Changing With The Times, Amazon Appoints New President

Apparently Amazon.com's founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has found breathing the rarified air at the top of the e-commerce universe just a tad lonely, so he's found someone to stand a rung beneath him on the ladder.

The company announced the appointment Friday of a president and chief operating officer -- newly-created positions that signal that the company might be ready to adopt a model management approach as it struggles to turn a profit.

Former Black & Decker executive Joseph Galli is the newly anointed second-in-command at Amazon. Galli, 41, was the president of the power tools and accessories unit of Black & Decker, a $3.1 billion (US$) unit that was responsible for 70 percent of the company's revenues. He worked for the company for 19 years.

"We are thrilled to have Joe at Amazon.com," said Bezos. "Joe is a star with great customer instincts and true operational excellence. He cares about customers as much as we do, and his commitment to delivering great customer experience will be a valuable asset."

Adapting To The Times

Galli's appointment is likely to ease Wall Street fears that Amazon would continue to flail away, setting record e-commerce numbers but losing money hand over fist.

The dichotomy between the two has caused a sort of singular Internet schizophrenia and sparked resultant cause and effect behavior. For example, earlier this month Amazon's stock price dropped 11 percent in one day, down to 105 after climbing as high as 221 on April 27.

Two days later, Amazon announced that it had attracted 10 million customers since its start less than four years earlier, making it by far the most popular and successful e-commerce site. Bezos went far enough to say that he would have been locked up if he had suggested his company would have 10 million customers by now.

Amazon is changing the formula, however. It has invested recently in online pharmacies, grocery and pet stores and auction houses in an attempt to diversify.

Hiring a top executive like Galli is an aggressive move on the part of Amazon.com. One which which makes it clear that Bezos & Company will not be content with simply maintaining the status quo, and they are serious about about moving the company beyond its book, music and video base.