The alternative to an outright split-up is to build a conglomerate out of HP, like GE. The advantage of a conglomerate is it can take advantage of market fluctuations. When certain segments of the market are doing badly, the management can focus strategy around the other segments, thus minimising overall impact. In HP's case, [1] when consumer spending is hot, it can gain an overall edge on IBM, which has no consumer business but competes against HP for corporate contracts; if corporate zooms, HP can then move ahead of rival Sony in consumer electronics. This appears to be a less popular sentiment than either a spin-off of the printing and imaging business, and a split of HP.
Conclusion:
We've been through a range of issues in the analysis above: Where and why Carly Fiorina failed for HP, why HP needs a change in strategy, and various strategy options for the company. The right strategy is one that strikes a balance between the need for HP to redefine itself radically, and yet maintains the strength of a unified HP. That one appears to be restructuring HP completely around its printing and imaging business. That way, HP can target both the consumer and the enterprise, position itself attractively as the ultimate in everything print and image, and keep itself from a difficult and risk-ridden split. What HP ultimately should do is a tough question Carly's successor will have to answer.
References:
[1] Fiorina steps down at HP. News.com
[2] Choosing a new HP chief and mulling strategy
[3] HP must open source Tru64 goodies - users
[4] HP laughs off Tru64 promises, welcomes Veritas
[5] New round of HP firings to cost $200m
[6] Hewlett-Packard Server Snapshot
[7] HP Product Roadmaps
[8] Only 3,500 Intel Itanium Servers shipped in 2002
[9] HP gives Itanium the boot
[10] HP sends Itanium designers to Intel
[11] Livermore: No need for HP-UX on x86
[12] Does HP need a new course?
[13] HP combines printer, PC units
[14] HP-Compaq merger: Worth the wait?
[15] Analysis: HP PC Unit's Future Unsettled
[16] HP Analysis: Carly Fiorina Facing "A Skeptical Business Press"
[17] Fiorina's fuzzy vision
[18] Where Fiorina Went Wrong
[19] Storage, servers bruise HP earnings
[20] Fiorina falls victim to HP's Switzerland syndrome
bout the author:
Rahul Gaitonde works as a software developer for IBM's India Software Labs at Pune, India, chiefly in the areas of filesystems, distributed computing, storage area networks and network security. His present areas of interest are the Linux Kernel, Linux on the Desktop and collaboration software. He also writes frequently on a variety of issues, mostly technology-related ones. www.rahulgaitonde.org houses information about him and his work - along with occasional glimpses of his non-work life. He has 3 articles published on OSNews previously: "The KDE 3.2 Beta 2 User Review", "Giving XFce4 a Spin" and "IceWM - The Cool Window Manager".
If you would like to see your thoughts or experiences with technology published, please consider writing an article for OSNews.
- "HP after Fiorina, Page 1/4"
- "HP after Fiorina, Page 2/4"
- "HP after Fiorina, Page 3/4"
- "HP after Fiorina, Page 4/4"
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