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Hewlett Packard

Kayla Ramon

Hewlett Packard

Capstone II Final Project

South Texas College

Dr. Flores
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Hewlett Packard

Abstract

Hewitt Packard was a fast-growing company in which many trial and errors had to occur

in order to become as successful as it is in present day. The company was lead by a series

of CEO’s in which their personal touch and perspective made an impact on HP. A series

of problematic events occurred but the way the situations were handled were based on the

moral of the leaders. In a company as innovative as HP, a leader must be able to make

effective decision making and represent the company’s fundamental objectives. One is

not only in charge of the company but is the brand of the company. Innovation,

sustainably, communication and leadership are all to be practice in HP.

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Hewlett Packard

Hewlett-Packard also known as HP was first introduced in 1939 with their first

product of an audio oscillator which sold to Walt Disney Studios, Accelerating the

Profitability of Hewlett-Packard's Supply Chains. (2004). Interfaces, 34(1), 59-72. In

current date, HP offers worldwide IT, technology, software, and services. They now carry

a wide range of products such as cameras, printers and computers, becoming the world’s

largest technology vendor by sales in 2006 and by 2008 the largest worldwide seller of

personal computers, Paroutis, S., Mckeown, M., & Collinson, S. (2013). Building castles

from sand: Unlocking CEO mythopoetically behavior in Hewlett Packard from 1978 to

2005 . Though HP has been around for many years, there has been issues in the structure

of the company and has suffered its consequences various times. HP has been known to

be on the board of dysfunction for their questionable strategic and personnel decisions.

The company has gone through various CEO’s which might had affected the

prioritization of the company’s objectives and morals. Many of the CEO’s were not well

qualified for the position but managed to be successful. There is a relationship between

leadership style and decision-making effectiveness varying between the different CEO’s.

Without proper leadership and organization will struggle to progress.

With various CEO’s HP has made various changes within the company but have

managed to stay within the core objectives. HP first set of core objectives were to include

good citizenship and responsible business practices in which HP continues to live up to

this and striving to be an economic, intellectual and social asset to each country and

community in which they do business, Rosenberg, W. (2004). Making a profit… and a

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difference: HP invest an organization to drive sustainability. Journal Of Organizational

Excellence. Those who are in the position of HP senior executives have the duty to assure

the organization implements the business practice. The company wanted to assure they

were able to be transparent and ethical while conducting business but without

compromising their integrity in which it has helped them to create partnerships with other

companies such as Intel. Another practice was working to achieve sustainability

environmentally, socially and economically in all the company did. HP focused

education, environment and privacy and they supported this through public policy

leadership, communication and philanthropy.

John Young was CEO for 15 years in which he went took the HP through the

most fundamental changes. During his time as CEO the company went through the

struggle of cost and quality due to competition which was causing quality problems due

to the items being made in a rush. Young decided that the problem could be fixed during

the design stage, Paroutis, S., Mckeown, M., & Collinson, S. (2013). Building castles

from sand: Unlocking CEO mythopoetically behavior in Hewlett Packard from 1978 to

2005. Business History, 55(7), 1200-1227. doi:10.1080/00076791.2013.838038. The

process was known as Total Quality Control in which it was implemented to improve the

process. By utilizing this practice, it was meant to improve customer satisfaction with

both quality and price advantage as well as product and services. In order for changes like

this to function within the organization the leader must be able to communicate and

include the workers not only those in the leadership roles. One of the changes that

occurred within management was Young decided to eliminate excessive layers of

management which helped develop self-managing teams, Zell, D. (2001). Overcoming

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Barriers to Work Innovations: Lessons Learned at Hewlett-Packard. Organizational

Dynamics, 30(1), 77-86. CEO Young communicated to the employees how important it

was to for the products to be of quality because it would lead the pack in innovation and

quality to various audiences. Due to his good leadership, by 1992 the quality movement

at HP helped them survived the midlife crisis in which the problem was quality.

When outside recruit Carly Fiorina became CEO, she was quick to jump into her

beliefs of HP and assuring the HP board knew her thoughts. Though she was very direct,

she kept the initial objectives of HP into consideration. Young took the company through

the fundamentals of change and Fiorina took charge in assuring the company would make

a great transition into the 21st century. Her emphasis was in reinventing the company in

several areas because she felt as if they could achieve and contribute more. Fiorina’s

transformation would only be successful if it was accepted by those internally and

externally stating “We must preserve the best, and reinvent the rest,” Rivas, Rio, Gobeli,

David, Accelerating innovation at Hewlett Packard, (2005). As a leader, it was in the way

she presented the ideas that would make the employees level of effort exceed.

Though the company had good objectives there were scandals in which occurred

and over shadowed the good of the company. The company began to have problems with

sustainably due to the lack of a long-term share vision and commitment. The various

department of the organization weren’t aligned with the corporate or business goals. In

order address the issues, CEO Carly Fiorina who had the position from 1999-2005,

brought up and idea that there was a need to group personnel at the corporate level with

those in social, and environmental responsibility functions, by doing this they had a better

chance of addressing the issues systematically and globally. HP had to implement

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standards, structure and shared vision to establish flexibility with the engagements across

the regions HP had business with. This group became official in May of 2002 known as

the CSER, Corporate, Social, and Environmental Responsibly group. Fiorina merged the

group to the organization to ensure the goal of sustainably and would be now be a part of

the business process. This group helped the business due to their communication among

all department. They held meetings and strategic planning with HP’s Senior Executives,

Corporate Affairs and the HP’s global business groups. When this type of leadership

occurs, the chance of better practice and strategies are at higher probability of

succeeding.

Sustainability has become a fundamental market force affecting long term

financial viability and success in the 21st century, Preston, L. (2001). Sustainability at

Hewlett-Packard: From theory to practice. California Management Review, 43(3), 26-37.

Customers were looking for sustainability in business practice while shareholders are

referring to it as a measure of financial success. HP has evolved through various

environmental sustainability and some of the concerns that had been brought up were

based on pollution control and prevention. Shareholders had an increase in cost savings

due to HP implementing waste and energy projects which saved them over millions of

dollars. When CEO, Clary Fiorina took this into consideration and made a change, as a

leader she took advantage and did a great job at benefiting both the company and the

consumers. This enhanced the image of the brand because consumers prefer to buy

products form those who are responsible with their business practice. Being

environmentally friendly would boost the company’s sales while creating a marketing

opportunity because not only did she show her consumers that HP was eco friendly but
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that they could adapt to change, in this instance they created energy efficient printers. The

decision making that Fiorina was making was up to date still following the objectives that

were first implemented.

Young had a great way in foreseeing future problems and working those issues

ahead of time. Young’s employees appreciated this from their leader. Young practiced

the traditional ways of HP with the attitude to trust and understanding. Unlike Young,

Fiorina was quick to legitimate her strategic discourse with personal authority but at the

same time wasn’t to sure if others were accepting of her ways. She was the type of leader

in which she would want her authority to be know but as well would should conformity

with the employees in assuring it was a team effort. She wasn’t liked by all due to her

quickness, but others admired the changes she made to the company, Paroutis, S.,

Mckeown, M., & Collinson, S. (2013). Building castles from sand: Unlocking CEO

mythopoetically behavior in Hewlett Packard from 1978 to 2005, Table 4. Based on the

research of HP, the way a CEO’s addresses the decisions that had been made, it will

influence how people inside or outside the company react to the changes. Though CEO’s

won’t ever be the same, it is important that the fundamental objectives of the company

continue to be practiced for the brand to maintain their reputation. If the issues that were

presented hadn’t been addressed by the leaders, and communicated properly, the

company wouldn’t had been successful. They took various factors into consideration such

as the consumers, shareholders, environment and the reputation. In this particular

company what employees looked for was employee engagement, accountably and reward

for success, collaboration or success and decision-making speed and effectiveness, Peery,

M. (2012). Creating Change Ahead of the Curve How AI Summits Transformed the
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Culture of Hewlett Packard's Imaging and Printing Group. AI Practitioner, 14(2), 46-50.

A leader must know how to balance managing a company and leading it toward the right

direction while respecting their employees, and the morals in which the company stands

for.
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REFERENCE:

Accelerating the Profitability of Hewlett-Packard's Supply Chains. (2004). Interfaces,

34(1), 59-72.

Paroutis, S., Mckeown, M., & Collinson, S. (2013). Building castles from sand:
Unlocking CEO mythopoetical behavior in Hewlett Packard from 1978 to 2005

Preston, L. (2001). Sustainability at Hewlett-Packard: FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE.

California Management Review, 43(3), 26-37.

Rivas, Rio, Gobeli, David, Accelerating innovation at Hewlett Packard, (2005)

Zell, D. (2001). Overcoming Barriers to Work Innovations: Lessons Learned at

Hewlett-Packard. Organizational Dynamics, 30(1), 77-86.

Peery, M. (2012). Creating Change Ahead of the Curve How AI Summits

Transformed the Culture of Hewlett Packard's Imaging and Printing Group. AI
Practitioner, 14(2), 46-50.