Six weeks into his second act as Dell's chief executive, Michael Dell has brought in a clutch of key recruits designed to inject fresh life into the struggling computer maker.
The fresh faces at Dell's Texas headquarters are the most outward signs of a flurry of changes under way at the group, which is trying to bounce back after ceding the top spot in the worldwide PC market to a resurgent Hewlett-Packard last year.
"At HP we called them Hurd's herd," says Andrew Neff of BearStearns, referring to the new faces brought in two years ago at HP after Mark Hurd was appointed to lead a turnaround at Dell's arch-rival. "We're calling these guys Dell's dudes."
Dell's stock price has fallen from more than $42 a share in 2005 to just more than $22 today amid concerns that Dell - which employs more than 4,500 people in Ireland - may be losing its competitive edge.
One of Mr Dell's dudes is Ron Garriques, the former head of Motorola's $28 billion (€21 billion) mobile handset group, who has stepped into the newly-formed role of head of Dell's global consumer business.
Also in the posse is Don Carty, former head of American Airlines and another turnaround veteran, who was appointed chief financial officer in January.
Meanwhile, Michael Cannon, former chief executive of Solectron, an electronics contract manufacturer, has assumed control of the computer maker's global supply chain and procurement.
The moves to centralise Dell's consumer business, operations and marketing functions reflect a frustration with bureaucracy at a company best known for its hard-charging competitive streak. - ( Financial Times service )
