By Thomas Gryta
MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. -- Darius Adamczyk was working at General
Electric Co. in the 1990s when he realized there was more to life
than devising algorithms for military programs.
"I really didn't see myself as an engineer 30 years from where I
was at that point," he said in an interview earlier this month. "I
kind of wanted to have a little more interaction with people on a
day-to-day basis."
Now as the chief executive of Honeywell International Inc., the
51-year-old is deep in discussions with employees, customers and
investors as he evaluates the sprawling conglomerate, including if
it should remain whole.
In the job since late March, he succeeded his mentor, Dave Cote,
who pulled off a turnaround at Honeywell, increasing its market
value five-fold during his 14-year tenure and expanding the company
through acquisitions so that it now makes everything from jet
engines to thermostats. Its stock is up 19% so far this year, while
shares of larger rival GE are down 23%.
Mr. Cote remains Honeywell's chairman through April, and Mr.
Adamczyk is intent on continuing his winning streak.
"If this was all Dave, then we didn't build something that's
sustainable, " he said.
Born in Poland, Mr. Adamczyk was 11 when he immigrated with his
family to the U.S. An only child who didn't speak English, he
picked up the language in about six months after they settled in
Grand Rapids, Mich. He went on to study electrical and computer
engineering at Michigan State University before joining GE as an
electrical engineer. While there, he earned a master's degree in
the field from Syracuse University.
After GE, he attended Harvard Business School, then spent four
years at consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, followed by stints at
industrial manufacturer Ingersoll-Rand PLC and scanning- and
data-software firm Metrologic. Honeywell bought Metrologic in 2008,
and Mr. Adamczyk, its CEO, joined Honeywell's executive team.
Mr. Cote admired Mr. Adamczyk's immigrant roots, educational
achievements and professional ascent and took the younger executive
under his wing. Mr. Adamczyk, though three levels lower in the
corporate hierarchy, told Mr. Cote that he would like to get back
to the helm one day.
Mr. Cote's advice: Excel in the role you're in and make sure you
are visible in the company.
According to the former CEO, succession planning at Honeywell
began about 10 years ago and grew more intense over the years. The
process included placing prospects into big, challenging jobs to
see how they performed.
"Darius emerged as the clear-cut choice to become CEO," Mr. Cote
said. The two men have worked alongside each other over the past
year, with Mr. Adamczyk gradually taking on more
responsibilities.
Metrologic founder C. Harry Knowles remembers Mr. Adamczyk, who
joined the company in 2006 when a group of investors bought it for
$440 million, as willing to make the tough decisions necessary
during a trying time where it was preparing itself to be
resold.
Mr. Adamczyk settled lawsuits, cut costs and streamlined its
operations, a restructuring that Mr. Knowles said "emotionally I
couldn't do...but it was the right thing to do." Honeywell bought
Metrologic about 18 months later for about $720 million, a 64% gain
from the earlier deal.
Mr. Adamczyk is taking a similar approach to Honeywell,
evaluating where its 17 business units should be in 10 to 15 years
with an eye toward burgeoning fields such as e-commerce and clean
energy.
"It has to be through logic and objective," he said. "I don't
want to get attached to any business, anything that's through
emotion."
Mr. Adamczyk is contending with whether it even makes sense to
be a conglomerate -- though he stressed that the structure has
worked well for Honeywell -- as companies are under pressure to
focus on core competencies and hive off the rest. He is also
keeping an eye on the increasing role of technology at industrial
firms.
"The way we're going to continue to differentiate ourselves
versus other industry players, whether it's aerospace or any other
industry we happen to be in, is by technology," he said. "It won't
necessarily be by scale."
When it comes to the aerospace sector, Wall Street is paying
close attention to scale. Honeywell rival United Technologies Corp.
agreed to buy another parts maker, Rockwell Collins Inc., for $23
billion this month. Activist investor Third Point is pushing
Honeywell to spin off its own aerospace unit.
Mr. Adamczyk has met with Third Point but declined to comment on
the Rockwell Collins deal or any coming strategic moves, saying
Honeywell will disclose its plans in October. Its finance chief,
Tom Szlosek, said last week that Honeywell is likely to make some
moves around the portfolio to "narrow the focus and not be too
spread out."
A Third Point spokeswoman declined to comment.
One possibility for future investment is in the warehouse
automation used by companies like Amazon.com Inc. and United Parcel
Service Inc. Honeywell agreed to buy privately held Intelligrated
for $1.5 billion in 2016 and sees room for growth there.
"It's certainly a segment that's interesting," Mr. Adamczyk
said. "It's a clear example of the kinds of businesses that we have
in mind."
Write to Thomas Gryta at thomas.gryta@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 25, 2017 07:14 ET (11:14 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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