SAN FRANCISCO — Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday named NCR Corp. Chief Executive Mark Hurd to head the storied computer and printer maker as it struggles to compete in an industry it helped create.
Hurd, who joined NCR out of college in 1980, was a surprise choice. His hiring came seven weeks after HP's board ousted chief Carly Fiorina over dissatisfaction with her "execution" after the acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp. that she engineered two years ago.
In many ways, the 48-year-old Hurd is what Fiorina wasn't. She was flashy; he avoids the spotlight. She backed big ideas to boost sales; he is known as a strong day-to-day manager focused on margins.
"The key is that he's an operations guy -- hands-on and a turnaround artist, and he's solid," said analyst Roger Kay of market researcher IDC. "He's been at NCR for 25 years; he's not in the quick-hit business. Carly always raised suspicions that she was just surfing through, but this guy is completely the opposite."
The selection highlights the difficulties HP faces in running its core computer and printer businesses in the face of relentless competition from rivals such as Dell Inc. HP's sales and profit have languished while Dell's have climbed.
Investors hailed Hurd's appointment. Shares of Palo Alto-based HP rose $1.99, or 10%, to $21.78 on the New York Stock Exchange. The rally boosted HP's market capitalization by $5.8 billion -- nearly as much as NCR's annual sales. Shares of Dayton, Ohio-based NCR fell $6.50, or 17%, to $31.40 on the NYSE.
Hurd, who will earn $1.4 million a year and pick up a $2-million signing bonus when he begins work Friday, declined to comment. He will meet with reporters this morning.
HP directors said they chose Hurd, in part, because of the structural similarities between HP and NCR, even though HP's $80 billion in annual sales dwarfs NCR's $6 billion. NCR makes automated teller machines for banks, cash registers and point-of-sale devices and sells to a variety of customers; HP makes consumer PCs, corporate servers and printers as well as cameras and televisions.
"Mark came to our attention because of his strong execution skills, his proven ability to lead top-performing teams and his track record in driving shareholder value," HP Chairman Patricia Dunn said. "He demonstrated these skills by turning around NCR, which, while smaller than HP, is a complex organization with multiple business segments. As we got to know Mark, we were impressed by his emphasis on developing internal talent while reaching outside for new skills, his understanding of the role of culture in a company's success and his personal integrity."
