Tech Companies

Hewlett-Packard Co.

The latest news about Hewlett-Packard Co.

H-P Promotes Software Chief Veghte to COO
Hewlett-PackardCo. has named Bill Veghte, who recently led the company's software business, to fill the newly created position of chief operating officer.

Overview
Culture
Recruiting
Facts & Resources
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Overview

Hewlett-Packard Co. is one of the oldest and largest U.S. technology companies, selling a vast line of products to consumers, corporations, schools and government buyers. Its most important hardware lines include printers, servers and personal computers, but it also sells storage and networking equipment and peripheral gear. HP's software products include management and decision-support applications and network management tools for large enterprises and telecom carriers. The Palo Alto, Calif., company sells its branded products in 170 countries.

H-P, like many hardware companies, is seeking to boost its IT service and consulting businesses, which carry higher profit margins. The company bought IT service giant Electronic Data Systems Ltd. for $14 billion in 2008. At the same time, H-P is cutting workers to trim costs. In 2010, it said it would be laying off 9,000 employees over several years.

Culture

HP's corporate culture can perhaps better be described as a religion, one that has spawned at least one major war. The company is home to thousands of long-time employees who believe in "the H-P way" evangelized by founders David Packard and Bill Hewlett, who believed in a collaborative work environment, open office space, profit sharing and education subsidies for employees. When former Chief Executive Carly Fiorina sought to implement wholesale changes and job cuts, she met with massive resistance and was eventually ousted by H-P's board of directors. Still, Fiorina's successor Mark Hurd also resorted to massive layoffs to cut company costs. Hurd, who resigned in 2010 amid sexual harassment allegations, left the company to lead H-P's rival, Oracle. He was succeeded by Leo Apotheker in October of 2010.

Recruiting

Job candidates might want to read founder Bill Packard’s 1996 autobiography "The HP Way: How Bill Hewlett and I Built Our Company." Packard described the HP Way as "a core ideology ... [which] includes a deep respect for the individual, a dedication to affordable quality and reliability, a commitment to community responsibility, and a view that the company exists to make technical contributions for the advancement and welfare of humanity.”

HP’s career portal has a “Find Your Fit” tool which gives candidates a closer look at available jobs and encourages visitors to explore career paths including engineering, sales, information technology, marketing and quality control.