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Baan boss Tinsley quits
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May 27, 1999: 8:47 a.m. ET
Struggling Dutch software firm denies CEO took rap for poor performance
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Troubled Dutch software publisher Baan parted company with its chief executive Thursday in a move that had been widely anticipated in view of the company's dismal recent performance.
The departure of Tom Tinsley came as little surprise to analysts. "It was in the air already. Usually, if the company has a bit of trouble, somebody has to take the blame," said Ron Belt, technology analysts at ABN Amro in Amsterdam.
Current Baan president Mary Coleman will replace Tinsley, and analysts hope she will have the same effect on the company as she did at her former charge, Aurum Software, which Baan bought in 1997.
"Mary Coleman's appointment [as CEO] will perhaps restore some confidence. She did a great job with Aurum, which is the fastest growing part of Baan, and we only hope she does a similar with the whole company," Belt said.
Analysts said Tinsley was as much a victim of his own mistakes as of the general decline in Baan's main market, enterprise resource planning software. Demand slumped after two very strong years in 1997 and 1998, as companies took time out to implement the new technology.
ABN's Belt predicts the ERP market will bounce back early next year.
But Baan denied that Tinsley had been forced out over past mistakes. A company spokesman told CNNfn.com that the chief executive was leaving, having completed a 100-day restructuring plan.
"Baan was the first company that faced up to the bad weather in the industry and started restructuring as a result. That job is now finished," said Ronald Florisson, vice president of corporate communications.
Florisson said the last part of the restructuring was the appointment of a new management board, for which the company will seek shareholder approval June 23.
In the last three months, Baan has cut its workforce by over 16 percent to 5,000 and the shares have recovered from a low of 6.15 euros reached in mid-March.
The stock was up almost 1 percent in Amsterdam Thursday at 11.10 euros.
In an official statement, the company said Tinsley was leaving to pursue a new Internet venture. Coleman will assume the role of CEO June 1. Florisson refused to comment on the size of Tinsley's severance package. 
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