Klaus Kleinfeld

Biography

In 1987, Kleinfeld joined Munich-based Siemens AG, a global engineering and technology services firm based in the U.S. and Germany.[12] His first position was in the company’s Corporate Sales and Marketing unit, where he worked as a marketing research manager.[22] In 1990, he founded and led Siemens Management Consulting, an internal global partner for Siemens’ businesses that played a major role in the restructuring of many Siemens’ business units around the world and provided a foundation for Kleinfeld’s future operational and portfolio actions at Alcoa.[23] In January 2001, Kleinfeld was promoted to chief operating officer (COO) of Siemens USA.[24] The recession in the U.S. had adversely impacted profits and Kleinfeld conceived a radical strategy to improve the performance of Siemens' operating companies. He also sought to fix, sell or close operations of recently acquired companies and create new cross-selling opportunities. Unprofitable operations were reduced from 24 to 8 and other cost-cutting measures saved an estimated $100 million.[25] From January 2005 to June 2007, Kleinfeld served as CEO of Siemens USA.[26] In January 2004, Kleinfeld was appointed to Siemens’ Corporate Executive Committee. Also in 2004, Kleinfeld was appointed Vice President of Siemens AG.[27] In 2004, Kleinfeld undertook instituting the customer- and shareholder-focused corporate culture, pressuring German unions to loosen labor rules and extending the German workweek from 35 to 40 hours with no additional pay.[12] Kleinfeld said that German workers “have to adjust and understand what the world is like” to remain competitive.[1][28][29] In just over two years, sales rose 16 percent, profits increased 35 percent, and shares soared 40 percent.[12][13] In January 2005 he was named CEO, succeeding Heinrich von Pierer.[30]

Research Interest

Business Administration