Integrating Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq Computer Corp. after a contentious merger last year required blending two dramatically different cultures, HP CEO Carly Fiorina said Friday.
Fiorina, who pushed through the largest merger in computer industry history despite strong opposition from some HP shareholders, said she has tried to retain attributes of both companies in the new, 140,000- employee computer maker.
Hewlett-Packard was reluctant to stray from the “HP way” that had made it an industry leader with products such as calculators and printers but also made it unwilling to embrace technological change, she said. Compaq was more nimble, but often made decisions too quickly without contemplating the effects.
“HP looked to the past for judgment, Compaq looked to the future,” she said in a speech at the University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business, her alma mater. “We are going to leverage process, intensity and thoroughness with speed and decisiveness.”