Envejecimiento cerebral

On 30 September 2010, HP appointed Léo Apotheker, former CEO of SAP, as CEO and President. The board also elected Ray Lane, Managing Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, as non-executive Chairman of the board²¹. Investors’ reaction to Apotheker’s appointment was mixed, and many wondered if he would be able to fill the shoes of Hurd. It would be up to Apotheker to re-establish “the HP Way”, or even to define his own “The Leo Way”, as the Economist puts it, of doing things.

However, Apotheker did not last long. On 22 September 2011, he was fired and Meg Whitman, the former CEO of eBay and a current board member of HP, replaced him. This came at a difficult time for HP, when its US$1.2 billion mobile operating system had been floundering and HP had been considering spinning off its PC business²².

Discussion Questions

1. Comment on the fall of HP’s share price after Mark Hurd’s resignation.

Does this mean that the decision to ask Hurd to leave was a poor decision from the shareholders’ point of view?

2. Should managers be required to behave ethically even if their actions do not directly affect the company? How does HP expect its employees to behave?

3. The case suggests that the “HP Way” may no longer be relevant today for HP. What is the “HP Way”? Do you think any company can operate successfully today based on similar values?

4. Who should be responsible for setting and upholding the ethical culture of a company? How can a company ensure that such a culture is practised on a day-to-day basis?

5. Based on the events that have transpired, did Mark Hurd deserve the severance package he received? Why do you think the board gave him such a generous severance package?

6. Do you think that HP was justified in forcing Mark Hurd to resign?

Endnotes:

1 HP. “HP Interactive Timeline”, 2011. <http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/

histnfacts/timeline/>, accessed on 13 December 2011.

2 Burrows, Peter. “Hewlett & Packard: Architects Of The Info Age”, 29 March 2004. Bloomberg Businessweek. 13 December 2011.

<http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_13/b3876054.htm>

3 HP. “Quotes and anecdotes About Bill”, 2011.

<http://www.hp.com/retiree/history/founders/hewlett/quotes.html>, accessed on 13 December 2011.

4 Hardy, Quentin. “Hewlett-Packard’s Mark Hurd: He Wants it All”, 12 April 2010. Forbes. 13 December 2011. <http://www.forbes.com/

forbes/2010/0412/technology-hp-mark-hurd-ibm-cisco.html>.

5 Lashinsky, Adam. “Mark Hurd’s Moment”, 3 March 2009. CNNMoney.

13 December 2011. <http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/27/news/companies/

lashinsky_hurd.fortune/index.htm>.

6 Ibid.

7 Ibid.

8 Robertson, Jordon. “HP CEO Mark Hurd Resigns After Sexual-Harassment Problem”, 6 August 2010. Huff Post Tech. 13 December 2011. <http://www.

huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/06/hp-ceo-mark-hurd-resigns-_n_673858.html>

9 Thomson StreetEvents. “HPQ – Hewlett-Packard Organizational Announcement Conference Call”, 6 August 2010. Thomson Reuters.

13 December 2011. <http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZ W50SUQ9NTcwNTl8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1>

10 Thomson StreetEvents. “HPQ – Hewlett-Packard Organizational Announcement Conference Call”, 6 August 2010.

<http://phx.corporateir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NTcwNTl8Q 2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1>, accessed on 13 December 2011.

11 Hartenstein, Meena. “Mark Hurd could get $40M severance; questions swirl about how accuser Jodie Fisher was hired”, 9 August 2010. NY Daily News. 13 December 2011. <http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-08-09/

news/27072165_1_stock-market-sexual-harassment-severance>

12 Oracle. “Oracle Hires Mark Hurd as President”, 6 September 2010.

13 December 2011. <http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/170532>

13 Abell, John. “Mark Hurd Lands At Oracle, HP Sues (Update II)”,

7 September 2010. Wired.com. 13 December 2011. <http://www.wired.com/

epicenter/2010/09/former-hp-ceo-mark-hurd-lands-on-his-feet-at-oracle>

14 HP. “HP Standards of Business Conduct”, 2011.

<http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9NzkzODJ8 Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1>, accessed on 13 December 2011.

15 Gregory, Sean. “Corporate Scandals: Why HP Had to Oust Mark Hurd”, 10 August 2010. TIME. 13 December 2011.

<http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2009617,00.html>

16 Lacy, Sarah and Mullins, Robert. “What is the HP Way?”, 17 March 2002. Business Journal. 13 December 2011.

<http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2002/03/18/story1.html>

17 Burrows, Peter and Elgin, Ben. “The Un-Carly Unveils His Game Plan”, 27 June 2005. Bloomberg Businessweek. 13 December 2011. <http://www.

businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_26/b3939061_mz011.htm>

18 Burrows, Peter. “Layoffs, the HP Way”, 19 July 2005. Bloomberg Businessweek. 13 December 2011. <http://www.businessweek.com/

technology/content/jul2005/tc20050719_3461_tc119.htm>

19 Kessler, Michelle and Hopkins, Jim. “New HP chief makes the best of a bad situation”, 13 September 2006. USA Today. 13 December 2011.

<http://www.usatoday.com/tech/techinvestor/corporatenews/2006-09-12-hp-hurd-advantage_x.htm>

20 Heritage Institute. “HP: Hewlett Packard’s Corporate Governance Woes”, 2011. <http://www.heritageinstitute.com/governance/hp/woes1.htm>, accessed on 13 December 2011.

21 HP. “Léo Apotheker Named CEO and President of HP”, 30 September 2010.

<http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2010/100930c.html>, accessed on 13 December 2011.

22 O’Brien, Terrence. “HP Names Meg Whitman new President and CEO, gives Leo Apotheker the Boot”, 22 September 2011. Engadget. 27 December 2011. <http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/22/hp-names-meg-whitman-new-ceo-gives-leo-apotheker-the-boot/>