Hewlett Packard: The Dodge Em Method

February 27, 2015

I read an interesting article called “Hewlett Packard Tries to Duck Investors with Virtual Meeting.” I thought it was hip to do meetings via Skype and the plug in on my Xenky.com Web site. Guess not.

The write up makes a point that I don’t consider when firing up the tele-meeting software. Here’s the passage I noted:

Hewlett Packard’s recent decision to ditch its annual shareholder meeting in favor of a virtual one is just bad corporate governance. The forum gives ordinary shareholders their one chance each year to directly question and even confront the CEO and board of directors. And when it comes to HP, investors should be asking plenty of questions.

Ah, corporate governance. I thought this was an area reserved for Wharton business school instructors. You know, Wharton, one of the fonts of management perspicuity for eager consultants and CEOs to be. (I wonder what “governance” means: Good decision making, prudent use of financial resources, innovating, generating sustainable revenue?)

The article points out the MBA type reasoning that HP management seems to be using. There’s a reference to the Autonomy flap, cost savings, and, of course, the somewhat lackluster financial performance.

I don’t agree with this statement:

Under Whitman, a former eBay CEO, HP has stabilized.

Like IBM, these large “information technology” companies are a bit like a whale stuck in a small bay. Everyone arrives to help, but in most cases, there is not much to be done. A confused whale is pretty much a challenge for everyone involved. When a whale thrashes before its death, I want to be standing well away from the creature.

I suppose that’s why I am confused about what HP is doing with the Autonomy technology. Some of the zeros and ones date from the mid 1990s. I don’t drive a 25 year old automobile. HP apparently plans to sell some.

Stephen E Arnold, February 27, 2015

Comments

One Response to “Hewlett Packard: The Dodge Em Method”

  1. jual madu penyubur kandungan on February 27th, 2015 5:34 pm

    jual madu penyubur kandungan

    Hewlett Packard: The Dodge Em Method : Stephen E. Arnold @ Beyond Search

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