Firm Management Sometime this fall, Salil Parekh could accomplish that which has eluded the five other executives who preceded him as leader of Capgemini's North American operations: He could keep his job.
In the past five years, the consulting world has seen the rise and fall of five different Capgemini North American leaders—not a single one of whom stayed on for more than a year under the reign of Capgemini's Group CEO Paul Hermelin.
Terry Ozan, the Ernst & Young veteran overseeing the newly merged operations of Capgemini, North America was the first to make a hasty exit, only seven months after Hermelin took over as Group CEO in late 2001. His replacement, Mark Hauser, another E&Y veteran, exited less than a year later to pursue professional and personal interests. Next up, EDS maverick John McCain jumped onboard, lasting only nine months before being replaced by Chell Smith, who had to leave eight months later for health reasons. Pierre Danon, Parekh's immediate predecessor, is remembered for having made the most notorious exit. Danon was fired after Capgemini management found out that he was on the short list to become CEO of Accor, the hotels and hospitality company.
In late October 2005, Salil Parekh, who had been the CEO for Capgemini India for 13 years and the COO of Asia Pacific, was hired to replace the fiercely ambitious Danon. Interestingly, while Parekh is filling the shoes of Danon and those before him, he does not wear the same crown. Instead of being titled CEO of North America, he is known as General Manager of the North America Project.
All titles aside, as fall draws near, this is one "project manager" Hermelin may find worth keeping around.
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