Baan Co NV has appointed its current president, Mary Coleman, as its new CEO, following the resignation of current CEO Tom Tinsley. She takes over on June 1, although Tinsley said he would help with the transition until the end of July. Coleman came to the company along with its 1997 $250m acquisition of front-office software pioneer Aurum Software Inc, where she was CEO.
Last Summer, the Baan brothers, Paul and Jan, relinquished executive control of the company they founded, under pressure from an investment community disillusioned by the company’s financial performance and an unsuccessful spate of acquisitions. The Aurum acquisition was the one bright spot. Tinsley replaced Jan Baan as president and chief executive officer in July, and in October appointed Coleman as president (CI No 3,528).
But recently, rumors that Tinsley was looking to leave the company surfaced, although they were denied by the company at the time (CI No 3,637). Coleman, who managed and expanded Baan’s Front Office Solutions division before becoming president, worked with Tinsley on a 100-day restructuring program intended to refocus Baan’s efforts, and reduce its cost structure by $60m a quarter in the face of a drop in demand from the enterprise resource planning sector. The company blames the drop in sales on worries over Y2K.
Tinsley, who was with Baan for three and a half years, says he now plans to pursue other business opportunities. These include GuideStar, an initiative of Philanthropic Research Inc, which aims to provide information about the work and finances of non-profit organizations to donors on the internet. He joined the Board last fall.
