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Human Relations in Organizations: Applications and Skill Building 8th Edition by Robert Lussier
Edition 8ISBN: 978-0073602370Human Relations in Organizations: Applications and Skill Building 8th Edition by Robert Lussier
Edition 8ISBN: 978-0073602370 Exercise 13
HP Crashes But the CEO Gets a Golden Parachute: Carly Fiorina and Hewlett-Packard Company
Changing organizations to get ahead is the American way of life, or so thought Carly Fiorina as she became CEO and chair of the board of Hewlett-Packard Company (HP). She worked at AT T and Lucent Technologies and was listed by Fortune magazine as the most powerful woman in business for six years in a row. [yet Fiorina's tenure at HP was nothing short of a prolonged controversy. Her unpopularity at HP was amplified by her many decisions which some thought to be provoking.
Fiorina pushed through a controversial merger with rival company Compaq. The promised benefits failed to materialize, and many analysts claim that the move diluted the value of HP's otherwise profitable imaging and printer division. The company's stock price dropped.
The board had a very difficult decision to make: Should it fire Ms. Fiorina for her performance which, according to her contract, would provide her an astounding severance package estimated at over $42 million, or should it bite the bullet and continue to let HP muddle along? She was subsequently fired. In a commencement address at North Carolina Agricultural Technical State University, Fiorina said: "The worst thing I could have imagined happened. I lost my job in the most public way possible, and the press had a field day with it all over the world. And guess what? I'm still here. I am at peace and my soul is intact." Would anyone not be at peace with $42 million in her pocket?
In hindsight, following Fiorina's exit, sales of Compaq PCs helped HP overtake Dell to become the number one PC seller.
Which career stage do you think she is in now?
Changing organizations to get ahead is the American way of life, or so thought Carly Fiorina as she became CEO and chair of the board of Hewlett-Packard Company (HP). She worked at AT T and Lucent Technologies and was listed by Fortune magazine as the most powerful woman in business for six years in a row. [yet Fiorina's tenure at HP was nothing short of a prolonged controversy. Her unpopularity at HP was amplified by her many decisions which some thought to be provoking.
Fiorina pushed through a controversial merger with rival company Compaq. The promised benefits failed to materialize, and many analysts claim that the move diluted the value of HP's otherwise profitable imaging and printer division. The company's stock price dropped.
The board had a very difficult decision to make: Should it fire Ms. Fiorina for her performance which, according to her contract, would provide her an astounding severance package estimated at over $42 million, or should it bite the bullet and continue to let HP muddle along? She was subsequently fired. In a commencement address at North Carolina Agricultural Technical State University, Fiorina said: "The worst thing I could have imagined happened. I lost my job in the most public way possible, and the press had a field day with it all over the world. And guess what? I'm still here. I am at peace and my soul is intact." Would anyone not be at peace with $42 million in her pocket?
In hindsight, following Fiorina's exit, sales of Compaq PCs helped HP overtake Dell to become the number one PC seller.
Which career stage do you think she is in now?
Explanation
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Verified
Case summary:
It is very common for the ...
Human Relations in Organizations: Applications and Skill Building 8th Edition by Robert Lussier
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