Will HP Follow the Hurd?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Arthur Entlich
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Arthur Entlich

Will HP Follow the Hurd?

By Art Entlich

In case you haven't "Hurd" yet, HP has a new CEO.
The question is, can he turn around the results of years of
"Cartastrofi" under its former CEO, Carly Fiorina?

Mark Hurd is a long standing employee and recent CEO for NCR, and he has
been selected to replace Ms. Fiorina. How he handles the $80 billion
company in the next few months may well determine if HP remains one
company, or spins off parts like the $24 billion printing and imaging
division.

NCR, an old but valuable property, did almost $6 billion in business in
2004, and Hurd knows the software end of NCR well, but how HP executives
will respond to being passed over for an outsider, when the divisions
they'll been overseeing might be larger than all of NCR, may determine
how successful the "Hurd" mentality will become at HP.

After Carly Fiorina made herself a media celebrity (some might say, it
was her self-assigned job description) one thing is for sure, Mark Hurd
will become an immediate media preoccupation. His every move will be
scrutinized by industry and financial watchers on the outside, and, I
imagine, internally by HP employees around the water cooler who will be
sharing "what they have "Hurd"".

How long HP has to re-'invent' itself before stock holders and industry
begin to lower their expectations is difficult to predict, but I suspect
Mark Hurd doesn't have long to win the hearts and minds of the employees
and executives internally, and the wallets of the institutional buyers
and consumer. He will have to prove he can steer the ship and avoid the
submerged icebergs, while keeping the band playing and the guests
smiling. Not an easy job when you've taken over as captain of what was
heading to became the Titanic.

I wish him luck.
 
Arthur said:
Will HP Follow the Hurd?

By Art Entlich

In case you haven't "Hurd" yet, HP has a new CEO.
The question is, can he turn around the results of years of
"Cartastrofi" under its former CEO, Carly Fiorina?

Mark Hurd is a long standing employee and recent CEO for NCR, and he
has been selected to replace Ms. Fiorina. How he handles the $80
billion company in the next few months may well determine if HP
remains one company, or spins off parts like the $24 billion printing
and imaging division.
Click to expand...


They should spin off Compaq.
 
Arthur said:
Will HP Follow the Hurd?

By Art Entlich

In case you haven't "Hurd" yet, HP has a new CEO.
The question is, can he turn around the results of years of
"Cartastrofi" under its former CEO, Carly Fiorina?

Mark Hurd is a long standing employee and recent CEO for NCR, and he has
been selected to replace Ms. Fiorina. How he handles the $80 billion
company in the next few months may well determine if HP remains one
company, or spins off parts like the $24 billion printing and imaging
division.

NCR, an old but valuable property, did almost $6 billion in business in
2004, and Hurd knows the software end of NCR well, but how HP executives
will respond to being passed over for an outsider, when the divisions
they'll been overseeing might be larger than all of NCR, may determine
how successful the "Hurd" mentality will become at HP.

After Carly Fiorina made herself a media celebrity (some might say, it
was her self-assigned job description) one thing is for sure, Mark Hurd
will become an immediate media preoccupation. His every move will be
scrutinized by industry and financial watchers on the outside, and, I
imagine, internally by HP employees around the water cooler who will be
sharing "what they have "Hurd"".

How long HP has to re-'invent' itself before stock holders and industry
begin to lower their expectations is difficult to predict, but I suspect
Mark Hurd doesn't have long to win the hearts and minds of the employees
and executives internally, and the wallets of the institutional buyers
and consumer. He will have to prove he can steer the ship and avoid the
submerged icebergs, while keeping the band playing and the guests
smiling. Not an easy job when you've taken over as captain of what was
heading to became the Titanic.

I wish him luck.
Click to expand...
Nice piece Art. Personally I think the new CEO is going to have to
return to HP's roots. Give rebirth to the "HP Way" Begin to believe
again the employees are the most valuable asset the Co has. At the
same time pay attention to what customers are saying and take
necessary steps to address their concern. This is going to be hard in
today's very competitive business world especially when what is left
of HP is a consumer market with small profit margins on most products.

I still have contacts with the Co and hope for friends and family's
sake the new CEO will restore the Co to it's former glory days. We'll
know how successful the CEO is when we see the HP name again on
surveys for best managed Co's and best Co to work for. Happy
employees are hard working employees and Bill and David understood
that, Carlie didn't.

Mickey
 
I agree with almost everything you say. I had tremendous respect for HP
as a company and a good corporate citizen years ago. Most of that is
now gone, except for a few good "men" who remain, in spite of the
difficulties. The two founding owners understood the importance of
honoring your employees, your clients and your local environment.

They recognized the need to give to the community, and that "invention"
comes from creative intention. Under Carly, few felt their position in
the company was safe enough to get distracted on such things as coming
up with new concepts ;-)

I certainly hope HP can turn their ship around.

Art
 
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