German sportswear multinational corporation, Adidas AG, has recently announced the appointment of Kasper Rorsted as the company's newest chief executive officer. Rorsted, who's currently spearheading Dial soap manufacturer Henkel AG & Co., will leave his position in the company in April after eight years of service. He will succeed 61-year-old Herbert Hainer, the company's longest-serving chief, and will assume his new role on Oct. 1, 2016.

Rorsted's appointment came after Adidas struggled to maintain market share amid tough competition from Nike Inc. and upstart Under Armour. And due to the company's sagging sales, Hainer, who has headed the firm for 15 years, faced widespread criticism from Adidas investors. Fortunately, the reports on Adidas' recent management shakeup has boost the company's stocks as much as 12 percent on Monday.

Henkel's stocks, however, has fallen 4.1 percent, a "rude welcoming" for incoming CEO Hans Van Bylen, who will take over as Henkel CEO on May 1, Bloomberg Business noted.

"The share price reaction speaks for itself," Union Investment fund manager Ingo Speich said, as per Reuters. "We welcome the appointment of Mr Rorsted to replace Mr Hainer and hope it means an end to the long dry spell in the profitability of Adidas."

Meanwhile, Rorsted is known for his efforts in boosting sales and profit margins at the 140-year-old German company Henkel. But at Adidas, he will face a major challenge - and it is to close the gap in both market share and profitability with industry leader Nike Inc. while fending off newer competitors such as Under Armour Inc. But Adidas' supervisory board chairman Igor Landau said Rorsted, who is a "passionate runner, skier and football fan," would "continue the company's dynamic growth strategy."

"Kasper Rorsted is the perfect candidate to succeed Herbert Hainer as CEO of Adidas AG," Landau said in a statement, Fox Business quoted. "He has extensive international management experience, having held positions with high-caliber companies such as Oracle, Compaq and Hewlett Packard. For eight years, Kasper Rorsted has very successfully headed up Henkel, a DAX company that just like the Adidas Group is known for its growth, internationality and sustainability."

Despite Hainer's efforts in cultivating potential internal successors, including brand chief Eric Liedtke, several investors wanted an outsider who might be more likely to take tough decisions and potentially sell more non-core businesses.

Adidas has also announced that Rorsted would join the executive board on Aug. 1. He will have a two-month transition period with Hainer during a busy period for the sporting goods industry, which will be just after the European soccer championships and just before the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Rorsted's appointment will also end the almost yearlong search for Hainer's successor.