Dive Brief:

• Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has named chief development officer Judith McKenna as COO effective immediately, the company reported Wednesday.

• McKenna succeeds Gisel Ruiz, who is now executive vice president of Wal-Mart’s international people division.

• McKenna’s focus will be on “small format and ecommerce growth and logistics,” according to the company, and she reports directly to U.S. chief Greg Foran.

Dive Insight:

The move to promote McKenna is part of a series of executive changes, a sort of executive musical chairs, wrought by Wal-Mart’s U.S. chief Greg Foran, who took that job in August. Foran has shuffled the top ranks twice in just two weeks during the busy holiday season. That suggests that Foran is eager to get his team in place before the New Year.

While Foran clearly has change in mind — he is working to boost Wal-Mart’s flagging sales — he is tapping folks with vast amounts of experience at Wal-Mart. McKenna, for example, has been at the company for 20 years.