10 Things You Didn’t Know about Baxter International CEO Jose Almeida

Jose Almeida is the current head of Baxter International. This can be seen in how he holds the positions of both CEO and Chairman, meaning that he possesses enormous influence over the corporation. It is interesting to note that Almeida was selected for these positions under pressing circumstances for Baxter International. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Jose Almeida:

1.  From Brazil

Almeida came to American from Brazil. Furthermore, he received his education from the Instituto Mauá de Tecnologia, which can be found in São Paulo. With that said, Almeida has been an international businessman for a very long time.

2. Studied Mechanical Engineering

In school, Almeida studied mechanical engineering. Said field might be one of the numerous branches of engineering, but in practice, it encompasses an enormous range of topics. Something that is perhaps unsurprising when mechanical engineering is supposed to include the design, the analysis, the manufacturing, and the maintenance of all of the mechanical systems that can be found out there.

3. Joined Covidien in the 1990s

It was in the 1990s that Almeida joined the Ireland-based Covidien. In short, it was a corporation that specializes in producing medical tools, supplies, and equipment. Some of its products were general in nature. In contrast, others were much more advanced and much more specialized. Regardless, Covidien was bought out by Medtronic in 2015, which was a move that enabled Medtronic to move its legal registration from the United States to Ireland.

4. Rose High at Covidien

Almeida managed to rise very high at Covidien. For instance, he was its President of Medical Devices from 2006 to 2011. Furthermore, he was the CEO of Covidien from 2011 to 2015 as well as the Chairman of Covidien from 2012 to 2015.

5. Put In a Challenging Position From the Start

Sometimes, corporations change CEOs when their situation is stable, thus minimizing potential disruptions. Other times, well, suffice to say that other corporations can see a change of leadership as exactly what it is needed to get them out of a bad situation. Almeida’s rise to the head of Baxter International is an excellent example of the latter scenario, seeing as how the corporation was plagued with issues that included but were not limited to dissatisfied investors, low profit margins, and a revenue base that saw very slow growth.

6. Needed to Go Fast

On top of said issues, there were analysts who stated that Almeida needed to go fast because of the situation in the healthcare sector as a whole. In short, the healthcare sector is in a tumultuous period that has seen a lot of buyouts, meaning that struggling healthcare companies are vulnerable to being bought out by their healthier counterparts.

7. Observers Praised a Couple of His Characteristics

At the time, observers praised a couple of Almeida’s characteristics. One was his ability to manage complex organizations, which for obvious reasons, tends to be rather important for people presiding over massive corporations. Another was Almeida’s ability to pursue beneficial acquisitions and mergers in an aggressive manner, which becomes even more important under the aforementioned circumstances.

8. Believes that Corporate Culture Is Paramount

Curiously, Almeida believes in the overwhelming importance of corporate culture, so much so that he puts it before even strategic planning as well as the execution of strategic plans. In fact, Almeida outright compared corporate culture to both the “pulse” and the “soul” of a business, which says a lot about his thinking on the matter.

9. Has Pushed Innovation

Naturally, Almeida has been pushing innovation at Baxter International by making changes to its corporate culture. This can be seen in his elimination of entire layers of bureaucracy, thus enabling employees to make more meaningful decisions of their own. Something that has seen use elsewhere for the sake of promoting responsiveness. Furthermore, this can be seen in Almeida’s efforts to encourage his employees to take more risks.

10. Believes that Baxter Is In a Position to Start Buying

Baxter International saw significant gains in its stock price under Almeida’s leadership because of Almeida’s changes. As a result of those changes, Almeida has stated that Baxter International was in a position to participate in the frenzy of mergers and acquisitions that has been sweeping the healthcare sector, which can be very beneficial but also very risky.

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