HP’s EX-CEO NEW BOOK WITH DIRTY LAUNDRY..

[Anonymous]

HP’s ex-CEO says some colleagues may not enjoy reading her book.Travels with Carly at HP and Beyond
(May
06) – Like Bill Clinton or Mick Jagger, Carly Fiorina has always had a
way with audiences. And 15 months after being fired as chief executive
of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), she proved again on May 18 that she can seize
and hold the attention of a crowd.Addressing 400 booksellers and
publishers at Book Expo America — the vast book-publishing industry
confab underway in Washington, D.C. — Fiorina applied her trademark
blend of glamour and intelligence to the topic “The Future of
Publishing in the Digital Age.” Camera crews from CBS’s 60 Minutes and
CSPAN’s Book TV recorded her every word.In fact, Fiorina was at the
show to stimulate booksellers’ appetites for her forthcoming memoir,
Tough Choices, which Penguin Group will publish in early October. That
book is under wraps with a formal embargo, and only a brief excerpt was
distributed at the show. Nevertheless, amid various ruminations on the
digital present and future, the fledgling book author provided a few
hints about her forthcoming work.

“LEADER, NOT LAGGARD.”
“I’m now an author and did in fact write every word of this book,” she
said, expressing concern over the difficulty readers have of
establishing authenticity in the Digital Age. She said she had two
purposes in writing: First, the need to demystify business — to show
“how people actually behave, and how a leader can act to change
peoples’ results.” Second, Fiorina said she realized press coverage of
events had made her into a caricature, and she felt she could “present
a more authentic portrait of myself.”
Fiorina seemed to be claiming
some credit for HP’s current health. While she was in charge at HP, the
company took the required risks and achieved a clearer focus on the
“true value” it could offer customers, she said. “HP is now a leader,
not a laggard,” she announced. “We made the necessary changes.”
Although
she made no direct reference to the fact, the company recently reported
a 51% jump in net income and a 4.6% sales increase for its fiscal
second quarter and forecast improved profits for its current quarter.
Mark Hurd, her replacement as chief executive, has received most of the
credit for the turnaround (see BW Online, 5/18/06 “Stopping the Sprawl
at HP”). Meanwhile, Dell, one of HP’s primary competitors, has been
struggling mightily.

THROWING SOFTBALLS.
Most of Fiorina’s remarks concerned the challenges posed to all
businesses by technological innovation. She seemed to liken the current
situation of book publishers to that of Eastman Kodak (EK), which
within a six-year period saw the evaporation of its traditional film
business. Kodak faces a challenge where “the brand may survive, but
will the company survive?”During a question and answer period, several
audience members expressed admiration for the ex-CEO. One woman, who
identified herself as a former advertising executive, voiced the hope
that Fiorina’s book would “give women an idea of what it is like to
compete in a very bad world.”
The excerpt that Fiorina’s publisher
distributed seems to fit that bill. It describes the author’s
experiences as a young sales team member at a unit of AT&T (T) that
fulfilled federal contracts. In one vignette, a colleague arranges a
business lunch at a strip club, where “between acts, the young
women…would dress in completely see-through baby-doll negligees and
dance on top of the tables while the patrons ate.”

DIRTY LAUNDRY?.
Fiorina insists on coming along, to the discomfort of all the males
involved. “The next day in the office,” she writes, “the balance of
power had shifted perceptibly. I had shown…that I would not be
intimidated, even if I was terrified.”But how much of the book is about
HP — and does the author intend to dish dirt about her former
colleagues? “It covers my entire life and an appropriate percentage is
about HP ,” she told this reporter. “I didn’t write it to settle
scores. I have something to say, not something to prove.” She added:
“Some stories involving old colleagues are wonderful. And there are
some that may be difficult for some people to read.

[Author]

May 23, 2006 at 12:16 PM