Last week, Dealscape touched on Xerox Corp.'s (NYSE:XRX) historic appointment of Ursula Burns to the CEO spot. On June 1, she will become the first black woman to lead a major U.S. company and the first female CEO to succeed another woman. She will also have her hands full trying to turn around a company whose sales dropped 18% in the first quarter, to $3.6 billion, producing a profit of $49 million.
But as BusinessWeek notes in its cover story, Burns, 50, is already a tested Xerox veteran, whose made tough decisions.
"She took on roles of increasing responsibility, distinguishing herself as a quick study who could handle multiple tasks at once and wasn't afraid to flag a problem," Nanette Byrnes and Roger O. Crockett write.
On the personal front, Burns is the mother of a 16-year-old daughter and a 20-year-old stepson. She was raised by a single mother in a New York City housing project, says the magazine. In true New York fashion, Burns is known for being "very frank," says a co-worker.
As former CEO Anne Mulcahy's trusted aid, Byrnes was primarily responsible for the company's recent initiatives, including:
- Downsizing the workforce by close to 40%, to 57,100 from 94,600.
- Transferring manufacturing responsibilities to Flextronics International Ltd. (NASDAQ:FLEX), which now makes most of the company's copiers.
- Filling gaps in its offerings with lower-end products from Xerox or partners. The strategy has made Xerox more competitive in selling to small and midsize businesses, according to BusinessWeek.
But Burns' biggest task as CEO will be to improve sales, especially in its emerging markets region. How she does that is a question the market is wondering about, especially with Xerox holding on to a hefty $9 billion in debt.
One thing's for sure: Burns' peers trust her abilities. Robert A. McDonald, chief operating officer of Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG), told BusinessWeek: "She understands the technology and can communicate it in a way that a director can understand it." - Gerald Magpily
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