Have you read the Q and A With Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy on Portfolio.com?
If you don’t know anything about Xerox’s recent history, you may make the mistake of thinking that it’s an old, established organization that makes copiers and fax machines. You may think that it has always paid a stock dividend to widows & orphans. You would be wrong.
Xerox has been to hell & back over the past decade. When Anne Mulcahy was elevated to the CEO position in 2000, she had very little financial experience and had primarily worked in Sales and Human Resources. Xerox was in free-fall, dudes, and Anne Mulcahy was considered to be the Sarah Palin of CEO picks: a hail mary pass at the end of the 4th quarter.
From Portfolio:
Mulcahy had worked at Xerox for more than two decades
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, no comments. Okay, I’ll just keep plugging away on something else…
I’m here! I’m just slow in catching up on my reading. Since Xerox is a Rochester company I’m obligated to respond anyways.
I think it’s great that she was able to take on the position. The last business book I read said that HR people don’t get to become CEOs. It sounds like Anne had a good head on her shoulders in the first place though. Being a people person matters.