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The HP Way Out
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 by George Anders Portfolio/Penguin US$24.95, Cdn$37.50 hardcover |
review by Gordon Graham
The bitterly contested merger between Hewlett-Packard and Compaq that wrapped up a year ago pitted a taciturn heir to a family fortune against the most powerful female executive in the world. Walter Hewlett and HP CEO Carly Fiorina clashed in the boardroom, in the media and ultimately in court before shareholders finally approved the merger by the slimmest of margins: 51.4%. |
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Two new books offer different takes on this high-tech soap opera that cost the participants
more than US$100 million.
The better-written book is Perfect Enough by George Anders, a senior editor at Fast Company magazine. With more access to key players and lots of behind-the-scenes details, Anders captures the inherent drama of the battle. He can see, for instance, that the spread between Compaq and HP shares becomes an accurate barometer of the merger's chances: the wider the spread, the less likely the merger. And he gives far more attention to how the Hewlett and Packard children each struggled mightily with their consciences before voting against the merger. |
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 by Peter Burrows Wiley US$27.95, Cdn$43.50 hardcover |
A second title, Backfire, offers better analysis in a less-entertaining package.
Author Peter Burrows is a Business Week reporter who was barred from contact with HP when its spinmeisters realized he might harbour a critical view. Denied access to top players, Burrows instead delves deeply into Fiorina's background, tracking down such people as her first husband, who remains bitter at her businesslike termination of their marriage. |
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Burrows pays particular attention to Fiorina's smart career move of leaving Lucent,
where she was sales czar, before the bottom fell out of telecom.
In Burrows's version, Fiorina is an overambitious marketer who overturned a 60-year tradition affectionately called "The HP Way" and severed the trust between management and a once-loyal workforce by imposing thousands of layoffs. But the fact remains that HP had to do something to recapture its pre-eminence. Both books chronicle the gradual decline into mediocrity that plagued the once-proud enterprise. While it's too early to tell whether the merger will ultimately add to shareholder value, Anders is bullish. He saw how HP and Compaq "fit together like a zipper" where other analysts glimpsed only the "slow-motion collision of two garbage trucks." Burrows, while he agrees that Fiorina is a shrewd, hard-working CEO, is not convinced she is leading HP in the right direction. Time will tell which author is more on the money. This review appeared in the Report on Business magazine of the Globe and Mail in June, 2003. | ||
How to contact us
October 1, 2003
Review © 2003 by
Gordon Graham
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How to reach Gordon Graham Tel: (705) 842-2428 Eastern Fax: (705) 842-2429 Email: gordon@gordonandgordon.com |
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