The Time Has Come....

SAP, founded in June 1972, when Dietmar, Klaus, Hans-Werner, Claus and Hasso departed IBM when they were told the software they had all been working on was no longer needed and so they started their own company - SAP.

We all need to pay highest recognition for what these individuals achieved and the great company that was created.

But the time has come for the remaining two founders and specifically Hasso to completely step away from the management, operation, executive selection, strategy, etc.... and allow new leadership take over SAP, Times have changed from what they were in 1972 and so must SAP also evolve - which as long as the legacy founders are running the company and selecting the C-Level executives we will be stuck in the past.

Yes, Hasso removed Punit Renjen ( even before he officially took over as Supervisory Board Chairmen), but why did he do this. Because Renjen was prepared to make significant changes ( whatever they may have been?) and Hasso was not supportive.

And then what did he do? He installed another puppet who was a protege of Hasso and on SAP Board since 2002 - Pekka Ala-Pietila. The issue is not who are the individuals in C level positions BUT rather WHO is putting them in such positions.
This type of oversight and control is simply what IS NOT NEEDED AT THIS TIME.

Look, the issue driving our latest survey results down to 59% when measuring confidence in the Board, is the Board itself ! And CK, Asam,etc.. are all in Clevel positions for one reason = Hasso. Until we get leadership who is responsible for selecting the best and most talented key people AND holds them accountable, we will not see any improvement.

Yes, all congrats go to the founders of SAP for what they achieved, but the time has come for them to move on and allow new talent that has domain experience and is capable of running a company the size and breadth of SAP. We no longer can afford to just have hand picked people by Hasso who really have no outside C Level experience running the company - or we will all be on the outside looking in. Yes, the time has come and the time is now.

#Accountability #ChangeManagement #Culture #ExecutiveTeam #Leadership

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SAP has two types of customers: 1. Those that buy the software, and 2. The ‘Investors’. Shame on Hasso for allowing CK and his posse to focus on the second one, whilst employees dedicated to the software clients are removed to the detriment of those clients

I suspect that as long as Hasso is involved, Dietmar will stay invested. Therefore I don't see a path on which Hasso will depart on his own. Between himself and Dietmar they have about 10 % of the stock.

In the end, I think it is very difficult to walk away from something that you started and something that has been as successful as SAP.

But I do agree the founders need to step away. Their strength was in starting a company and creating the SW on which it could succeed. The skills needed to now run SAP are very different and when combined with the inexperience of the Executive Board, we will struggle.

Bravo! Well observed. I have worked for established companies, start-ups and companies in transition - and one thing that an astute CEO once said resonated with me; different stages of a company's lifecycle require different types of leaders. The maverick who successfully launches a startup is not the best fit for the more regulated and structured environment post IPO, for example. SAP needs new leadership, there is no doubt. Doing the same thing when the market is telling you, and the employees are practically demanding (see new SAP employee survey already reported on Bloomberg regarding trust in the Board), new leadership is required is only going to result in a slow death march to oblivion. Sadly, I think DA is committed to the McKinsey cost-cutting, slash and burn strategy and if he can't get you to leave through voluntary programs, you will be performance managed out, or you will become so disheartened by leadership, or the impossibility of meeting goals, that you will finally give up and leave - which is presumably what he wants. SAP is sustainable raking in maintenance fees and keeping its RISE customers, without doing anything new or innovative, for many years if the employees are reduced to around 50k-60k, with 2/3 in low cost countries. That is the strategy they seem to be executing, without announcing it at an all hands. In this way, the top people get to keep their inflated salaries, bonuses and RSUs, while keeping SAP on life support to wring every last drop out of SAP for their own benefit. All companies have their day in the sun, with the hot product that everyone wants (or better yet, needs) and then the inevitable decline if you cannot either re-invent yourself, or release innovative new products that captivate, rather than imprison, your customers. The writing on the wall is pretty evident for SAP and if Q4 does not exceed all expectations, the investors and the market will finally wake up, some have already started.

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The Time Has Come....

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