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HP's Dunn as Newsweek Cover Girl

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the not-a-good-week-for-her dept.

theodp writes "In The Boss Who Spied on Her Board, Newsweek likens HP Chairwoman Pattie Dunn's attempts to escape culpability with her I-knew-nothing defense to both a head of state, who wants 'plausible deniability' while ordering an assassination plot, and to Henry II, who had the Archbishop of Canterbury removed by simply muttering 'Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?' in front of his knights."

19 of 198 comments (clear)

  1. When in Rome, etc. by ScentCone · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is slashdot. Please do not cite movie-style 'head of state asks-without-asking for an assination mission' analogies, or refer to centuries-old British church smack-downs. If you can't describe this in terms of chair throwing, iPod-killing, or some form of infringement, the message is lost.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    1. Re:When in Rome, etc. by HerrEkberg · · Score: 5, Funny

      Will no one rid me of this troublesome chair?

  2. Ugh. by writermike · · Score: 4, Funny


    Ugh. Too many words. It's much easier for me to buy another brand until this calms down.

    --
    If Nalgene water bottles are outlawed, only outlaws will have Nalgene water bottles.
  3. But interested enough to post? by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The real sadness in all this is that HP started off as an icon of geekdom, "The American Way", and many other pure and virtuous themes. Since then it has been Carley'ed and generally fucked over in many ways.

    At one stage, HP was "the best". They made the best calculators, best test equipment, best everything they touched. Their slide probably started with getting into the commodity PC industry (PCs and printers).

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
    1. Re:But interested enough to post? by Ingolfke · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm going to try again:

      The real sadness in all this is that HP started off as an icon of geekdom, "The American Way", and many other pure and virtuous themes.

      When was this exactly? This sounds like an idealized romanticized view of someone who doesn't actually know what they're talking about. Sure HP has made great products, but "icon of geekdom"... that sounds like either misplaced affection or overzealous fanboism to me.

      Since then it has been Carley'ed and generally fucked over in many ways.

      Again... since when? "Carley'ed". What's that mean? Carley's gone last I checked. HP's innovating, HP's selling products that work and that people and businesses want... "fucked up?" again you're overexagerating b/c you have some ridiculously romantic view of how things once were... and no idea of what is today.

      At one stage, HP was "the best". They made the best calculators, best test equipment, best everything they touched. Their slide probably started with getting into the commodity PC industry (PCs and printers).

      Really? TI seemed to have some kick-ass calculators... I don't know who hands out awards for "the best" calculators but I seem to remember TI was the standard for calculus+ classes at the University I attended. Best test equipment... maybe, but I thought HP was a computer company... so geeks are freaking out about test equipment. "Best everything they touched"... again with your hyperbole. You're exagerating... and I'm guessing it's because you don't know what you're talking about. "Commodity PCs and Printers"... HP invented the fucking laser jet printer. The laser jet, the desk jet... those fuckers sell like hotcakes. HP owns the market and they keep innovating. Waht are you smoking?

      I think this entire line of thinking is unsubstantiated... it's that sort of reality that exists in /. where super nerds imagine that truth and their idealistic fiction are the same thing. Reality says that HP is a good company that makes good products and that their are great competitors our there who also make good products and you get to choose. Stop idealizing periods that never actually existed, stop glorifying a past you didn't experience in its fullness... accept today and understand it... but don't delude yourself.

  4. Re:limelight dims by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't think it's a gender issue. They don't teach falling-down-on-your-own-sword in the business schools anymore. These days you get a brownie point for blaming the next guy/gal over and/or the news media. Taking personal responsibiity is so old school.

  5. My 2 cents as an impartial observer... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    What the hell is Liza Minnelli doing in a story about HP?

  6. Hey by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does anybody have a stream of today's emergency board meeting?

    The equipment is in place, isn't it?

  7. No-need-to-click-next-7-times-version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14736379/site/newsweek /print/1/displaymode/1098/

  8. Re:limelight dims by springbox · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Honestly from what I've seen of this, I think women in responsible positions are given a tougher time then men.

    What this person did is just totally inexcusable and they came out looking like a total dimwit on top of it. Who cares about their sex? What this person did was WRONG and they deserved to be given a hard time. If a man (and again, why does it matter) did the same thing I can guarantee that people aren't going to hesitate to criticize him. So maybe the question you should ask is given two people of different sexes (hypothetically) who commit the exact same crime under the same circumstances, why should we treat them differently?

  9. Turbulent by trewornan · · Score: 4, Informative

    If you're going to quote someone at least get it right, Beckett was a "turbulent" priest not a "troublesome" one.

    1. Re:Turbulent by trewornan · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sorry, I'm not American so it didn't occur to me that school-kid knowledge of history would be regarded as elitism.

    2. Re:Turbulent by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sources disagree as to what Henry II said to make a group of knights think that killing Thomas Becket was something their king was ordering them to do. There seem to be a number of popular variations, including "turbulent," "troublesome," "meddlesome," "low-born," and a bunch of statements which are nothing like the most common form. Given the lack of reliable contemporary accounts, along with the tendency following the incident to lionize Becket and blame Henry for the whole thing, any quote of what Henry II said to set those knight dudes off must be considered apocryphal.

  10. this is just sad by iritant · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Having lived in the Valley for nearly 20 year I spent most of my adult life hearing the legend of Hewlett and Packard. And these two men meant a lot to the Valley. They gave generously and their foundations continue to do so. Between the Children's Wing of the Stanford Hospital to MBARI to the vintage movie in Palo Alto to public radio, these people and their money have done quite a lot of good. HP as a company back then was a fine establishment, and while today I'm sure there are fine people there, I bet both men would be rolling in their graves.

    And so it's just sad to see their legacy trashed. I can't say why, but from the moment the board picked Carly Fiorina, things just went south. I am not an HP shareholder. I don't think I could be one until everyone on the current board was gone. If you are a shareholder, that should bother you, because I'm sure I'm not alone.

    Were I a shareholder, I would propose that not a single member of the board stand for re-election, so that after some period of time a new board would run the company.

  11. What else would they do? by The+Second+Horseman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Spy on a large customer that might be planning to jump to another vendor for major IT services? Spy on business partners or VARs? Flat out, the reason there are so many leaks surrounding HP is that the behavior (starting during Fiorina's reign) of the management and the board was terrible. Of course there were leaks. It's the only way to ever put the brakes on the amoral behavior of scumbags like these. The way they've been treaing people for years? Of course there are disgruntled people leaking information. They're lucky it hasn't been worse. I expect, now that Dunn has been wounded finding the leaker, the board's going to have to pull an "Old Yeller" and get her off before everyone else is contaminated. It may be too late, though.

  12. Last paragraph by rking · · Score: 4, Funny
    Right at the end of the (7 page) article:

    Update: A source close to Hewlett-Packard tells Newsweek that HP's emergency board meeting was adjourned late in the afternoon on Sunday (ET) without any decision being reached on the possible resignation of Patricia Dunn as chairman. The source, who requested anonymity because of the confidentiality of internal board proceedings, said the HP board would reconvene late Monday afternoon.

    So I guess they're still leaking :)
  13. No, she was not "ethical". by khasim · · Score: 4, Insightful
    SHE was ethical... as much as any slashdotter that gets cheated out of money.

    The 2nd part of that makes no sense. And no, she was NOT ethical in this.
    What all the slashdot hype misses is a fortune 500 board member was leaking info to the press... even after the entire board was notified of the investigation, this board member continuined to leak confidential employee reviews, and stratagy meeting results...

    And?
    Just because one person is not ethical does not make it ethical to take un-ethical actions to find that person.
    We all say people like Apple should "clean their house" and stop threatening reporters and such. Well that's exactly what she did.

    Nooooooo..... it seems that she STARTED investigating reporters. And people related to reporters.
    It wasn't even Dunn that offically authorized it...

    Drop the word "officially". Dunn authorized it. Dunn instigated it. It is Dunn's responsibility.
    Fact of the matter is that most of the board didn't object to the investigation.

    And so ... ?
    If some other people don't object, that does not make it ethical.
    The spying would have been fine for an employee alleged to do the same things.. the one resigning board member was only upset that he was not allowed to "spin" the investigation because the CEO went over the board's head because THEY weren't faithful.

    No, it would not be. This type of behaviour is un-ethical no matter who the target is.
    This whole thing is really blown out of proportion.

    No, it has not.
    I'm hoping that, because of this, the "pretexting" practice becomes a Federal Crime.
    It's really more of a "cheating husband" thing.... people with power, position, and money, couldn't be bothered to keep the privacy of fellow board members and employees.

    "couldn't be bothered"?
    She hired a company to actively search for information.

    And when she received their report, she did NOT ask how they came up with information that would not be available outside of a court order.

    That is un-ethical.
    She is un-ethical.
  14. No action today, reconvening Monday afternoon by coyote-san · · Score: 4, Informative

    According to an update on the original article, the board adjorned without action on Sunday. They are scheduled to meet again Monday afternoon(iirc).

    --
    For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong. -- H L Mencken
  15. Re:Wow. by timeOday · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I disagree. Corporate governance is important. I'm pretty sure I couldn't get away with what Dunn has done. Now my question is whether my bosses could.