Dick
Boer lives in the Netherlands and is married with four children. He studied
the Executive MBA at program IBO (Ziest).
Dick joined Ahold in 1998 and has worked his way up the corporate
ladder.
He
was the CEO of Ahold Czech Republic from 1998 to 2000. Next he was the President and CEO of Albert
Heijn (an Ahold company) from 2000 to 2003. Dick’s good performance as an
executive can readily be seen in his promotions. After his stint at Albert
Heijn he was appointed President and CEO of Ahold’s Dutch operating companies
from 2003 to 2006. Then from 2006 to 2011
Dick was the COO of Ahold Europe. On March 2011 until present he has been the
CEO of Ahold.
Ahold
is a huge corporation. It is an international retailer based in the Netherlands
that runs around 3,000 stores (most of it supermarkets) all over Europe and the
U.S. Dick is running a company that has
been adjusting to changing times. One aspect of the supermarket retail business
is the margins are thin and competition is fierce. So Dick has to make sure
they are executing the right moves.
The
change Ahold is undergoing was set into motion in 2006 when the board of Ahold
asked management to make a full review of the company. Prior to that Ahold was
a mixed bag of different brands, different structures and even different
businesses with food retail in Europe and food service in the U.S.
At
the end of 2006 Ahold decided to focus on food retail and in markets where it
was or could become number one or number two.
This focus led to the sale of its wholesale division, US Foodservice in
mid-2007. Ahold USA and Ahold Europe
became clearly delineated. After the restructuring the company is now focusing
on growth with the strategy of “reshaping retail”.
Ahold
has closed its hypermarkets and focusing on supermarkets, convenience and
smaller-store concepts. It also recognized the importance of the online market.
Dick
wants Ahold to be as close to its customers as possible.
Dick
runs a huge company and it’s not an easy task guiding it to reach its goal and
so far he has done an admirable job.
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