ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 6, 1996 TAG: 9612060025
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-16 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ROCHESTER, N.Y.
SOURCE: Associated Press
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on December 7, 1996.
Daniel Carp, the new president and chief operating officer of Eastman
Kodak Co., is a native of Wytheville, not Roanoke, as was reported
Friday.
Eastman Kodak Co. homed in Thursday on an heir apparent to Chief Executive George Fisher by promoting Daniel A. Carp, a Roanoke native, to president and chief operating officer of the giant photographic firm.
Although Fisher has dropped no hints that he will depart Kodak when his five-year contract expires in two years, he has stressed the importance of grooming the leadership and singling out possible successors.
Carp, 48, who joined Kodak out of college in 1970 and rose to general manager of Kodak operations in Latin America and later Europe, Africa and the Middle East, said ``the real measure of whether I become CEO is what I do.''
``Obviously, this is a chance for me to exhibit additional skills and capabilities,'' he said in an interview. ``But I think it would be overstating it to say, in today's business world, that this is an anointment of any kind that I am the next CEO.''
Replacing Fisher as Kodak's president, Carp will take on his new duties Jan. 1. Fisher, who moved from Motorola Inc. in late 1993, retains the title of chairman as well as chief executive.
A year ago, Kodak restructured the top of its corporate pyramid by setting up a three-man chief operating office headed by Fisher that was responsible for day-to-day operations. Carp and Carl Kohrt were named executive vice presidents and assistant chief operating officers.
Kodak is parent of Qualex Inc. photo processing operations in Roanoke.
Carp will be primarily responsible for Kodak's financial performance. Among the businesses that will report directly to him, instead of Fisher, will be digital imaging, business imaging, equipment manufacturing and Kodak's fast-growing operations in China.
``Dan Carp is results-oriented with an open style of communication,'' Fisher said. ``He sets high performance expectations and leads by example.''
Financial analysts applauded the promotion and took it as a strong signal that Carp will one day succeed Fisher.
``He's perceived as one of the more aggressive managers up there, and I think he's got a lot of respect on Wall Street,'' said Alex Henderson of Prudential Securities in New York.
Carp, who grew up in Roanoke and joined Kodak as a statistical analyst from Ohio University, said he has never worried about where his Kodak career is headed, instead concentrating on defining each job in broadest terms.
``I think it's good for any employee ... to constantly ask themselves how do they make a bigger contribution,'' he said.
With a team-based management style similar to Fisher's, Carp stresses Kodak's need to break into new markets and boost sales while paring costs unit-by-unit and melding chemical-based and digital technologies.
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Carpby CNB