From:  jbh@hpcnoe.UUCP (Joel Hurmence)
Date:  23 Jan 87
Subject: Re:  What is happening to the HP Way?
Newsgroups:  hp.forum

I looked in my "Working at HP" class notebook (from 5 years ago) and
found a 16-page booklet on the HP way.  It is dated 1-80 and must be
similar to the one Bruce found.  (Don't new employees get this booklet
anymore?)

The booklet starts with a long quote from Bill Hewlett describing the
HP-Way.  Some excerpts are given below.

Bill Hewlett on the importance of the training in the HP way:

  "...But what can be said about [the HP way] is that it has worked
  successfully in the past at HP and there is every reason to believe
  that being a dynamic 'way,' it will work in the future.  If this is
  true, and if it differs from more conventional practices, then it is
  important that whatever this 'way' is that it be conveyed to, and
  understood by new HP people."

Bill Hewlett defining the HP way:

  "What is the HP way?  I feel that in general terms it is the policies
  and actions that flow from the belief that men and women want to do a
  good job, a creative job, and that if they are provided the proper
  environment they will do so.  But that's only part of it.  Closely
  coupled with this is the HP tradition of treating each individual with
  consideration and respect, and recognizing personal achievements.
  This sounds almost trite, but Dave and I honestly believe in this
  philosophy and have tried to operate the company along these lines
  since it first started."

Bill Hewlett on MBO:

  "When stripped down to its barest fundamentals,
  management-by-objective says that a manager, supervisor, a foreman
  given the proper support and guidance (that is, the objectives), is
  probably better able to make decisions about the problems he is
  directly concerned with than some executive way up the line -- no
  matter how smart or able that executive may be.  This system places
  great responsibility on the individual concerned, but it also makes
  his work more interesting and more challenging.  It makes him feel
  that he is really part of the company, and that he can have a direct
  effect on its performance."

Bill Hewlett on the informality of HP:

  "Many new HP people as well as visitors often note and comment to us
  about another HP way -- that is, our informality and our being on a
  first name basis.  Both Dave and I believe we all operate more
  effectively and comfortably in a truly informal and personal name
  atmosphere.  Hopefully, with increasing growth we can retain this
  'family' way of operating with the minimum of controls and the maximum
  of a friendly 'help each other' attitude."

Bill Hewlett summarizing:

  "I could cite other examples, but the problem is that none by
  themselves really catches the essence of what the HP way is all about.
  You can't describe it in numbers and statistics.  In the last analysis
  it is a spirit, a point of view.  It is a feeling that everyone is
  part of a team, and that team is HP.  As I said at the beginning, it
  is an idea that is based on the individual.  It exists because people
  have seen that it works, and they believe in it and support it.  I
  believe that this feeling makes HP what it is, and that it is worth
  perpetuating."

Near the end of this booklet under the heading "Can it survive?"  is a
quote from Emery Rogers, then executive director, Hewlett-Packard
Company Foundation:

  "Size can be a threat -- if it entails a proliferation of management
  and supervisory levels.  But I think that HP is just as much a
  'family' as it was when I joined in 1967, even though we're much
  larger now.  We've always kept the operating unit at a reasonable
  size, and the people have been chosen to run these units who
  understand the HP way."

In reviewing this material, I wonder how much HP in its growth has
followed its founders' intent.  I certainly feel that the "family"
atmosphere is nearly gone, and I am concerned to read in this notes
string of new employees asking what the HP way is.  Finally, if
proliferation of management is a threat to the HP way, we are definitely
in trouble.
__________________

From:  Daryl Poe <daryl_poe@hp.com>
Date:  15 Mar 2002 11:17:14 -0700
Subject:  Re:  MESSAGE FROM CARLY FIORINA
Newsgroups:  hp.forum

"Somewhere we got into the idea that market share was an objective,"
Packard told his attentive audience, jingling a pocketful of coins for
emphasis.  "I hope that's straightened out.  Anyone can build market
share, and if you set your prices low enough, you can get the whole damn
market.  But I'll tell you it won't get you anywhere around here."
-- Business Week, June 9, 1975