud business and the monthly recurring revenues, SAP is resilient to crises.
The 39-year-old Klein now leads alone
It is unlikely that you will find out why the decision was made to choose Klein instead of the more experienced Morgan, just as little as the reasons that led to McDermott’s hasty departure a few months ago. The group is used to the fact that management personnel hyped by Plattner can quickly fall out of favor again, that crown princes are suddenly dismissed and bosses are dethroned like a coup.
From now on, 39-year-old Christian Klein alone leads Germany’s most valuable DAX group. He is considered deliberate, humble and down-to-earth, a real change to the dazzling seller McDermott, who could sometimes cover up problems with the big appearance. Klein recently brought technology-savvy 35-year-old Thomas Saueressig to the board, who, like him, studied in Mannheim and grew up at SAP. After the excursion to American management methods, the Baden software giant seems to rely more on its roots again.
“Christian, the company and I count on you,” Plattner writes. “We know that you are leading us through these turbulent times, from which we will emerge stronger. You can rely on our support.” Will the CEO let these assurances sleep peacefully?
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