Follow the Leader: Patricia Woertz and Meg Whitman
Femme-O-Nomics follows the ups — and downs — of today’s female captains of industry. Here is the latest on Patricia Woertz and Meg Whitman.
ADM Profits Take a Plunge – The Financial Times
It was a rough and challenging quarter for Archer Daniels Midland, one of the major players worldwide of agriculture commodities trading as its quarterly earnings from July to September of 2012 took a plunge. A report by Javier Blas of The Financial Times blames the 60 percent drop in profits to a decline in U.S. corn supplies, one of ADM’s main sources of revenue. Chairman and chief executive Patricia Woertz says that it has been a “complicated quarter, challenged by the drought” but they are now “implementing plans to navigate the tight U.S. crop supply.” Compared to the same period last year where ADM earned $460m, the food commodity trader only registered earnings of $182m in the recent quarter. Despite the financial setbacks, expansion operations still continue as Woertz and her company recently proposed an all-cash takeover of Australia’s GrainCorp.
Partners’ Goodwill for Whitman Starting to Drain – CDN
Jeff Jedras, guest columnist for CDN thinks that the “reservoir of goodwill” that HP CEO Meg Whitman had when she first accepted the post may be running out as partners wait for signs that her turnaround plan is working. When she took over the embattled company after Leo Apotheker’s “turbulent and unpopular” rein, she had the partners’ good graces and support on her side. But while she promised partner-friendly changes, all that she seems to be delivering now are “bad news and massive executive shakeups.” Whitman has blamed the “multiple changes in CEOs” as the “single biggest challenge facing Hewlett-Packard.” She says that this is the reason why “it’s going to take longer to right this ship.” But Jedras think it’s about time that the CEO starts shouldering some responsibility. He thinks that the “ill-advised musings about HP getting back…. into the smartphone business…. the departure of seasoned executives and the divisional re-organization that flipped the company’s approach to channel support” are lapses that can only be blamed on Whitman.
HP Unveils New Printers – The Wall Street Journal
Ben Worthen of The Wall Street Journal reports that HP is set to launch a new line of printers specifically for businesses. Set to be unveiled this Tuesday, the new printers are said to be “multifunction machines that combine standard printers with scanners and software to manage electronic documents.” The printers, its “new product lineup in seven years” in the words of CEO Meg Whitman, are among the first results of her efforts to put more money in research and development. Compared to rival IBM who spent 5.8 percent of its revenues on R & D last year, HP only allotted 2.6 percent. Priced at around $2,500 to $3,000, HP’s latest printer models will hopefully revive its struggling printer business. Todd Bradley HP’s overseer of printer and personal computer businesses predicts that their multifunction printers would “make progress” in sales within a year’s time.
Category: News In Review
