Company Profile: Hewlett Packard (Hp)

Company Profile: Hewlett Packard (Hp)

Hewlett Packard (HP) was founded by David Packard and Bill Hewlett in 1939 while they were attending Stanford University. HP’s first product was an audio oscillator that was eventually purchased by Walt Disney to assist in the creation of Fantasia (HP Website).
As the HP business grew by developing new and innovative products, a new culture and management style developed in which Dave Packard eventually coined “management by walking around” (HP Website). The Bloomsbury Business Library defines management by walking around (MBWA) as “a hands-on style of management based on regularly walking around to speak to, question, and listen to employees, and to learn more about work processes” (Business & Management Dictionary, 2007, p4555). This type of management style allowed HP management and executives to ensure they had the most current project information as well as the unique ability to communicate objectives clearly and receive feedback from the employees / work teams that were directly affecting the projects. This management style is successful for HP and HK can benefit from this type of example to improve several areas in its corporate culture. MBWA implemented at HK would allow the management team to communicate directly with the employees performing the individual tasks identified in the WBS and get a clear idea of what is running well, identify risks in the project, and determine contingency plans. This could also help HK’s retention issue by altering the operating climate of the company to make HK employees believe they have input and can affect the output of the project. This intercommunication between management and employees was successful at HP because “The open culture created an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding in the early days of HP. Trust is thought to be most important for a profitable and flourishing enterprise” (Menke, Xu & Gu, 2007). If HK practices MBWA, it can benefit from the successes HP has and establish an effective working...

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