270 Days into Meg Whitman’s Tenure as CEO of Hewlett Packard

270 days into Meg Whitman’s tenure as CEO of Hewlett Packard and battleship HP is listing.  When interviewed by the Wall Street Journal June 26  about Hewlett Packard’s situation, CEO Meg Whitman replied, "Most turnarounds in American industry are anywhere between four and five years.  And we're at the beginning of the journey, not the end of the journey.  Ultimately, you will see the sales decline slow and start to grow again, with the caveat that our services businesses may be a smaller but more profitable business." 

The stock hit a one-year low of $16.24 on June 26.  This is even a 7 year low. Hewlett Packard’s  52 week high of $37.70 occurred last June. June 28 update - A new low of $19.12 was hit.

Some Recent Occurrences   

In a memo sent to channel partners (obtained by CRN) and signed by "The HP Channel Leadership Team,"  the channel was told that executives Scott Dunshire and Mike Parrottino are switching the roles within HP that they were assigned to only two months ago. 

  http://www.crn.com/news/data-center/240002591/hp-names-new-channel-leaders-searching-for-rauch-replacement.htm

 

The lawsuit over Hurd’s payout of $40 million by Hewlett Packard  was dismissed (this was good!) http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/22/us-hp-hurd-lawsuit-idUSBRE85L0XE20120622

 

The Oracle - HP court case still has not been settled.  It should be decided shortly.  http://www.eweek.com/c/a/IT-Infrastructure/HP-Oracle-Dispute-Over-Itanium-Now-in-Judges-Hands-473740/

 

HP announced that about 8,000 of the planned 9,000 of the layoffs  will be in the US.  Bad for the US.  She has announced that some of the cuts will be through attrition.  http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/258293/hp_to_trim_9000_jobs_in_us_as_part_of_costcutting_plan.html

 

Hewlett-Packard   released an open source version of WebOS that can be used on legacy TouchPad tablets on June 27.  This is good. Meg Whitman had talked about this soon after being named CEO.   http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9228561/HP_releases_open_source_webOS_Community_Edition_for_TouchPads

 

"There is a lot of frustration and disappointment about what has happened" at HP, said J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz, adding that the tech giant will have to demonstrate significant improvement within a year to reassure skittish shareholders.  http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20908742/hp-hewlett-packard-long-term-turnaround-tests-investors-patience

There is not a lot of confidence within the channel or the marketplace.There has to be a rudder on this ship somewhere. Whitman has to explain how her actions fit into the big picture of a turnaround.  And the actions have to begin to affect positive change. Or she won't be around to celebrate her fifth or second anniversary of being named CEO.

Seminal Moment for Meg Whitman and Hewlett Packard http://kensek.blogspot.com/2012/05/seminal-moment-for-hewlett-packard-and.html

The Meg Whitman Era – Six Months In http://kensek.blogspot.com/2012/03/meg-whitman-era-at-hewlett-packard-six.html

 

Meg Whitman Era Begins at Hewlett Packard http://kensek.blogspot.com/2011/09/meg-whitman-era-begins-at-hewlett.html