Growth Stirs Micro D Management Shuffle
Fast-growing Micro D of Santa Ana, already the nation’s largest wholesale distributor of microcomputer products, has moved President Harold L. Clark into the newly created position of vice chairman as part of a reorganization of senior management.
Additionally, Sanat Dutta, formerly of American Express, has been named senior vice president of operations, and several other executives’ responsibilities have been shuffled.
Micro D Chairman Linwood A. (Chip) Lacy said Tuesday the management changes were ordered “because the company is substantially larger now, and we need to add to our senior management and focus responsibilities more specifically among the senior executives.”
Clark, 52, became president of the wholesaler in July, 1985, as part of a previous reorganization. Lacy, a former Best Products executive, was hired then as Micro D chairman and chief executive officer.
As vice chairman, Clark will be responsible for vendor relations and product strategy as the company gears up to hit $1 billion in sales by 1991. Micro D posted net earnings of $5.5 million and sales of $352.5 million last year.
While Micro D officials have begun talking to potential replacements for Clark as president and chief operating officer, “we don’t have any candidates yet,” Lacy said.
Until a new president is named, he said, he and Clark will split those duties.
Robert Anastasi, a technology analyst with Robinson Humphrey Co. in Atlanta, said the Micro D reorganization “is a good move.”
“They are going to do $500 million (in business) this year, and you just don’t have the same management doing that as you had when you were a $150-million company,” Anastasi said. “This company is growing, and I think that’s what this reorganization is telling us.”
Lacy said Clark was moved into the vice-chairmanship--in some companies a position of little authority--because of his background in consumer and computer products distribution.
“He is the best in the business (at vendor relations),” Lacy said. “In this business, vendor relations are very important. . . . We need to devote an executive full time to that area, one who can speak for the company with full authority, and Hal can do that.”
Dutta--who will be responsible for operations, purchasing, value-added services and administration--had been vice president of operations for the Merchandising Services Group of American Express and had earlier worked for Lacy at Best Products.
While Dutta has no background in the microcomputer industry, Micro D is basically a wholesaling business, and Dutta “has a very strong merchandising background. He is perfect for the back-room part of the job,” Lacy said.
In a related change, Godfred Otuteye, Micro D’s senior vice president and chief financial officer, will assume responsibility for international operations, with Mike Anderson, president of the newly acquired Canadian firm, Frantek Computer Products Inc., reporting to him. Micro D acquired Frantek in March.
Before joining Micro D in November, 1984, as executive vice president, Clark was vice president and general manager of Starcrest Products, a national consumer products distributor. He has also held management positions in several computer software development companies and has taught management and computer technology at UCLA.
