Rockwell Names Trio to Manage Its Divisions
Rockwell International has appointed three executives as chief operating officers of the diversified firm’s business segments and has eliminated the office of president.
Kent M. Black, Sam F. Iacobellis and J. Tracy O’Rourke were elected by the board to new jobs as executive vice presidents and chief operating officers. Donald R. Beall, chairman and chief executive of El Segundo-based Rockwell, gave up his additional title of president.
Beall said in an interview Thursday that the new corporate organization “is something I have planned for years and years, and it was discussed with the board even before I became chairman.”
Beall added that he does not consider the three executive vice presidents to be in a “horse race” for the presidency of the company, noting that the corporation’s bylaws were amended Wednesday to eliminate the office of president.
“This approach is the way a diverse company should be run,” Beall said. “This is the way General Electric, IBM, Xerox, Union Carbide and Eastman Kodak, among other companies with diverse operations, have chosen to operate.”
The realignment does not substantially change the responsibilities that have been held by Black, Iacobellis and O’Rourke, but it does formalize an operating structure that has been in effect for about a year and a half, Beall said.
The three executives are not members of Rockwell’s board, and Beall declined to discuss whether they would be elected at a future time. The only company executives now on the board are Beall and Robert A. de Palma, who is Rockwell’s chief financial officer. The fact that De Palma holds a seat on the board appears inconsistent with the current management organization, but he has long served as a director.
Black will be responsible for Rockwell’s Autonetics operation in Anaheim, automotive unit in Michigan and an avionics and communications unit in Iowa.
Iacobellis will run the firm’s California aerospace and defense operations, including North American Aircraft in El Segundo, Rocketdyne in Canoga Park, satellites division in Seal Beach and the Rocky Flats operation in Colorado.
O’Rourke will have the Allen-Bradley factory controls operation in Wisconsin, graphic systems in Illinois and Rockwell Communications in Texas.
