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1. Hewlett-Packard is clearly a success story. When Lew Platt took over as CEO i

ID: 363163 • Letter: 1

Question

1. Hewlett-Packard is clearly a success story. When Lew Platt took over as CEO in 1992, he believed that the "HP Way" bestowed the company with a unique competitive advantage. What is the HP Way? How is it supported by HP's values, culture, human resource policies, and management practices? Be prepared to explain how this very complex organizational system has worked up to the 1980s. Why does the task force believe that HP is losing its human touch? Are they justified in this conclusion? Will changes HP made in the 1980s cause permanent damage to the "HP Way?" Will they affect the company's effectiveness in the long run? 2. 3. What should Lew Platt do about the task force's concerns? 4. Are concerns by Samsung about the applicability of the "HP Way" in Korea justified? Should HP accede to Samsung's pressure to abandon the "HP Way" in Korea? 5. What do you recommend Lew Platt do about pressures from the businesses to go 6. What if any lessons are there in the HP story for your own organizational 7. What has enabled HP to adapt to new market circumstances while other major their own way in strategy and management practices? experiences? companies in the industry like Apple Computer, IBM, and Digital Equipment have all experienced significant problems in adaptation? Does it have anything to do with the "HP Way?" Why? If not, how do you account for HP's continued success over five decades? What should Lew Platt do to avoid the failure of success?

Explanation / Answer

Hewlett Packard was one of the traditional software companies which had established its brand in the software as well electronic gadget industry. However, over the years it had not been able to generate considerable profit for its shareholders and therefore, it created the need for organizational restructuring. HP was split in 2015 into HP inc and HP enterprise with almost equal distribution of business volume. HP inc was entrusted with the responsibility of PC, printer, and other hardware business while HP enterprise was given the software service as well as cloud business. The aim of such an organizational restructuring was to explore new high growth markets and to expand the profitable lines of business in a rapid fashion. It also wanted to develop a lean structure so that the software business could have shed its unprofitable aspects. The HP Inc business started off quite well and started to generate profits. The HP enterprise had a shaky start but slowly it developed into a stable business. There is considerable amount of focus in developing the HP enterprise business towards new cutting edge technologies (Davidson). Cloud is one of the new dimensions in the software industry and therefore, there is considerable focus towards growing the business. These are some of the aspects of the HP business strategy which has enabled it to grow in the software as well as hardware sector. If it continues to build capabilities in these two domains with an eye towards new markets then it can add significant value for its shareholders and achieve the vision and mission of the company.