Two months after naming co-chairmen to succeed...

Two months after naming co-chairmen to succeed IBM-bound Louis V. Gerstner Jr., RJR Nabisco Holdings Inc. abandoned the structure and hired Charles M. Harper as chairman and chief executive of the cigarettes-to-cookies conglomerate. RJR said he will start Monday.

Lawrence J. Ricciardi, a co-chairman of RJR, was named president. The other co-chairman, Karl M. von der Heyden, will retire. The two RJR executives were named after Gerstner left to become chairman of International Business Machines Corp.