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Name of the student
Institution
Professor
Deadline
Carly Fiorina and the Reinvention of Hewlett Packard
Introduction
The book, Perfect Enough was written by George Anders an investigative journalist. It
was first published by Portfolio Hardcover on 23rd January, 2003. The book contains 288 pages
covering the events around the life of the HP’s CEO Fiorina by then and the tough decisions she
had to make. It was also published by Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated in 2004. I selected this
particular book as it unveils the possibility of making progress in the line of business. It reveals
the risk taking role that a manager faces and the strategies that have to be put in place to create a
competitively advantaged business (Anders 5). Fiorina joins HP with her own policies geared
towards ensuring the multidimensional growth of the business. However, she faces a lot of
opposition from the stakeholders making her to get into loggerheads but stands firm on the
decision to acquire Compaq a company involved in the same line of production.
Synopsis
This book revolves around the battle between the founders of Hewlett-Packard (HP), a
computer making company and the company’s new Chief Executive Officer, Carly Fiorina.
Conflicts arose because the stakeholders wanted the management of the company to be done the
‘HP Way’. Fiorina joined HP in 1999 after having a successful span of management at Lucent

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Technologies. Having done Sales and Marketing, she faces challenges in the organization which
has a policy that requires any CEO to have qualified Engineering. She brings reforms whose
objective is to maximize the revenues with reduced costs and thus increase the profits of the
organization. This comes after a moment of financial strains in the industry in the 1990’s. She
also emphasizes on inventions by HP of new products to improve customer satisfaction. Her
presence as the CEO leads to many employees losing their jobs with the long job security of
employees according to the policy of the company being abandoned. This leads to an
improvement in the company performance with a 15% growth in profit and about 6% increase in
earnings recorded in 2000.
The test of her leadership comes when she communicates the idea of merging HP with
Compaq a competitor. This transaction is estimated to cost $20 million which is opposed by the
founders of the company. Walter Hewlett engages in a series of exchanges with Fiorina which
includes media and court proceedings. She finally receives majority votes from the shareholders
hence Compaq is bought by HP (Anders 20). The purchase of Compaq leads to an increase in the
market share of HP-Compaq in 2002. George Anders presents majorly portrays the positive sides
of Fiorina ignoring her weaknesses. This makes him neutral unlike other authors who have really
dwelt on her shortcomings.
Fiorina’s term as the CEO of Lucent portrayed her uniqueness evidenced by the
withdrawal of Lucent from AT&T just a night before the company could be made public. She
also helped her colleague when his wife was ill through emotional and medical support. These
qualities gave her an upper hand in being considered to take reign at HP. In HP, Fiorina
transformed the way of management by applying a vertical management approach as opposed to
the long-term decentralized approach adopted earlier. She encouraged innovation by the

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company and diversification of products and also introduced the performance based approach to
employee management. About 20,000 employees were laid off by these reforms. She was also
behind the merger of HP and Compaq as described above.
The author attempts to explain the fact that the reforms brought by Fiorina were geared
towards the realization of better returns by HP. In order to succeed in business, it is advisable not
to give up but to keep the fighting spirit. Agility and aggressiveness are very paramount in
management of any organization. The manager should thus be able to take risks in business in
order to improve the net worth of a business.
Lessons I Can Apply to my Business Career
There are so many lessons learnt from this book. As a manager, it is very important to be
innovative in decision making. This entails the discovery of new ways to make the organization
better. The business should attempt to operate at minimized costs in order to maximize the profit.
Managers are very vulnerable to opposition from the stakeholders and thus should apply their
skills to ameliorate the business with the achievement of its objectives (Julie 56). A manager
should weigh the impact of words and speeches they make on the public image of the business.
My Opinion
I liked Fiorina’s help extended to the fellow executive member when his wife got ill. This
shows charity and willingness to support in case of need. The level of Fiorina’s firmness despite
the opposition from the company’s founders is also very incredible (Fiorina 21). This reveals the
qualities of a good manager after weighing the advantages and the repercussions of the decision.
The innovative approach applied by Fiorina is also commendable as it widens the scope the
company and brings diversification of operations.

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I however did not like the rapid changes which were introduced by Fiorina in the early
stages of management. Most of these reforms are better applied in a collapsing organization to
recuperate the business. The new employee policy was aristocratic since it led to unemployment
of many as job insecurity made employees not to be loyal to the organization. The employees
could easily defraud the organization as they are not guaranteed about their future. Fiorina was
too vocal and did not bother whether the exchanges in the media could have an impact negating
the customer opinion about the business. This gave the rival Dell an upper hand in operation.
If I was in Fiorina’s shoes as the manager, I would focus on marketing the company’s
policies. I would create a friendly working environment for the employees and foster good
relations with the environment and the Government.
The most interesting thing I learned from this material is the fact that HP as a company
has laid down its strategies of operation. Every manager that is appointed should thus keep the
objective of the founding fathers of HP alive. Any violation to such rules results in a conflict, as
evidenced by the material, irrespective of whether such management techniques are towards the
increase in the earning of the organization or not. Another aspect is the direct influence of the
founding fathers’ family in the affairs of the company despite the fact that the company has gone
public. It is interesting to note that the efforts of Walter Hewlett do not succeed after the voting
done by the shareholders to acquire Compaq.
References
Anders, George. The Reinvention of Hewlett-Packard. New York: Penguin Group, 2003.

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Julie, Dina. Ranking The 50 Most Powerful Women. NY. Fortune Publishers, 1998.
Fiorina, Carly. Tough Choices: A Memoir. London: Portfolio Hardcover, 2006.