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The HP Way 2.0

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the getting-ahead-in-business dept.

theodp writes "How do you replace your Chief Pretexting Officer? HP CEO Mark Hurd announced that Joel Hyatt, an individual of 'exceptional judgment and outstanding character,' has joined HP's Board of Directors, filling one of the seats vacated during last year's boardroom scandal. Hyatt, who drew the ire of a judge over the illegal, Philadelphia-like treatment of an attorney at Hyatt's namesake law firm who was diagnosed with AIDS, was also appointed to HP's HR and Compensation Committee. Presumably, the HP womenfolk won't hold it against Hyatt that he reportedly once advocated keeping alma mater Dartmouth female-free. Hyatt acknowledged making mistakes that he's learned from, but said he was not eager to share them."

13 of 82 comments (clear)

  1. Stupid by realmolo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I love the fact that the only qualification you need to be on the Board of Directors at a billion-dollar company is to have once been on the Board of Directors at *another* billion dollar company. Doesn't matter if you wrecked that company, or got fired for incompetence, or were successfully prosecuted for some white-collar crime you committed while you were there.

    HP deserves whatever they get. Talk about a fall from grace. HP was, at one time, one of the most important and successful and innovative technology companies in the world. Now what do they do? Sell cheap PCs and expensive ink.

    1. Re:Stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You don't realize that being on the Board of Directors is a hard and underpaid job. Pay as little as $499,000 USD annually isn't uncommon. That isn't very much money when you consider the kind of earnings these people bring into the company and the amount of shareholders these people have with which to deal in shareholder meetings. You are ignorant of how hard the job really is. Good management is hard to come by, so it shouldn't surprise anyone that good management from a failed company can find new jobs. And whitecollar crimes shouldn't be punished anyway.

  2. No Problem with Dartmouth Bit by Javit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Presumably, the HP womenfolk won't hold it against Hyatt that he reportedly once advocated keeping alma mater Dartmouth female-free

    Not really interested enough to read the rest of the article, but just wanted to say I don't see the problem with advocating same-sex schooling. My wife went to a women's college and I attended an all-boys high school, are there are definite advantages to it. In the high school case especially, I noticed that having the girls gone resulted in a hugely improved social atmosphere compared to middle school, with everybody pretty much getting along. At the public high school in the same town, however, kids were still vicious little bastards to each other.

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    1. Re:No Problem with Dartmouth Bit by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Some studies showed that separate but equal was a good idea too. Studies tend to show whatever the guy who pays for it wants it to show.

      If you think that single-sex education is immoral, then ban it entirely. We seem to have a double standard where all-female education is somehow OK while all-male education is not (at least socially) acceptable.

      -b.

    2. Re:No Problem with Dartmouth Bit by wellingj · · Score: 3, Insightful

      That's because todays society think there is something inherently evil with being a male....

      --
      Money is the root of all evil?
  3. This guy may be a sleazeball... by niceone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...but if all the dirt the summary writer can find on him is a firing 20 years ago and something he wrote while he was at Dartmouth (30 years ago??), I'm inclined to think he must be a saint.

    (disclaimer: I used to work at HP, a looong time ago)

    --
    ccalam - acoustic versions of new songs.
    1. Re:This guy may be a sleazeball... by Acer500 · · Score: 3, Informative
      Indeed. I read the linked "ire of a judge" article, and Mr Hyatt's case does come across as heartless, but not something he can't have learned from.

      Summarizing TFA:

      - the fired person, Clarence Cain, was the head of the Philadelphia office, until he contracted AIDS. He was a gay African-American, so he was in the danger population for the disease. Mr Hyatt pointed out that he actually hired a gay in the first place, so I don't understand why it's discriminatory to fire him.

      I do understand it's callous and insensitive to fire someone who has a terminal illness without trying to offer help or a compromise. I don't know what's the standard procedure in those cases, but it's clear that Mr Cain was unfit to continue working (not because of AIDS per se, but because of the physical condition he was in from all the associated diseases - the article describes him during the trial:

      "the 38-year-old Mr. Cain, draped in an old suit several sizes too large, testified. His voice was weak, his gait halting, his features emaciated"
      TFA also mentions Mr Hyatt and Mr Cain didn't get along too well before his illness:

      Even before he became ill, Mr. Cain fought with his superiors. Once he uttered obscenities about Mr. Hyatt at a firm dinner. But he lost his post only after the AIDS diagnosis in July 1987.
      Something that surprises me, but I guess it shouldn't considering the nature of US healthcare, was the sharp decline in his living conditions following his illness. Either he had nothing saved up or he spent everything on healthcare, but I wouldn't blame that on Mr Hyatt as the article does (I do think they should have offered help, but it's not his responsibility).

      The callous bit is this Mr. Cain was offered an entry-level position at half the pay or a $12,000 severance package (Is severance not regulated as it is in my home country, where it is a percentage of earnings up to the point?).

      I'm not happy at all with HP lately (I work with a local HP partner) but this guy doesn't came across as particularly worse than usual. It does turn on some warning lights (this kind of person has the makings of a sociopath).
      --
      There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.
  4. One question by eclectro · · Score: 4, Funny

    Does this mean that HP will start filling their ink-jet cartridges all the way now??

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
  5. Re:Dartmouth Co-education by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Dartmouth has been co-ed for about 35 years now. Lots of Dartmouth students ca. 1970 griped about co-education. They were in the minority even then; vocal, but a minority

    I'm not arguing that it made Dartmouth a better place or not. But, I still don't think it should be held against him, especially since all-female schools are pretty common, so why can't there be all-male schools? Should we lambast a female CEO that went to Smith, Holyoke, or Bryn Mawr if she expressed the opinion that her alma-mater would be better off not going co-ed? I'm not against co-education, but private universities should have a choice as to whom to admit.

    -b.

  6. HP is a mess by KidSock · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why does a printer driver require 435 MB of disk space (no really, you cannot install it otherwise) and take 30 minutes and a reboot to install?

    This is one of those situations where a lot of higher-ups need to get the axe but of course they're not going to fire themselves. Same goes for Yahoo! with their over-AJAX-ified website overhaul.

    1. Re:HP is a mess by dattaway · · Score: 4, Funny

      Why does a printer driver require 435 MB of disk space (no really, you cannot install it otherwise) and take 30 minutes and a reboot to install?

      You don't understand. That 435 MB is to prevent reverse engineering. It would take 895 man years to reverse engineer a driver this size. The 30 minutes to reboot and install is to make you think twice about changing brands of printers ever again. We need you to help protect our profits.

      Thank you for your support.
      The mgmt.

    2. Re:HP is a mess by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      There is some truth to this.

      I used to work on a large software project at HP. It was written in Java.

      I remember one meeting where there was a debate about if we should obfuscate the code or not to make it harder to decompile and reverse-engineer. We reasoned that since we can't even figure our own code out half the time when it came time to fix defects, there was little risk in leaving it "un-obfuscated". If our competitors got ahold of it, we'd just laugh and say "good luck, suckers"!

  7. Board directors HAVE TO BE sleazeballs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This isn't so much an indictment of them as of the way the corporate system works.

    If you aren't a sleazeball then you simply don't make it to the Board, because entire legions of sleazeballs get there long before you can through sleazing their way up the ladder or through the business grapevine.

    And it's not even a level playing field with the sleazeballs on the inside track, because not only do they have the souped up engines but they also have rear-mounted machine guns to make sure you lose. (Yeah, I love mixing my metaphors.) In other words, you're actively put down by them.

    And that's why pretty much all upwardly mobile managers end up being sleazeballs too. It's built into the system.

    The same applies in politics, which is why the President is always the greatest sleazeball of them all, regardless of which party is in power.