Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Dallas, TX, is underway with plans to combine its North Atlantic Personal Care and Family Care businesses into a single organization under one leader. Steve Kalmanson, currently group president-North Atlantic Personal Care, will head the new organization as group president-North Atlantic Consumer Products. This move follows the departure of Rob van der Merwe, group president-North Atlantic Consumer Tissue, who has been named president and CEO of Paxar Corporation, a publicly held company specializing in merchandising products for the retail and apparel industry.

The creation of an integrated North Atlantic consumer products organization continues K-C’s evolution into a more unified global organization and provides immediate advantages. “It streamlines decision-making, increases our focus on partnering with customers and facilitates bringing innovative solutions to market more quickly,” Thomas Falk, K-C Chairman and CEO, said.

“Transitioning to a combined consumer products organization should be seamless, as Steve brings nearly 30 years of experience and expertise in our Personal Care and Family Care businesses. He is a highly motivated and talented leader, who has a successful track record of driving change and delivering strong results.”

As part of the reorganization, Don Quigley, president-North America Customer Development, has been promoted to president-North Atlantic Customer Development and will report to Kalmanson. In this position, he will be responsible for helping identify and act more quickly on customer and shopper insights to drive sales and profitability for both K-C and its retail customers in Europe and North America.