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Parviz Farsangi, executive vice president and COO of Vale Inco, has left the company.
Cory McPhee, director of corporate affairs, confirmed his leave, saying there will be further restructuring going on, but the end should be wrapping up fairly soon.
“We wish him well,” he said.
Farsangi brought leadership to the company in one of the most tumultuous periods in the business, McPhee said. He would not comment as the reasons why Farsangi left.
No other person has been appointed in his place. John Pollesel, who recently took over as president of Vale Inco Ontario operations after Fred Stanford left, June 10, will oversee the Ontario functions, while Tito Martins, CEO and president, will continue managing the Canadian assets.
“The people in the head offices of Vale Inco have a very astute understanding of the global dynamics of their industry,” said Joseph D'Cruz, professor of strategic management at the Rotman School of Business at the University of Toronto. “For the senior leadership roles, that's a very important skill and they may have decided Inco did not have that strategic perspective.”
Farsangi was hired in 2007 by Vale, shortly after Inco had been taken over.
“I suppose it's related to try to achieve head office control over a subsidiary and one of the most effective ways of doing that is to replace the senior management of the subsidiary from either the parent organization or from other organizations that have been recruited for the job.”
This practice is common in the business world, said D'Cruz. Cisco Systems is known to replace senior management every time they take over a company.
However, this approach isn't always taken during takeovers. When Quebec bauxite miner Alcan was taken over by mining giant Rio Tinto in 2007, Rio Tinto made a serious effort to keep existing Alcan management who had an intimate knowledge of the organization, said D'Cruz.
“But on the other hand with Inco, it appears that Vale doesn't have the same confidence in Inco's management and has chosen to replace them."
Although new managers won't have the same local understanding of the market, they have knowledge of the management practices and culture of the parent organization and a more global perspective, said D'Cruz.
“They may also believe that the way the company has been run in the past by its management is not in the best interests of its shareholders and, therefore, they're looking for a change in strategy and operations.”
Farsangi joined the company in September 2007 with an extensive operation background and a strong knowlege of the nickel industry. He led Canadian and U.K. Operations of Vale Inco through one of the most difficult periods in recent memory.Before joining Vale, Farsangi was president of Gramercy Alumina in Louisiana and St. Ann Bauxite in Jamaica and Falconbridge Ltd. before that.
Farsangi graduated from Laurentian University in engineering in 1985, McGill University for his Masters of Engineering and Ph.D in 1987 and 1996 and Queen's Univerity for his MBA in 1998.
Vale Inco Northern Ontario operations are located in Sudbury.
