Hewlett-Packard Case Study

1143 Words5 Pages
Hewlett-Packard Case Study Rukiya Kelly Prof. Shirley Johnson, Ph.D., MBA Strayer University February 25, 2011 1. Discuss the three most serious problems you have identified in the case. Defend why you think they are the most serious. One of the greatest problems Hewlett-Packard faced was its lack of management. It was clear that the strategic vision, Carly Fiorina had been using to guide the company, digital, virtual, mobile, personal, was not being executed. The company was unclear, and nobody in the company had any idea if the vision was being carried-out or not, and if it was, was it being carried out properly. Without a well-defined strategic vision for the company, employees had no sense of organizational purpose and no motivation. As a result of the lack of understanding of the vision, it resulted in a number of symptoms such as poor image, slow growth and a decline in sales, which is a direct connection to imprecise strategic vision and lack of leadership. The second of the HP’s problems was its confusing matrix structure. The structure slowed decision-making and blurred accountability lines. A matrix structure can be highly effective; it focuses on integrated teams and involves reporting to multiple managers. But it can be confusing to work within a matrix and it can also create conflict between project bosses in different parts of the matrix. Some of the common issues encountered with the matrix structure are budgets, available resources,, disagreements or misunderstandings about schedules, and the availability of employees with particular functional expertise. A matrix structure requires a much more management skill than the other forms of organizational structure and a high level of coordination to manage the complexity involved with running large, ongoing projects at various levels of completion. The third problem was HP’s reward system

More about Hewlett-Packard Case Study

Open Document