June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Procter & Gamble Co.’s next chief executive officer, Robert McDonald, hitched canoe rides to Philippine islands in the 1990s to ask villagers about the detergent and soap they used.

P&G may need that kind of dedication when McDonald takes over on July 1. The shares are in the middle of their second straight annual decline and a recent profit forecast trailed analysts’ estimates. The world’s largest consumer-products maker announced the appointment yesterday. Current CEO Alan Lafley, 61, will remain as chairman.

McDonald, 55, who spent a decade with P&G in Asia, will take charge as the maker of Tide detergent and Duracell batteries pushes further into the region. Bringing consumption of P&G products in China and India to the level it has reached in Mexico would generate an additional $40 billion annually, McDonald said yesterday on a call with analysts. He and Lafley both declined to be interviewed for this article.

“McDonald has the breadth and depth of experience P&G looks for,” said Gary Stibel, a former P&G executive who worked with him for nine years before setting up Westport, Connecticut- based New England Consulting Group, which provides marketing advice. “He’s very disciplined, consistent and very Procter.”

McDonald was born in Gary, Indiana, and raised in the Chicago area. At age 11, he asked his congressman, Donald Rumsfeld, for permission to take the entrance exam to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. He took the exam every year until he was admitted at 17, the youngest age possible. He graduated in 1975.

Army Captain

Before joining Cincinnati-based P&G in 1980, he was a captain in the U.S. Army. He trained as a Ranger and a parachute-jump master, obtaining certification in jungle, Arctic and desert warfare.

McDonald, who speaks French and Japanese, rose to lead P&G’s Northeast Asia operations in 1999 after stints in the Philippines and Japan. In 2001, he became president of the global fabric and home-care business. Three years later, he was made vice chairman for global operations. He was signaled as a contender for CEO when P&G reinstated the position of chief operating officer for him in 2007.

McDonald is “known throughout P&G for his operational skills,” said Matt McCormick, a money manager with Cincinnati- based Bahl & Gaynor Inc. “‘How do you do more for less?’” The firm oversees $2.1 billion in assets, including 7 million P&G shares.

The shares lost 16 percent of their value in 2008 and have declined another 16 percent this year. They fell 33 cents to $52.08 yesterday in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Last month, the company forecast 2010 earnings of as much as $3.80 a share, less than analysts’ average estimate of $3.92.

From Within

In announcing the appointment, P&G’s board cited McDonald’s many years with the company. Every P&G CEO has been promoted from within, according to Paul Fox, a company spokesman.

“Bob McDonald is the most broadly and globally experienced CEO in P&G history,” Jim McNerney, P&G’s presiding director and Boeing Co.’s chairman and CEO, said today in a statement. McDonald’s successes include taking Pantene, a line of hair-care products originally sold in Asia, and turning it into a $1 billion global brand.

Not chosen was Susan Arnold, who stepped down as P&G’s president of global business units in March after 29 years with the company. As head of P&G’s beauty business, she almost tripled its size to $20 billion from $7 billion in 1999. Her departure cleared the way for McDonald’s elevation, investors said at the time. She didn’t return a call seeking comment.

McDonald, who received a master’s degree in business from the University of Utah in 1978, spoke at a commencement ceremony in May at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He has recommended books to students, including Jim Collins’s “Good to Great,” and personally responded to their e-mails, Roger Jenkins, dean of the business school, said in a telephone interview.

“He commands a level of respect and maximizes the contribution of those he works with because they become extremely loyal,” Jenkins said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carol Wolf in Washington at cwolf@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 11, 2009 00:01 EDT