Perfect enough : Carly Fiorina and the reinvention of Hewlett-Packard / George Anders.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Anders, George, 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hewlett-Packard Company--Management.

Hewlett-Packard Company.

Electronic industries--United States--Management--Case studies.

Electronic industries.

Computer industry--United States--Management--Case studies.

Computer industry.

Organizational change--United States--Case studies.

Organizational change.

History.

Management.

United States.

Fiorina, Carly.

Women executives--United States--Biography.

Women executives.

Businesspeople--United States--Biography.

Businesspeople.

Packard, David, 1912-1996.

Packard, David.

Hewlett, William R.

Hewlett-Packard Company--History.

Genre:

Case studies.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

248 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Portfolio, 2003.

Summary:

Fresh from her triumph at Lucent, Carly Fiorina took command of Hewlett-Packard in July 1999. Ever since, there has been worldwide fascination with her eventual destiny. She was venturing further than any woman previously had into traditional men's territory. This wasn't just the engineer's realm of bits and bytes; this was the guys' world of beer blasts, rolled-up shirt sleeves, and deer-hunting trips to the founders' ranch. Could Fiorina use her charismatic salesmanship, earthy wit, and iron will to rescue a $40 billion company from a painful period of decline? If she failed, would her missteps destroy Hewlett-Packard, the revered computer and printer company that helped create Silicon Valley? Perfect Enough is the definitive account of the most dangerous year in Carly Fiorina's life, chronicling her daredevil bid to remake HP with a record-shattering $20 billion acquisition of archrival Compaq Computer. Not since the late 1980s -- when Wall Street operatives battled over the fate of RJR Nabisco -- has a takeover drama so decisively moved beyond the business pages to become an enduring passage in American history. Looming in the background for the entire story are the ghosts of Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett, two American heroes who founded Hewlett-Packard in a Palo Alto garage during the Great Depression and built it into what was widely known as the best outfit on earth. Although they died as billionaires in their eighties, before the HP-Compaq takeover drama began, their principles remain intact. Some of the book's most searingly emotional scenes come when Carly Fiorina and Bill Hewlett's oldest son, Walter, fight to the point of exhaustion about which of them is the rightful heir to the founders' legacy. In Perfect Enough, Pulitzer Prize-winning author George Anders draws on unparalleled access to Hewlett-Packard insiders and board members -- including dissident Walter Hewlett -- to write about a takeover battle that rocked Wall Street, stunned the computer industry, and is still being digested today. It is a spellbinding chronicle of hope, ambition, betrayal, despair, and family pride.

Contents:

1 The Best Outfit on Earth 5

2 The Man Who Said No 26

3 Give Me a Chance! 45

4 Rules of the Garage 64

5 Inside the Boardroom 80

6 The Billionaires' Legacy 98

7 Three Questions 116

8 Walter Hewlett's Rebellion 136

9 The Crusade of Her Life 155

10 Into the Counting Room 173

11 Searching for Vindication 192

12 Can Carly Make It? 210.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [225]-237) and index.

ISBN:

1591840031

OCLC:

51264624