Leadership Changes At HK.

[JBP55]

Heckler and Koch announced in a recent press release that Nicola Marinelli has been appointed to the Board of Executives, and would be taking over as manager of operations:

Oberndorf. Effective June 1st, 2015, Nicola Marinelli has been appointed to the Executive Board of Heckler & Koch GmbH. In his new role, Marinelli will be leading the operative management of the Group. Over the course of this year, he will take over the position of speaker of the executive board. Mr. Marinelli has extensive experience in leadership positions at Rheinmetall AG and Thyssen Krupp AG.

“We are extremely pleased that we were able to attract Mr. Marinelli, an industry veteran for military products and the management of military projects for both the Bundeswehr as well as allied armies,” said Andreas Heeschen, majority owner of Heckler & Koch.

Andreas Heeschen, who oversaw the Group’s operative management from February, will now focus primarily on strategic issues. “I strongly believe that it was a good decision to lead the company myself in these challenging times which I very much enjoy. I am nonetheless delighted to hand over to my tremendously qualified colleague,” Heeschen stated. “Together we will continue and broaden our strategy of improved corporate communications and increased transparency.”

Until late 2013, Mr Marinelli served as COO of the Combat Platforms division at Rheinmetall Defence, having responsibility for nine production sites in Germany and Switzerland with 2,000 employees.



Marinelli’s appointment is not the only lineup change to occur at H&K. The company also announced that Martin Newton, former BAE Systems executive and H&K CEO, would be returning as CEO of Heckler & Koch North America:

Ashburn, Virginia, USA. Heckler & Koch has announced that from 1st June, 2015, Martin Newton is to take over the position of Chief Executive Officer of Heckler & Koch in North America. He will be in charge of further expanding the company’s military and civilian business in the North American market.

“We are extremely pleased that Heckler & Koch has been able to convince Martin Newton to return,” said Andreas Heeschen, majority owner of Heckler & Koch. “We are absolutely convinced that Mr. Newton – with all his competence and experience – will effectively lead our future activities in the United States, both in the military and the civilian sector. The company’s U.S. activities have developed well over the last years. This development perfectly reflects our clients’ trust in the quality of Heckler & Koch products. It is our strategy to further expand our business in the North American market.”

Mr. Newton served 13 years in various positions in the financial divisions of the British defense and aerospace company BAE Systems. In 2003, he started his career at Heckler & Koch’s holding company. By January 2004, he was appointed CFO of the Heckler & Koch Group, and he became CEO in July 2007. For family reasons, Mr. Newton resigned from this position in September 2009 and transitioned to the company’s Non-Executive Board where he remained until October 2010. He most recently held the position of CFO at Schoeller Allibert, a world leader packaging systems.



These changes come after Heckler & Koch became embroiled in a controversy surrounding the G36 rifle and its suitability as a military weapon. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen spoke about the rifle, saying it “had no future with the Bundeswehr”. Whether these executive changes are in response to the controversy is unclear, and whether they will help improve Heckler & Koch’s tarnished reputation remains to be seen.

[Cincinnatus]

Interesting. I hope HK stays solvent and maintains the quality it is known for. Perhaps these new leaders with industry experience can help right the ship without cutting QC corners.
The release of the VP40 so soon after the P30sk and VP9 are good signs, assuming, of course, that there is no decline in quality.

[LSP972]

According to Jim Schatz, long-time former HK employee who still has deep contacts within the firm, this "new management" thing is simply re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

The improper sale of G36s is not HK's core problem. That would be the sytematic financial bleeding the firm white done by the current owners, who have bought themselves Swiss villas, private jets, etc., etc. on the company dime. He has detailed all of this in various posts on HKPro, under the screen name G3Kurz, should anyone care to check it out.

Of course, having the German government up their ass because of these improper sales isn't helping; apparently there are a few key people in the government who are doing their best to destroy the firm.

All in all, a very sad deal. I doubt anyone here is a more ardent HK fan than I, but while I hope for the best it doesn't take a degree in business to see that the company is in deep shit, and unlikely to survive it without a massive buy-out by someone with very deep pockets. If I am reading the information out there, available in snippets here and there, correctly, the German government is trying to make that as difficult as possible.

Again ,most of this is hearsay (except the announced management changes, of course); but Jim Schatz is one of those guys you tend to take what he says at face value, based on his past established veracity. All I can say is, I've got my HKs in sufficiency to last what time I have remaining on this sphere, along with a few key parts.

It may well be that the time of a firm like HK (unsurpassed quality, hickory-head management) is past, and the time of firms like Glock (adequate quality, superlative marketing skills management) is upon us. Who can say?

I truly hope they recover. But it ain't looking too good right about now...

.

[Mitchell, Esq.]

Shit...

Looks like I should pick up a few more while the getting is good. I've been holding off on a new purchase until the VP45 or a compact version...

Sigh. There's always used guns.

[GardoneVT]

According to Jim Schatz, long-time former HK employee who still has deep contacts within the firm, this "new management" thing is simply re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

The improper sale of G36s is not HK's core problem. That would be the sytematic financial bleeding the firm white done by the current owners, who have bought themselves Swiss villas, private jets, etc., etc. on the company dime. He has detailed all of this in various posts on HKPro, under the screen name G3Kurz, should anyone care to check it out.

Of course, having the German government up their ass because of these improper sales isn't helping; apparently there are a few key people in the government who are doing their best to destroy the firm.

All in all, a very sad deal. I doubt anyone here is a more ardent HK fan than I, but while I hope for the best it doesn't take a degree in business to see that the company is in deep shit, and unlikely to survive it without a massive buy-out by someone with very deep pockets. If I am reading the information out there, available in snippets here and there, correctly, the German government is trying to make that as difficult as possible.

Again ,most of this is hearsay (except the announced management changes, of course); but Jim Schatz is one of those guys you tend to take what he says at face value, based on his past established veracity. All I can say is, I've got my HKs in sufficiency to last what time I have remaining on this sphere, along with a few key parts.

It may well be that the time of a firm like HK (unsurpassed quality, hickory-head management) is past, and the time of firms like Glock (adequate quality, superlative marketing skills management) is upon us. Who can say?

I truly hope they recover. But it ain't looking too good right about now...

.

High quality product cannot fix low quality management.

[Dagga Boy]

What is great about HK is the Germans...........what is bad about HK is the Germans. Great at QC, materials, engineering, testing, etc. Most of the Euro companies don't get how stuff is done here. Sort of a no-win.

Sometimes Bankruptcy can be great to shed some crap in a company and culture that is toxic. We'll see how Colt and HK fair. Would love to see both get bought and moved to Texas and adapted to actually selling things efficiently.

[LSP972]

We'll see how Colt and HK fair. Would love to see both get bought and moved to Texas and adapted to actually selling things efficiently.

That could work with Colt; not so sure about HK. The institutional knowledge/experience of their in-place workforce is their strength. Somehow, I don't see those guys moving to Texas... or anywhere else out of Germany.

.

[HCM]

What is great about HK is zee Germans...........what is bad about HK is zee Germans. Great at QC, materials, engineering, testing, etc.

FIFY :-)

[Dagga Boy]

That could work with Colt; not so sure about HK. The institutional knowledge/experience of their in-place workforce is their strength. Somehow, I don't see those guys moving to Texas... or anywhere else out of Germany.



.

I was thinking more of consolidating all of HK-USA in one place that is gun business and tax friendly. Colt needs to come to de-unionize and get out from under the NE US mentality about guns in general.

[Peally]

Ugh so now do I just stock up on HK45 parts or finally bite the bullet and get the VP9 I wanted late this year.