For Sweden’s Wallenbergs, Turnarounds Are Measured in Decades

  • No easy answers for Sweden’s Ericsson down 46% this year
  • CEO’s horizon: ‘Not first three quarters but 5-10 years’

Independent Chairman of the Board of NASDAQ OMX Group Inc, Mr. Borje Ekholm, photographed at the board room at the Nasdaq OMX headquarters in New York.

Photographer: Orjan F. Ellingvag/Corbis via Getty Images
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Ericsson AB’s incoming chief executive officer says he’s taking the long view on fixing the embattled Swedish network-equipment company.

Borje Ekholm, who will assume his new role early next year, said his strengths lie in his ability to see into a distant future rather than providing quick shock-and-awe therapy. While investors said he’ll bring stability to Ericsson, Ekholm’s outlook also signaled that there are no easy answers for the company, caught in a downward spiral of job cuts, dwindling profit and cut-throat competition.