In search of mediocrity: Why HP needs to return to the ‘HP Way’

So Hewlett-Packard Co. finally announced its new CEO this week: Mark Hurd, the CEO of
NCR. A number of names had been bandied around in the media: Vyomesh
Joshi, head of HPs printing and imaging business, Quantum CEO Rick

Melanie Hollands

Belluzzo, MCIC boss (and former Compaq CEO) Mike Capellas, and
Motorola’s Ed Zander.

Hurd is a competent manager with solid execution skills — something HP
sorely needs to improve, particularly in its enterprise business. He
also has relevant management experience, since HP, like NCR, is a
diversified “multi-product” global technology company.

However, Hewlett-Packard needs to do a lot, both strategically and
tactically, to move from being a mediocre company to an industry
leader. (Recall Chairman Patricia Dunn’s comments at
the time Carly Fiorina was fired, which implied HPs challenges were more
about execution than strategy.) The company is spread too thin —
trying to be all things to all people — and competing in too many
diverse segments without effectively leveraging potential synergies.