In a letter dated June 2014, Rob Binns Vice President, Hewlett-Packard (HP) Investor Relations stated, “We’ve reached the halfway point of HP’s turnaround.” The turnaround journey began when Meg Whitman joined Hewlett Packard as President and CEO in September 2011. She was preceded by Carly Fiorina (1999 – 2005); and Mark Hurd (2006 – 2010). This ten year period prior to Ms. Whitman’s arrival was marked by mergers including Compaq and EDS, headcount reductions, executive attrition, and sending jobs offshore.
Additionally, since 2002 HP transformed from a printing company, where 40% of revenues and 95% of profits came from this line of business; to a diversified
The clearest indication that a Business Turnaround is required, is after a steady erosion of your business economics.
Since a peak experienced in the fourth quarter of 2010, declines were seen in several key statistics.
Annual Statistics |
Revenues ($000) |
Gross Profit ($000) |
Operating Margin |
Long-Term Debt ($000) |
10.31.2010 |
$126,033,000 |
$30,181,000 |
9% |
$15,258,000 |
10.31.2011 |
$127,245,000 |
$29,827,000 |
8% |
$22,551,000 |
10.31.2012 |
$120,357,000 |
$27,972,000 |
9% |
$21,789,000 |
10.31.2013 |
$112,298,000 |
$25,918,000 |
6% |
$16,608,000 |
Source: http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/hpq/
Once the decision is made to Turnaround a Business, a detailed internal assessment is undertaken to identify areas that require a redesign.
Fiscal years 2012 and 2013 were the years of assessment at HP. Problems identified as needing correction included -
Strategy and Planning – As is common in situations where
Cash Flow and Reporting – HP requires a cost management program; as well as a disciplined capital allocation strategy. Periodic business reviews are required to review success and modify plans, if needed. A performance management system should be implemented; where compensation and accountability are linked.
Business Processes and Support Functions - Business activities should be streamlined, with inefficiencies and duplications removed. A consistent level of quality should be established. Automation should be utilized whenever possible, i.e. labor and contact relationship management systems.
Business Development –
But on October 6, 2014, it was announced that HP will split into two companies. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise – a company that will compete within the IT market, serving key markets that include – servers, networking, software, converged systems, storage, services, and cloud; and, HP Inc. - a company that will compete within the IT market, serving key markets that include – notebooks, mobility, ink printing, managed print services, desktops, graphics, and laser printing. The split is slated to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2015.
What will be interesting to see is how these two different approaches will be integrated successfully. In a perfect world, HP would solve the deficiencies outlined above, prior to the break-up into two companies. In this way each entity that will be launched will be an efficient entity, with all processes optimized to be profitable.