As expected, Baan Co NV the Dutch enterprise resource planning application company is reshuffling its management team appointing Tom Tinsley, former president and chief operating officer, as president and CEO, while founder and chief executive Jan Baan becomes chairman of the board. More importantly – as far as Wall Street is concerned – the company has cleared up some of the confusion surrounding the Baan family of companies, which has been casting something of a cloud over its financial performance. Baan Investment BV, which owns a 39% stake in Baan Co, is renamed Vanenburg Co NV, and Vanenburg will sell its 85% interest in Baan Business Systems – which distributes Baan products to distributors – back to Baan or to a third party. Vanenburg will also divest its holding in Baan Mid-Market Solutions which invests in Baan resellers. Graham Sharman becomes Vanenburg president after resigning from the supervisory board of directors at Baan. Jan Willem Krooshof is COO. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter says there’s an emerging conflict between Baan’s direct sales force and resellers that the company will move to address shortly. The direct sales force is no longer compensated for deals in which resellers are brought in, but customers are still turning to Baan salespeople to get educated but ordering from a reseller willing to discount and live off the services.
