SAP drops dual leadership as co-CEO Morgan steps down

SAP Co-CEO Jennifer Morgan will leave the company at the end of April after it decided to drop its dual leadership model just six months after adopting it, leaving Christian Klein as the sole CEO.

The company has been a strong believer of the dual leadership model which has worked for them in the past. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made it unsustainable as it faced a variety of business challenges due to changing customer priorities and demand.

The dual-CEO model may have also slowed down the company’s ability to respond quickly and decisively during challenging times like this.

In a statement earlier this week, SAP said the decision to abandon the dual leadership structure was “taken earlier than planned to ensure strong, unambiguous steering in times of an unprecedented crisis.”

Morgan, who was formerly the president of SAP’s cloud computing business and has held various leadership roles in the company, said of her departure, “With unprecedented change within the world, it has become clear that now is the right time for the company to transition to a single CEO leading the business.”

Klein, formerly SAP’s COO before the co-appointment last October, said that the company has a responsibility to give its customers clear guidance.