Change Will Come to Medtronic, Inc. but Slowly; New CEO Omar Ishrak has Never Run a Company like Medtronic

Medtronic announced the appointment of Omar Ishrak as the company's new president and chief executive, effective June 13. In so doing, Medtronic (ticker: MDT) not only went outside the company for a new leader, it went far beyond Medtronic's existing sphere of operations within the medical-device industry. While Mr. Ishrak is not an obvious choice to lead Medtronic, many investors simply will be pleased that Medtronic has found a new CEO after a long search and after an extended period of uncertainty about the company's direction in a rapidly changing...