Case Answer 01: HP

Group: #10

1. What was Fiorina’s leadership style? Was she the right choice for HP? Comment on
her failure to meet operational and financial targets.

Carly Fiorina’s Leadership Style:

Fiorina’s leadership style has been criticized by some, but for those who
worked under her commonly described her as inspiring. She committed to
motivating her widespread staff at HP; she had high expectations of her staff
but had equally if not higher expectations of herself, demonstrating this
adherence to her vision in her daily work. She is a gifted orator with an
uncanny ability to connect emotionally with her audience and is tireless in her
pursuit of change.

Was she the right choice for HP:

According to CCN business poll 71 % out of 28170 people had voted in the
favor of Fiorina appointment as a CEO of HP.
Hewlett Packard was a Fortune 20 company in 1999, so when Fiorina was
selected as its CEO in1999 she instantly became one of the most prominent
women in business.
Her most consequential decision at HP was to propose a merger with one of
its rivals, the PC company Compaq. Fiorina's proposal attracted opposition
from the family’s founders Bill Hewlett and David Packard, leading to a bitter
proxy fight that Fiorina ultimately won in 2002 with just 51 percent of the vote.
She ran the company for another three years before the board fired her in
2005.

Comment on her failure to meet operational and financial targets:

According to Johnson lack of humility may well be the single most important
contributor to Fiorina’s fall from power in 2005. Her publicity efforts, including
her appearance in HP commercials, seemed to promote “Carly” more than
HP. Furthermore, she failed to demonstrate realistic self-appraisal, openness
to new ideas, or a sense of transcendence. Fiorina was extremely confident in
her abilities.

2. Why is organizational transformation so difficult? How do the major

organizational dimensions relate to one another and with the external
environment in which business operate?
When Carly Fiorina was employed as the CEO of Hewlett Packard in July
1999, her brief was clearly to bring about change.  She soon decided that she
and her top team were not merely change agents what was needed were
change warriors.
 Fiorina addressed the generally hostile and exceptionally testosterone-fueled
Ascend sales team and their flamboyant boss.  She came straight to the point:
if the two teams were going to collaborate successfully, then they needed to
tell each other some hard truths.

How do the major organizational dimensions relate to one another:

Organizations are groups of people deliberately formed together to serve a
purpose through structured and coordinated goals and plans. As such,
organizations operate in different external environments and are organized
and structured internally to meet both external and internal demands and
opportunities.

The external environment in which business operates:

Socio-cultural environment forces

Include different generations’ values, beliefs, attitudes and habits, customs
and traditions, habits and lifestyles.
Technological forces
Environmental influence on organizations where speed, price, service, and
quality of products and services are dimensions of organizations competitive
advantage in this era.
Government and political environment forces
The global economy and changing political actions increase uncertainty for
businesses, while creating opportunities for some industries and instability in
others.
Natural disaster and human induced environmental problems
Events such as high-impact hurricanes, extreme temperatures and the rise in
CO2 emissions as well as man-made environmental disasters such as water
and food crises; biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse; large-scale
involuntary migration are a force that affects organizations.

3. What are the major paradoxes facing today’s businesses? [Prateek]

4. How relevant is HP’s legacy in today’s competitive technology driven environment?
Were the changes initiated by Fiorina justified? [Vibhor]
5. How was HP positioned before Fiorina’s arrival? Was she successful in repositioning
the company? [Aarushi]
6. Do you think a change in leadership will solve HP’s problems? In opinion, what are
the strategic options open to the new CEO? [Aarushi]