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![ABB boss Björn Rosengren's new wife is stuck in Sweden because of the lockdown.]()
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ABB boss Björn Rosengren’s new wife is stuck in Sweden because of the lockdown.
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![ABB operates in more than 100 countries and employs 147,000 people.]()
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ABB operates in more than 100 countries and employs 147,000 people.
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“It will be small but nice in the future” at ABB, said Rosengren.
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Philippe Rossier
![Rosengren's predecessor: Ulrich Spiesshofer (61) was the CEO of ABB for seven years.]()
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Rosengren’s predecessor: Ulrich Spiesshofer (61) was the CEO of ABB for seven years.
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The new ABB boss Björn Rosengren (61) has only recently started his new job and is already facing the biggest crisis in the world. But that doesn’t bother him. After all, it was the “best job in the world” and he lived in “one of the most beautiful cities in the world”, said the Swede by birth in his first interview with the “NZZ”.
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The only downside: his new wife Cecilia is stuck in Sweden. Because of the lockdown, she is denied entry to Switzerland.
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The Swede already knows Switzerland very well: in the early 1990s, the father of three, who started his new position in March, had lived in Switzerland with his wife at the time. At that time he worked for the Swedish welding technology group Esab.
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Fewer employees in Oerlikon
The new ABB boss wants to keep the headquarters in Zurich-Oerlikon lean. Responsibility should be delegated downwards, said Rosengren. “My approach is to keep global central functions small,” he says. “It will be small but nice in the future.”
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But it shouldn’t work without the strong headquarters. The management continues to set the rules, issue instructions and ensure that the teams adhere to them, explains the new boss. Before ABB, Rosengren worked for the Swedish industrial company Sandvik.
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Global central functions have already been reduced from 17,500 to 1,300 in the past. Many positions have been relocated to the individual departments. Overall, the 130-year-old company has 17 business units in areas such as robotics or electrification. ABB operates in more than 100 countries and employs 147,000 people.
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No emotions
The ABB boss remains optimistic, although there will be a drop in sales in the last and current quarter. And he looks at China. “There was a strong recovery there in March, and now things are going better for us there than a year ago.”
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The secret of his leadership is for Rosengren to keep his emotions under control. You shouldn’t fall in love too much with the business you’re in, he explains. “You have to go about it unsentimentally,” he says. “It helps to get an outsider like me.”
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The blanket falls on his head
As much as he likes Zurich, he does get restless after weeks of lockdown. Usually he’s a well-traveled manager. Now he’s been stuck here for a month. “That makes me a little restless”. (SDA / vnf)
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