The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

New SAP boss Jennifer Morgan: Free from fear and procrastination

2019-10-11T13:08:34.114Z


Never before has a woman been at the top of one of Germany's largest listed companies. Until now. At the software company SAP, Jennifer Morgan is to take the lead in a dual leadership. Who is the American?



It is a historic day in the German corporate world. Jennifer Morgan is the first woman to head a DAX company. That the 48-year-old American would prevail at SAP, should surprise only outsiders: Morgan brings everything with what it needed for the leap to the top.

This is shown by a look at her CV:

  • In 2004, the business economist and former management consultant changed from smaller competitor Siebel to software giant SAP , This is followed by a quick march through various top jobs within the Group.
  • As Head of the Cloud Business Group, she is responsible for the groundbreaking cloud business, which now earns more money for SAP than the software licensing business.
  • In 2017, Morgan will become President of the Americas and Asia-Pacific Japan regions, responsible for the group strategy for 43,000 employees. In the same year, he is appointed to the SAP Executive Board.
  • Finally, in 2018, the business magazine "Forbes" selects it among the 100 most influential women in the world.
  • And now she will be managing SAP together with the 39-year-old Christian Klein.

With such a steep career in such a short time, some would be dizzy.

But Morgan does not even see her rise as spectacular - rather than logical. "In the Old World, my rise could be described as 'quick'," Morgan said in an interview with the "Philadelphia Inquirer" this spring. "But honestly, I'm not 27 anymore."

"Focus on the people, then the numbers will soon be correct"

With the same sober calculation that can not be duped by old role patterns, Morgan has accelerated her career at SAP. Openness and a stubborn will to change are added, and she does not hesitate: "For me, fear is not part of the corporate world, it hinders you from thinking clearly and being creative," is one of her guiding principles. And: "I believe in providing open and honest feedback to customers and employees right away, and focusing on people when leading a team will soon bring the numbers together."

When Morgan joined SAP in 2004, she was still an exotic in a world of older, white men. That this has meanwhile changed, is also due to their own work. As a member of the Executive Board at SAP, she has been working hard to balance the gender pay gap and better pay women. This and their commitment to more diversity at SAP helped make Fortune, a US magazine, one of the top 100 employers in North America.

But Morgan is not about such pretty titles. It is committed to building a better business with the principle of diversity and constant renewal.

Privately, the mother of two sons also breaks old role models. While she is now responsible for the overall strategy of a company with nearly 100,000 employees, her husband takes care of the two teenagers at home in Newtown (Philadelphia). The number of her trips to Europe and the Walldorf headquarters may increase significantly as CEO, even if Morgan shares the new job at SAP with the German Christian Klein.

Success in the cloud business

However, Morgan did not celebrate her greatest success in the areas of innovation and corporate management, but in the successful conversion of the software giant SAP to the cloud business.

For 50 years, the Walldorf-based company has earned most of its revenues through software licenses. In the meantime, the cloud business is the most important source of revenue. Enormous investment, research, speed and entrepreneurial courage were needed to lead the business units, Ariba, Concur, Qualtrics and HANA, which were responsible for it. The whole thing could have gone awry, the operation was not a job for Zauderer. Morgan passed the test, so Hasso Plattner, the chairman of the supervisory board, found it easy to install the American as the successor of her compatriot Bill McDermott.

"My gratitude goes to Hasso Plattner and the board for the trust we have placed in this first chapter," Morgan thanked on the day of her appointment - but referred in her first statement as co-chief also to the " outstanding and talented colleagues ". She looks forward to continuing the legacy of her predecessor, Bill McDermott - not just within the Group as a complete understatement.

Her most important and difficult task was to ensure that SAP reinvented itself quickly enough, Morgan had said before she was called. Her own determination and stubbornness should help her.

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2019-10-11

You may like

News/Politics 2024-02-12T12:14:20.736Z
News/Politics 2024-02-06T10:31:54.875Z
News/Politics 2024-02-21T10:22:42.136Z

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.