Interesting news for IT Consultants in Boston: Hewlett-Packard Co. Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman, by abandoning a proposal to spin off the company’s market-leading personal-computer unit, took a step toward unwinding the moves that led to her predecessor’s ouster.
In her first major decision since taking over back in September, Whitman shied away from a proposition made by her predecessor, Leo Apotheker a month before he was fired. Whitman has said she may also resurrect a push into tablet computers, an effort that languished under the former CEO, and in another break with the past. Currently Whitman is sharing management with Chairman Ray Lane.
“HP has been a comedy of errors, and selling a third of their revenue right now is probably not sound,” said Brian Marshall, an analyst at ISI Group in San Francisco. “This is obviously a pretty big reversal of the strategy Leo put into place.”
Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Hewlett-Packard, is following an example by Netflix after displeased investors spoke out. Recently Netflix abandoned a plan to split into two businesses, a move that would have made subscribers choose between different services for streaming video and their DVD services.
Whitman is keeping PCs to maintain a diverse product lineup and to help Hewlett-Packard drive bigger bargains when purchasing components. Her aim is to step up growth and avoid the management missteps that rankled shareholders and led the company to cut sales forecasts three times under Apotheker.
Customers as well as shareholders are speaking out and big companies like HP and Netflix are forced to listen. Times they are a changing after all, maybe. Would you agree?
If you would like to read the entire Bloomberg Businessweek article, click here.
