Al Lewis: How to Kill H-P

Hewlett-Packard is a 72-year old Dow component and until a year ago, it was one of America’s most innovative and valuable technology companies.  Now it looks like death, mostly as a result of getting tech cycle stuff wrong and making a criminally poor choice in leadership.

Al Lewis take a Louisville Slugger to the antics of $HPQ in a doozy of a Wall Street Journal column today…

Let’s say you were given a year to kill Hewlett-Packard. Here’s how you do it:

Fire well-performing CEO Mark Hurd over expense-report irregularities and a juicy sexual-harassment claim that you admit has no merit. Fire four board members, as publicly as possible. Foment a mass exodus of key executives who actually know how to run the giant computer company.

Hire new a CEO from German competitor, SAP, which sells business software, not consumer products. Tell the new CEO, Leo Apotheker, that Mr. Hurd “left H-P in great shape.”

Draw public criticism from a major corporate-governance advisory firm, alleging Mr. Apotheker filled board openings with cronies.

Keep Reading:

H-P’s One-Year Plan (WSJ)