Memo: HP after Fiorina

On Wednesday, Carly Fiorina stepped down as CEO and chairman of Hewlett-Packard. This is the text of a memo explaining the decision and pointing to the days ahead, sent to the company's employees by Robert Wayman, HP's CFO and acting chief executive.

To: All HP Employees

From: Bob Wayman

Re: Carly Fiorina Steps Down as Chairman, CEO

The HP Board of Directors announced this morning that Carly Fiorina has stepped down as Chairman and CEO, effective immediately.

On behalf of the Board and the management team, I want to thank Carly for all she has contributed to HP. In her six years as CEO, Carly has revitalized the company. She had a strategic vision that has given HP the capabilities to compete and win. Through her leadership and vision, HP has laid a solid foundation for success in the marketplace.

With Carly's departure, the Board has asked that I serve as interim CEO in addition to my current role as CFO. Patricia Dunn, an HP director since 1998, has been named Non-Executive Chairman of the Board. The search for a new CEO will begin immediately.

I look forward to stepping into the role of CEO and leading HP through the next few months. I will be focused on accelerating our execution against our established strategy until a new CEO is named. We continue to believe we have the right ingredients for success. With all the members of the Executive Council, I'm focused on driving improved performance and consistency of operations. I'm proud of the people of this company and all we've achieved together. There's more work to be done, but I believe we have a dedicated team focused on executing our strategy and meeting customer needs.

I have great confidence in our ability to execute the strategies and plans we have put in place. HP will report its first quarter results next week, and I look forward to giving you an update on our performance, which we expect to be in line with consensus analyst expectations (after adjusting for the effects of the previously announced Intergraph settlement).

I'd like to ask your support in helping me and other members of the management team move forward as a cohesive team -- dedicated to delivering on our commitments to our customers, to you our employees and to our shareowners. Thank you for your continued focus.

--Bob

The Purloined Memo

I'm amazed that the HP Legal Brigade hasn't nuked you yet. Within an hour after I posted the same innocuous memo, HP's Senior Counsel sent me a lovely little legal cease and desist order. To wit, remove the memo, which violated copyright and possibly trade secrets (known only to Air Force Generals) at once or face legal action.

Being a good little do-bee, I removed the memo. But William Shakespeare was right when it comes to lawyers. It would seem that HP had bigger fish to fry than little old me and my little web site
http://www.shannonknowshpc.com on the day things backfired for Carleton Sneed Fiorina. If not, it's just another example of why HP is bloated bureacuracy, a child that doesn't know what it wants to be when it grows up. Or gets acquired!