Tellabs stays in-house with new CEO
Employees of Tellabs Inc. Tuesday were introduced to their new chief executive officer, this time one of their own.
Naperville resident Robert W. Pullen, a 23-year veteran of the communication equipment maker, was tapped as the next leader, effective Saturday.
He replaces Krish Prabhu, who maintained his Texas home and had resigned amid falling revenues. Another outsider, Richard Notebaert, was CEO for about 1½ years and abruptly quit to head Qwest Communications in Denver.
Chairman and retired CEO Michael Birck said the board's unanimous decision was a good one.
"People left here last night not knowing anything about this," Tellabs Chairman Michael Birck said. "But they all came in on this snowy morning with all those slippery roads and it turned out to be the largest attendance yet (at an employee meeting). That speaks volumes, and he got a standing ovation."
The accolades for the first insider to make CEO could add pressure as Pullen needs to quickly set a new strategy and pull Tellabs out of the doldrums. Its fourth-quarter profit dropped 78 percent and the company said it would cut 225 jobs, in addition to the 125 announced last fall.
Thousands of Tellabs workers have been laid off in the last six years, including Tom Fairlie, who is now principal systems architect for General Dynamics. He continues to monitor an online networking board with about 900 displaced Tellabs workers.
"Pullen is a homegrown son of Tellabs who is very sharp and hardworking," said Fairlie. "He built his career at Tellabs through his customer relation skills and his diligent work on numerous industry forums, which often translated into sales. Rob embodies a lot of the spirit of the Birck days. But the jury is now out as to whether he can significantly contribute to a company whose remaining employees exorcised their nostalgia years ago. For their sake, I wish him the best of luck."
Besides boosting sales and customer services, Pullen said he does want to bring back the same early energy that started the company more than 30 years ago.
"I want to go back to that entrepreneurial spirit, where there was risk and action," said Pullen, who threw his hat into the CEO ring twice before.
Pullen said he also wants to start meeting with all managers, visit major customers and get first-hand information about their needs and ideas on moving the company ahead. He'll also explore boosting sales overseas, including in China and Mexico.
"My first stop is this week in Mexico City where I'll talk with Telmex," Pullen said.
Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, is Mexico's largest fixed-line phone company that said Feb. 13 it would buy Peruvian cable TV operator Boga Comunicaciones and further expand into South America.
Since spending by North American carriers, such as Tellabs customers Verizon Communications and AT&T, has been limited, the strategic thrust into higher growth markets makes sense, said David Weissman, senior telecom analyst with Zacks Investment Research.
"Telephony carriers in China, Mexico and other high-growth geographic regions require the same telecom infrastructure that North American carriers rely on," said Weissman. "It is a positive direction from a strategy perspective, but the implementation may be the more difficult part to orchestrate."
Birck and Pullen's mission is to grow revenues, they said.
Birck acknowledges there have been "no raging successes" of merging companies, citing the spiraling Alcatel-Lucent deal.
"Our mission isn't to sell off the company," said Birck. "That's not where we're at. But if there's an offer we couldn't refuse, we'd listen."
Robert W. Pullen
Position: CEO, president of Tellabs Inc., starting Saturday.
Age: 45
Career: Started in 1985 as electrical engineer at Tellabs. Held various management positions in engineering, sales, marketing and services. Last position as vice president, general manager of global services.
Resident: Naperville
Family: Married to Dawn Pullen for 18 years; daughter Brittany, 15; and son Brendan, 13.
Education: University of Illinois-Champaign bachelor's degree in science and electrical engineering in 1985; Northwestern University MBA with focus on marketing and finance in 1993.
Associations: Board chairman for Telecommunications Industry Association; Co-chair for NXTcomm 2008 trade show.
Source: Tellabs