Chiquita Elevating Human Resources

The new CEO at Chiquita, Fernando Aguirre, had been told by the board of directors to “put in place a strong leadership team for the future” of the Cincinnati produce company. Aguirre has already made one move. At a January 13 employee meeting, he said, “To make good decisions, we need the right people and the right systems in place. For that reason, one of the first changes I’m making is to have our vice president of human resources, Barry Morris, and our interim chief information officer, Paul Merrick, report directly to me. In the end, we are a business of people, and it’s essential to retain, coach and develop talent. To support our people, we need the right systems and resources to help us achieve our strategy. As CEO, I want to be closely involved in our HR and IT decisions.”