Manager magazin looks at CEWE board turmoil

GaryPageau ,

Germany’s Manager Magazin did a long retrospective on the years-long boardroom drama at CEWE Color that lead to the departure of two top executives, Christian Friege and Rolf Hollander. The German-language article is available here (subscription required).

Writer Dietmar Palan does a comprehensive history of the company’s unusual ownership structure – where the publicly held CEWE is primarily governed by the CEWE Color Foundation – as well as the autocratic methods of long-time leader Hollander.

Dr. Rolf Hollander is out at CEWE

The article notes, as Hollander moved out in 2017 of a full-time management role to the board of trustees, he still played an active part in executive meetings and “even got involved with subsidiaries, with suggestions that sounded like orders. After a short time, managers below the top management were in the office at Friege. Hollander would have given them instructions that contradicted the orders of the board.”

The on-going friction between Hollander and his successor, Friege, spilled out into a very public dispute that eventually led to the departure of both.

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Gary Pageau is principal of InfoCircle LLC, continuing his marketing communications career. InfoCircle LLC is a marketing and communications consulting firm, specializing in business-to-business markets. For nearly 25 years, he was with PMA International, serving most recently as Publisher, Content Development and Strategic Initiatives. His primary responsibilities included overseeing the Association’s editorial department, marketing research unit, education and corporate relations department.