Lenovo names former Acer CEO as president in corporate realignment

Lenovo, the world’s No. 1 PC manufacturer, is making changes in its management structure following the recent closing of deals for IBM’s x86 business and Google Motorola.

Under the new structure, Lenovo has a president – industry veteran Gianfranco Lanci – who reports directly to chair and CEO Yang Yuanqing.

The move affects Lenovo’s two top executives in the Triangle: Gerry Smith and Jay Parker.

WTW exclusive interview: What Lenovo’s changes mean for the company, the Triangle, top execs.

Lanci, 60,is a former CEO of Lenovo rival Acer. He joined Lenovo as a consultant and then came on board in January 2012 when he was selected to lead Lenovo’s efforts across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He most recently led PC efforts. His formal title right now is executive vice president and chief operating officer; President, EMEA and Asia Pacific Mature Markets.

Lanci assumes his new role on April 1. In that position, he will head all sales organizations and the Enterprise Business Group, which includes servers.

Lenovo disclosed the changes Thursday morning.

The changes come at a rather testy time for Lenovo, which is still dealing with fallout from possible lawsuits and investigations resulting from a pre-installed adware debacle. Sales forecasts for global industry PC sales this year recently were cut by research firm IDC. The company also in recent months offered buyouts to some employees in the Triangle, where the company operates its executive headquarters. However, at the same time, Lenovo is seeing benefits from its big deals in 2014 with more server and smartphone sales.

Lenovo also underwent reorganizations in 2013 and 2014. One of the moves involved the creation of a united Americas organization led by Smith. That move is being undone in the latest round of changes with the Americas being divided again and Smith taking on a different role.

Lanci joined Lenovo after leaving Acer in March 2011. As head of EMEA efforts, his initial responsibility was integrating Germany-based Medion into Lenovo. That deal was Lenovo’s key play in expanding its footprint for sales of PCs and other devices across those markets.

In the years since then, Lenovo under Yang’s direction has greatly diversified and expanded its efforts, especially in mobile devices, smartphones and servers. Yang has kept Lenovo focused on PCs as its “bread and butter” while at the same time making the IBM x86 and Motorola deals that closed last year, costing more than $5 billion.

Lenovo is now a Top 10 competitor in both segments. It’s also preparing to launch a new mobile device-focused venture in China.

The two other Lenovo groups, Mobile Business Group and Ecosystem and Cloud Services, will remain directly under Yang.

Time is right for moves, Yang says

The results of the mergers and continued growth led to the changes, Yang said in the announcement.

“As we approach our new fiscal year, Lenovo is a bigger and more diverse company than ever. With the successful integration of our recent acquisitions, we have three major growth engines – PC, Enterprise and Mobile,” Yang said. “So, we must have the right structure and focus on outstanding execution in every market and with every customer. Today, we have a unique opportunity to address these structural needs and best leverage the talents of our leaders and our team while also celebrating the achievements of several of our top leaders.”

New roles, titles

Smith, the leader of the enterprise group, is now executive vice president and chief operating officer of the PC and enterprise business group. He reports to Lanci. Lenovo described Smtih’s role as being “expanded,” noting he will “account for more than 80 percent of total revenue, and leading Global Operations for these businesses.”

Smith has climbed the Lenovo corporate ladder to senior roles and membership in the steering committee put together by Yang to help him shape corporate strategy.

Jay Paker, the current head of Lenovo North America, will become senior vice president of the Enterprise Business Group.

Other executives are taking on new titles and roles:

Tom Shell, promoted to Senior Vice President, PC Business Group: Shell currently heads Lenovo’s commercial and consumer laptop, desktop, workstation, and monitor business and has been a long-time leader in PCs who has regularly beaten market performance and ensured that PCs remained a healthy, growing business at the heart of Lenovo’s success.
Johnson Jia, promoted to Senior Vice President of PC & EBG Global Operations: Jia currently plays a key role in global supply chain operations, helping drive strong execution, supplier relations and innovation and flexibility within supply chain.
Former VP of Strategy Qingtong Zhou will become Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer.

The reorganization also affects Lenovo’s geographic structure with the Americas group being divided into two: North America and Latin America, led by Luca Rossi. The firm is seeking an executive for the North American role.

The other geographic areas remain the same and report to Lanci, Lenovo said.