March 30, 2005
Mark Hurd, HP's newly-appointed CEO did not rule out the possibility of a spinoff
of Hewlett-Packard's lucrative printer business. But will he do it?
Hurd, along with Patricia Dunn, the company's chairman, said there were no conditions in his hiring that require him to keep HP's product portfolio intact.
"I received no preconditions in accepting the job," Hurd said. He officially takes up the post Friday.
Dunn added that HP had sought a CEO who could drive the company's various businesses to their highest potential. Over time, she said, Hurd will develop his own strategy of how to reach that point.
When HP ousted Carly Fiorina, the board noted that the decision was not the result of any disagreements about the company's strategy but rather the speed with which goals were being achieved.
Hurd typically operates off a set of metrics in evaluating the performance of businesses units and whether to spin them off--but he said that evaluation process will take time.
"I want to meet with people and listen and get underneath all the operating models for each of the business units," he said.
And although HP and NCR are similar in that they're both diversified technology companies, Hurd said it would be a mistake to take the same formula he used at NCR, apply it to HP and expect the same results.
When he was at NCR, he said, he sometimes heard requests from investors to spin off the company's data warehousing division, similar to the way at HP, some investors have asked the company to cut loose its printer operations.
"I interpret that as a shareholder value statement," Hurd said, noting he would first look at creating shareholder value by improving the performance of the units.
Source: C-Net News
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