t-shirts and cool sneakers., At a private breakfast with Executive Bulls donors, someone asked if he prefers people This enhances our position as an attractive employer. We made it clear that our values were important and that we were going to act accordingly. With the value We put our customers at the center of what we do, for example, an executive cannot travel to the U.S. for a workshop and come back without having seen a single customer. Rrsted said he didnt know when retail operations Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes, and Market Data and Analysis. The majority of consumers in the personal-care sector are female, so why should our products be developed and marketed by men? Family for me is more important than the job, he Eisen: Sustainability has come to mean so much more than just the environmental impact and the responsibility there. We need reliable childcare solutions that allow both parents to work at the same time if they so choose. I do think that its important that the industry will and can do this, but somebodys And we're a sports company. Overall, more than 70 town-hall meetings have taken place around the world. We now employ about 47,000 people from more than 120 nations, working in more than 75 countries; over 80 percent of our employees work outside Germany. In performance appraisals, leadership conduct is taken into account just as much as the numbers.. Executives are only human in difficult situations they too tend to start looking for good excuses for why something cant be done at the present time. We also use the ShopperLab to demonstrate to retail clients how they can use this approach in their stores. Part of the process involved benchmarking against other strong companies and our competitors, analyzing where we stood in terms of performance, size, and internationality. Adidas CEO Kasper Rrsted, 60, leads one of the largest and oldest athletic wear companies in the world. Siemens AG, Germany (board member and member of the Innovation Committee), International Business Studies, Copenhagen Business College, Denmark, Executive Program, Harvard Business School, USA. Rrsted also talked about the war in Ukraine. But when we improve each quarter, its mostly down to having the better employees. Q. To date, we have trained more than 1,300 sustainability ambassadors, and more than 6,700 children in 23 countries have attended a sustainability session. So I make sure that my employees have also had first-hand experience with difficult times. to New York-based Authentic Brands closed on March 1. Everything from use of water and production and wastewater with dying, and just the billions of garments that are sold every single year and discarded in landfills. This is Kasper Rorsted confirmed as CEO of adidas for more 5 years - World Footwear renewable materials, such as the mushroom-based Stan Smith Mylo. Today, 55 percent of our employees are in emerging markets. How do you think about it as far as where it fits in with some of your priorities and your overall business model? But I think that's also part of being a CEO in these days. he said. After a hiatus of several months, on April 1, 2005 Rorsted joined the Management Board of Henkel, a Dsseldorf-based company. Center on the Tampa campus. And I immediately thought of you and Adidas. In past interviews, he has talked about the importance of driving sustainable products Typical questions addressed in the workshops included Who exactly are my customers? and What can I personally do to make things better for them?. McKinsey: In 2013, Henkel began a global rollout of a new leadership-development program. Always happy to forgo formalities such as invariably wearing a jacket, Rorsted, originally from Denmark, started his career in the computer industry. He eats cereal for dinner. And you need to support it, and I know we've said it before. Rorsted: The challenge is not to have a quota or not, but addressing the underlying issues. We also went out and was very public about it. After all, in only a few years Rorsted has not only established a new corporate culture at Henkel, but also put the company on track for a promising future. This is why we held workshops on our sustainability strategy for 2030. He holds a degree in international We need to help more women develop the skills they need for management positions. As a family man who shares our values, he is also a very good fit on an interpersonal level, stresses Simone Bagel-Trah, who chairs the Shareholders Committee and the Supervisory Board and thus represents the Henkel family, which today still holds the majority of the voting shares. Kim Ross, a USF Muma College of Business alumna who sits on the colleges Executive The Dane is said to be a visionary but also a dynamic CEO. We meet customer needs from one end of the supply chain to the other. I believe that it is essential to start with a relatively clear destination in mind, and work step by step to get there. But social issues come to mind, especially this year. Were aiming for growth in both emerging and mature markets. Why do intrinsically good approaches get bogged down so quickly? Can this ever truly be an environmentally friendly industry? And for them, it's a very important, you know, criteria. 3 talking about this. annual report. Egon Zehnder: Other corporate decision makers like to talk about strategies, innovations, strong brands. Good to see you. And I think you'll see that also when we bring it out, it's coming out this year going into volume next year. Diversity must play an important role in the company. Rorsted looks to improve sales and revenues, by doing so, he takes the feedback from employees and customers and changes it. Each employee has the responsibility, and each makes a contribution. Eisen: We've been talking about so many different ESG issues. sustainable by 2025. I don't really think about the carbon footprint. I noticed the company was vocal against stopping Asian hate when that was going on. Egon Zehnder: In other words, its always a little higher, a little further. If you look upon internally, there's a tremendous, I would say, enthusiasm and rallying around what we're doing right now. 50 countries. In 2018 he won the German Image Award, an honor that praises the top CEO for their How do these two concepts help generate consumer insights? crowd, the head of one of the worlds most iconic brands spoke about having a mindset the third speaker in the University of South Florida Muma College of Business Thought our products, and if theyre not wearing them, were building our products wrong, Before I joined Henkel, I was told there was not much room for change. Kasper Rorsted Leadership Style | All Latest News Around The World At the same time, I also want to say that, you know, things take time also for companies. got to take the lead and we want to be the leader in sustainability.. Everything from how you interact in political issues to how well you take care of your employees, diversity and inclusion. The company employs McKinsey: And by 2016, if all goes according to plan, emerging markets will account for half of Henkels sales. In countries where Henkel is hardly known, we prefer to target specific groupsfor example, through partnerships with individual professorships all over the world. Kasper Rorsted has been head of Adidas since 2016. CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage, business content and general news consumed by more than 547 million people per month across all platforms. But on Black Lives Matter. Last year, to present our growth strategy for 2016, the management board and I visited 28 sites in 22 countries. That was his second time This system works very wellaround 80 percent of managerial positions at Henkel are filled through internal promotions. This was an intensive effort to ensure that each and every one of our people knows where the journey is taking us and what contribution they can make. We've talked about diversity and inclusion. Kasper Rorsted is a Danish businessman who currently serves as the CEO of Adidas, the German sportswear firm. They try to, you know, say execute sustainability through donations. So you have technology elements, you know, challenges, you have cost challenges at a given stage. So probably what we see right now, with all the volatility, is going to continue. of innovation, being committed to sustainability, and leading a company where people Henkel has set ambitious sustainability goals, including what you call Factor 3a threefold increase in efficiency by 2030. I think it's very different. For a very long time, Stella McCartney said we're going to make a non-leather Stan Smith shoe. The Danish businessman has been at the helm of the global sportswear giant since 2016. Rorsted: If you look and I think this is super important is that we get the best innovation from everybody. Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted said consumers are looking at the fashion industry with more scrutiny, which will force the industry to change. Adidas is the largest sportwear manufacturer in Europe and is headquartered in Herzogenaurach, American sports fans. We are actually one of the most diversified companies in the world if you look upon the share of women, the share of nationalities. team we really want to make sure that that problem is tackled to the utmost.. shoes that feature a 3D-printed midsole. We have adjusted to continuous change and know that we have to keep getting better. But it's a question of time. The Beauty Care Lighthouse is a unique venue where we host customers, business partners, or investors. Kasper Rorsted, born in Aarhus, Denmark in 1962, launched his career in the IT industry after completing his MBA at the International Business School of Copenhagen. Egon Zehnder: What specific steps have you taken to set this evolutionary change in motion? Kasper Rorsted to succeed Herbert Hainer as CEO of adidas AG Not everybody in Europe, you know, liked the political direction for many years in the U.S. You know, right now there's tension in China. And I believe over time, it will be a very, very important criteria, and it is today. How do you equip your employees to hit the mark, or how do you find people who can make the leap effortlessly? Rorsted has lived in Germany since 1991, is a former junior national handball player, passionate skier, tennis player and soccer fan - conveniently of FC Bayern, the club in which Adidas has held a ten percent stake for 15 years. Skip Over Breadcrumbs and Secondary Navigation, Adidas CEO Kasper Rrsted Talks Owning the Game and Sustainability at USF Muma College Brown shoes have And we've taken a very clear stand and I as the CEO have also done that and I think that's the way forward. As a family company it is part of our corporate culture to think and act in the interests of our long-term success. Advisory Council, serves on the Nestl board alongside Rrsted and was instrumental That was when the financial crisis was around. And if we succeed in sustainability, or when, we also succeed as a business. empathic, calm and a strategic thinker. Kasper Rrsted, Adidas AG: Making Europe Fit for the Future - CorD in the region with housing, food, clothes, and other basic needs. For me, I have the greatest job in the world., On his favorite job, aside from his current one, he said he loved working at Compaq. at Compaq and Oracle. CNBC Transcript: Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted Speaks with Sara Eisen from final paper OB.docx - Kasper Rorsted drives Adidas to At home, hes the type to remove his sneakers by the door, where he lines them Rorsted: I believe we have one of the best evaluation systems in the industry. During a Q&A session following his presentation, USF student-athletes asked Rrsted in the world. For me, that is one that has such a devastating impact on the entire environment. We put very aggressive targets in place for sustainability. If we dont have a team that is a mirror of the Then youll be successful. This advice has become my life motto. And we use Parley for ocean plastic. At the same time, however, we will continue to invest in innovation. manager at Hewlett-Packard from 2002 to 2004, and in various management positions from mycelium, the fast-growing fibrous root system of mushrooms that is grown in So I do think that it's very important that the industry takes the critique, you know, at heart. In the meantime even the traditionalists here at the Dsseldorf consumer goods company happily overlook such breaches of protocol. Another was my early career in Americas high-tech industry at a time when something entirely new was taking shape. And I think the consumer says that we are resonating more and more, you know, a lot of our consumers are very young consumers. Where do you see Henkel today in this respect, and what challenges are looming on the horizon? Kasper Rorsted is 53 years old, Danish-born and has headed up the German DAX company Henkel as CEO since 2008. Kasper Rrsted has been CEO of Adidas since 2016. How do those determinations get made? Rorsted: There can be a number of reasons. This creative atmosphere helps us engage and interact with our customers more deeply. As CEO, I believe that a primary task for me and the management board is to shape Henkels growth strategy and clearly communicate it to all employees. But it was definitely the right thing to do; the changes will play a decisive role in the companys long-term direction and growth. Rorsted: I think that we've taken some very very, you know, big steps in the last five to 10 years, and we've been on the journey for 20 years.