惠普 (HP) 稍早前任命Meg Whitman為新任CEO,該公司重申新任領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者將繼續(xù)前任CEO Leo Apotheker稍早前所制訂的策略。
Ray Lane被任命為董事會(huì)執(zhí)行主席。他表示在當(dāng)前惠普董事惠廣受批評(píng)之際,Whitman是出任此一要職的最佳人選。另外,惠普還計(jì)劃任命一名獨(dú)立董事。
Whitman和Lane均表示,他們將繼續(xù)Apotheker在今年8月18日所宣布的決策──考慮分拆PC事業(yè)部、中止WebOS平板和智能手機(jī)業(yè)務(wù),以及以大約117億美元并購服務(wù)器軟件廠商Autonomy。
Whitman表示,HP董事會(huì)仍在評(píng)估是否分拆PC部門,今年底前會(huì)做出最終決定。Autonomy的并購事宜也會(huì)在今年底前完成。
“唯有做出一些成果才能為這家公司重建信心,而這正是我打算去做的,”Whitman說。
Lane指出,董事會(huì)開除Apotheker的理由是因?yàn)樗狈F(tuán)隊(duì)精神,連續(xù)幾季財(cái)務(wù)績(jī)效不佳,而且缺乏策略目標(biāo)的溝通。他同時(shí)為遭到華爾街分析師抨擊僅給予Apotheker不到一年任期的董事會(huì)進(jìn)行辯護(hù)。
Lane拒絕透露董事會(huì)的相關(guān)時(shí)程表,但他用更寬廣的角度進(jìn)行了說明。
除了去年空降的Apotheker,在其CEO考慮人選列表中,“我們考慮了幾個(gè)[內(nèi)部]名單,但有些人尚未準(zhǔn)備好,”Lane說。他接著表示,“我和其它董事會(huì)成員也考慮過任命臨時(shí)執(zhí)行長(zhǎng),但我知道,最強(qiáng)的候選人就是Meg?!?
“她非常果決且擅長(zhǎng)交際,”Lane說。“我想惠普的員工都樂意與她同一陣線,因?yàn)樗芸炀湍苋谌雴T工之中,”他補(bǔ)充道。
Lane也為董事會(huì)聘任最近幾任CEO,包括Mark Hurd和Carly Fiorina而招致廣泛批評(píng)進(jìn)行了辯護(hù)。一份報(bào)導(dǎo)稱惠普去年聘用Apotheker時(shí),許多董事會(huì)成員甚至沒見過他。
“我對(duì)董事會(huì),以及董事會(huì)中齊心合作的每一個(gè)成員都引以為傲,”Lane說?!拔覀兊膱?zhí)行方法需要改進(jìn),我們也決定讓Meg Whitman帶領(lǐng)我們來進(jìn)行,”他表示。
“現(xiàn)在的董事會(huì)并未選擇Leo,超過半數(shù)的董事會(huì)成員是自Leo后才加入的,”Lane說。惠普的董事會(huì)在今年加入了8個(gè)新成員,包括Whitman在內(nèi)。他指出,董事會(huì)以候選人是否是合適人選進(jìn)行客觀辯論,最終會(huì)選出擁有良好領(lǐng)導(dǎo)記錄的人選。
“除了Meg,我還想不出可以讓誰來帶領(lǐng)這家公司,”他說。
Whitman承諾將盡快推動(dòng)HP PC業(yè)部部門的決策。
“我們所能做的是盡快做出有關(guān)PC部門的決策,”她說?!斑@可不像美酒可以愈陳愈香,”她形容道。
“這家公司最主要業(yè)務(wù)仍然是硬件部份,我希望能強(qiáng)調(diào)我們?cè)谟布I(yè)務(wù)方面的承諾,”她補(bǔ)充說。
Technology Business Research, Inc.分析師Krista Macomber指出,惠普應(yīng)該保留PC業(yè)務(wù)?!癙C和惠普其它業(yè)務(wù)之間具有互補(bǔ)效益,能擴(kuò)展這家公司的規(guī)模,并讓惠普充份運(yùn)用其銷售優(yōu)勢(shì)與生態(tài)系統(tǒng),”Macomber在一份報(bào)告中說。
Whitman表示,她已經(jīng)會(huì)晤了一些惠普的高階主管,但還未與其它職員見面。“員工們希望被領(lǐng)導(dǎo),這個(gè)組織已經(jīng)經(jīng)歷太多事件了,他們很希望這家公司仍能成為硅谷成功的標(biāo)志,”她表示。
本文下一頁:惠普如何再度成為硅谷之光
本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times,版權(quán)所有,謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
相關(guān)閱讀:
• 惠普放棄PC和webOS業(yè)務(wù),新CEO hold不住了?
• 惠普TouchPad為什么只賣99美圓?
• HP分拆PC業(yè)務(wù)對(duì)電腦代工廠家的沖擊幾何?2tGesmc
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觀點(diǎn):惠普如何再度成為硅谷之光?
最近,筆者在一些場(chǎng)合中遇到惠普的工程師時(shí),通常會(huì)先從痛苦的鬼臉做為招呼的開端,然后再轉(zhuǎn)變成笑臉,接下來便是長(zhǎng)談了。此一場(chǎng)景的背后代表著多么可怕的處境?
現(xiàn)階段,惠普的工程師和管理人員們,都需要一個(gè)能靜靜在他們背后提供策略的CEO,且必須提供能‘真正’解決眼前困境的決策。
在熱門的移動(dòng)小型裝置,以及大型云端服務(wù)的兩極化市場(chǎng)之間,惠普正處于尷尬的中間地帶。這家公司沒有智能手機(jī)或平板電腦,甚至表示將拋棄其領(lǐng)先全球的筆記本和PC部門?;萜論碛蟹€(wěn)定的服務(wù)器、網(wǎng)絡(luò)和儲(chǔ)存產(chǎn)品,但卻沒有能將之連結(jié)在一起的云端服務(wù)業(yè)務(wù)。
最重要的是,它擁有世界級(jí)的工程和管理團(tuán)隊(duì),但卻沒有可信任CEO來帶領(lǐng)他們。
惠普創(chuàng)辦人寫過一本有關(guān)該公司以創(chuàng)新管理讓這家公司成為硅谷徽章的書?,F(xiàn)在,時(shí)勢(shì)已大不相同了。今天的惠普是一家規(guī)模1,270億美元的龐然大物,在微薄的利潤(rùn)率以及由其它公司掌控技術(shù)的條件下維持其PC業(yè)務(wù)的領(lǐng)先地位。
未來的道路有千萬種可能,但唯一清楚的事,是每條路都不容易走。
根據(jù)紐約時(shí)報(bào)的一篇報(bào)導(dǎo),這家公司最直接的問題,似乎是一個(gè)功能不良的董事會(huì)。
一個(gè)月前,我曾寫過一篇文章,說明為何我不認(rèn)為當(dāng)時(shí)的執(zhí)行長(zhǎng)Leo Apotheker可以挽救惠普?,F(xiàn)在他被換下,由Meg Whitman接任,這位前任eBay首席執(zhí)行官也曾經(jīng)參選加州州長(zhǎng)。
惠普曾擁有自己的交響樂團(tuán)。但下一任CEO可能要從歷史中獲得更多提示──這家公司需要真正的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者,而非社交名流。
當(dāng)惠普實(shí)驗(yàn)室的新任領(lǐng)導(dǎo)者為該單位注入更多活力時(shí),這個(gè)企業(yè)便展現(xiàn)出截然不同的轉(zhuǎn)變。其憶阻器(memristor)和傳感器網(wǎng)絡(luò)已經(jīng)取得了迄今最傲人的成績(jī)。
惠普的服務(wù)器部門則持續(xù)收購3Com、3Par公司,但在此同時(shí),其內(nèi)部發(fā)展也未曾停歇,例如,惠普針對(duì)下一代高度整合的計(jì)算機(jī)-網(wǎng)絡(luò)-儲(chǔ)存基礎(chǔ)架構(gòu)進(jìn)行了全面性的開發(fā)工作。不過戴爾、IBM和思科也在做同樣的事。
許多廠商都競(jìng)相開發(fā)下一代系統(tǒng),參賽者必須具備世界級(jí)的水準(zhǔn),以確保其各自獨(dú)立運(yùn)作的工程和事業(yè)單位能共同規(guī)劃出足以致勝的發(fā)展藍(lán)圖。這也是新任CEO應(yīng)該做的,或是至少應(yīng)該維持這些單位合作而不分散。
擬訂行動(dòng)策略則是更加艱巨的工作。在面對(duì)智能手機(jī)和平板熱潮時(shí),惠普的反應(yīng)甚至比諾基亞(Nokia)更加遲緩。或許惠普應(yīng)該保留WebOS團(tuán)隊(duì),盡快跳到Android行列,并同時(shí)開創(chuàng)其它的市場(chǎng)機(jī)會(huì)。
除此之外,這家公司還有文化問題。惠普擁有極其龐大的員工數(shù)量和豐富的文化但歷經(jīng) Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd 和 Leo Apotheker 幾任CEO之后,這家公司的人才和歷史文化方面的優(yōu)勢(shì),幾乎都已經(jīng)要消磨殆盡了。
惠普辦公室位在蘋果和Google之間,也正是當(dāng)前行動(dòng)和云端革命的發(fā)源地。該公司仍然是一顆寶石…雖然已經(jīng)蒙塵,但在硅谷,仍然有很多種方法能讓它再度發(fā)亮。
無論你是惠普員工、曾經(jīng)任職惠普,或僅是在觀察這家公司,都?xì)g迎一同討論,你認(rèn)為下一任惠普CEO應(yīng)該怎么做。
編譯: Joy Teng
本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times,版權(quán)所有,謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
參考英文原文: HP keeps strategy, names Whitman CEO; HP: How to polish a Silicon Valley gem;by Rick Merritt
相關(guān)閱讀:
• 惠普放棄PC和webOS業(yè)務(wù),新CEO hold不住了?
• 惠普TouchPad為什么只賣99美圓?
• HP分拆PC業(yè)務(wù)對(duì)電腦代工廠家的沖擊幾何?2tGesmc
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HP: How to polish a Silicon Valley gem
Rick Merritt
SAN JOSE, Calif. – When I meet Hewlett-Packard engineers at events these days the greeting usual starts off with a painful grimace that quickly breaks into a laugh and a long talk. How horrible can this thing get?
At this stage, HP's engineers and managers need a chief executive that can quietly get behind them to provide the corporate blocking and tackling needed to help them solve some really, really big problems.
In a market increasingly split between hot mobile gadgets and enabling cloud services, HP stands in an awkward middle space. It has no smartphone or tablet products and it has indicated it may not even want its world-leading notebook and desktop group. It has solid server, networking and storage products but no cloud service business to wrap around them.
Most importantly, it has a world-class team of engineers and managers and no credible CEO to lead them.
HP's founders' wrote the book on managing innovation in a humble, engaged way as they created a Silicon Valley icon. Now it's a different day. HP is a $127 billion behemoth, leading in a PC business with razor thin margins and based on technologies controlled by other companies.
The way forward is anything but clear, and in no way easy.
The company's immediate problem appears to be a dysfunctional board of directors, based on a fascinating report from the New York Times.
I weighed in a month ago about why I don't think Leo Apotheker, the current CEO, can save HP. He is now set to be replaced, reportedly by Meg Whitman whose credentials are mixed at best after her failed run for California governor and difficulties in her final days at eBay.
Once upon a time HP had its own symphony orchestra (pictured below). The next CEO could take a cue from that history and be more of a conductor and less of a celebrity.
The changes come at a time when HP Labs has been reinvigorated by a new leader. Its achievements in memristors and sensor networks mark some of its best work to date.
Its server group is in the hunt. HP has acquired with companies such as 3Com, 3Par and its own internal developments all the pieces it needs for the next generation of highly integrated computer-networking-storage infrastructure. But so have Dell, IBM and Cisco.
There's a race on to get to this next generation system of systems. The contestants need to have world-class focus to ensure their separate engineering and business teams jointly plan a winning road map. That's work a new CEO should enable—or at least not distract.
Creating a mobile strategy is a harder job. HP is behind even Nokia in responding to the smartphone and tablet era. It should probably keep its WebOS team and quickly jump on the Android bandwagon while it waits for the next discontinuity to create another market opening.
Then there's the culture issue. HP has great people and a rich heritage. The struggles it has been through with Carly Fiorina, Mark Hurd and Leo Apotheker have strained both the people and the history almost to the breaking point. Almost.
HP's corporate offices stand right in between Apple and Google, ground zero of today's mobile and cloud revolutions. The company is still a gem, albeit a tarnished gem, in a Silicon Valley that's in many ways richer than ever.
Whether you are an HP employee, an alumn or just an observer, I'd love to hear what you think the next CEO ought to do to polish it.