Ericsson is launching a drive to find the successor to global comms
chief Roland Klein, who this week announced he is leaving to co-found a
corporate PR firm with DaimlerChrysler PR head Christoph Walther.
Klein confirmed the Swedish telecoms group was searching internally and
externally for his replacement as global corporate communications head -
a post that reports directly to Ericsson president and CEO Kurt
Hellstrom.
The role oversees all Ericsson's international corporate PR, heading 60
staff in internal communications, IR and external relations, with
responsibility for six direct reports.
Klein - who is leaving early next year to launch an agency with Walther,
DaimlerChrysler V-P of communications - said Ericsson would take its
time recruiting the right person.
'We want to give the recruitment process the diligence it needs,' said
Klein. 'We are a large company in a volatile sector and need someone who
has experience and can think internationally.'
He added it is possible the role will change in line with an ongoing
review of Ericsson's in-house communications function, which will also
see head of investor relations Gary Pinkham move from New York to
Ericsson's headquarters in Stockholm.
Klein said Pinkham's move is important to 'bring US IR know-how into
Ericsson's European operations'.
Klein and Walther's agency - which is yet to be named - is set to launch
with headquarters in Munich and London.
DaimlerChrysler has confirmed it will retain the firm when it is up and
running.
The German-US automotive group also announced Walther's replacement,
Hartmut Schick, vice-president and chief of staff to the CEO.
Walther, a close aide to DaimlerChrysler chairman Jurgen Schrempp,
previously worked with Klein at the car firm, co-ordinating the
communications strategy for the Daimler-Benz and Chrysler merger in
1998.
