Hewlett- Packard: King of Silicon Valley

Greetings, Epinionators! This is part 2 in a 5- part series of book reviews in a solo write- off called “Technological Titans”. This write- off is dedicated to some of the biggest names in the high- tech world. Enjoy!


California’s Silicon Valley is home to many high- tech companies, both large and small, that engage in the day- to- day business of electronics. The landscape in this area of the country is dotted with small startup internet hopefuls, along with large, established computer and software companies. One corporation that fits into the latter category is Hewlett- Packard, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of PC’s, printers, and other electronic equipment. This company, headquartered in Palo Alto California, has been around for more than 60 years, evolving from a manufacturer of simple electronic devices to a world- leader in computer technology.

Dave Packard helped to establish this business, along with his friend William Hewlett. In this book, The HP Way, Packard provides some background information on the beginnings of Hewlett- Packard and the present- day successes and challenges.

Basic Contents of This Book:

This 212- page paperback book is divided into the following 12 chapters:

Acknowledgements
Prologue
1. Pueblo to Stanford
2. Friendship with Hewlett
3. Garage becomes Workshop
4. Gaining more Space
5. From Partnership to Corporation
6. Growth from Profit
7. Commitment to Innovation
8. Listening to Customers
9. Trust in People
10. Growing the Organization
11. Managing the Organization
12. Responsibility to Society
Epilogue
Appendix 1- Historical Highlights of Hewlett- Packard Company
Appendix 2- Product Innovation at HP
Appendix 3- Vintage Charts

Chapters 1 through 4 cover the early days of the company. Hewlett- Packard was founded by William Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939. The two young men were classmates at Stanford University- engineering students with a penchant for building and organizing. They chose the company name by tossing a coin. They weren’t sure which person’s name should be listed first, when they named the company, so they decided it by the toss of a coin. Had the toss turned up the opposite way, we would be buying computers and printers from Packard- Hewlett today.

The first product that the two young entrepreneurs produced was built in the garage behind Dave Packard’s new house in Palo Alto. It was a resistance- capacity audio oscillator. The year was 1938, and it marked the beginning of the new business. After this product was produced, the partners began production on other electronic devices, like the harmonic wave analyzer. The business was still very small, but it had promise. Its early products were well- received by the business world and the potential for further growth looked very good.

Chapters 5 through 7 deal with the transition that Hewlett Packard went through in the years from 1947 to the early 1990’s. Back in 1947, the company decided to incorporate in order to take advantage of favorable tax laws and to provide some stability. The company grew rapidly at this point, and continued its fast track for growth up through the 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s. In 1950, Hewlett- Packard had about 200 employees. This number increased to more than 3,000 in 1960; 16,000 in 1970; 57,000 in 1980; 92,000 in 1990; and 86,000 in 2000. New products, and the global economy, helped to spur growth and innovation in the formative years. Employment only started to taper off in the late 1990’s, when the high- tech market started to cool off.

In chapters 9 through 11, Packard moves from history to practical business principles. He talks about the importance of hiring the best possible talent for the job, and how important it is to encourage enthusiasm and commitment to quality. Also of tremendous importance is respect for all the employees in an organization. An employee should never be degraded or made to feel less important than others. All employees are critical to the success or failure of the organization and all should be treated with dignity. Packard also stresses the importance of sharing in business. From responsibilities for defining and meeting goals, all the way to stock ownership and profit sharing, it’s important to spread the benefits of hard work across the board. Managing growth, adaptation to change, and employee promotions based on performance are also stressed at HP.

The final chapter of the book deals with responsibility to society. Packard is a firm believer that a corporation should be a model citizen through active involvement in the community and adherence to strict standards of moral conduct. Corporations, in Packard’s eyes, should invest in the local area to ensure that it grows and thrives. This is beneficial not only to the local people, but ultimately to the corporation itself. The goodwill that is generated from corporate involvement is invaluable to the overall success of the company.

The book finally ends with a few appendices. One shows a timeline of important events at HP; the second one shows a chronological list of important inventions at Hewlett- Packard; and the third appendix consists of two bar graphs- one showing the number of new products introduced each year, from 1990 to 1994, and the other showing the early instruments by year of introduction, from 1979 to 1983.

Final Thoughts:

Hewlett- Packard is a giant in the PC industry and one of the best- known names in high tech. Most every business in America owns at least one product from this company. From its humble beginnings in a Palo Alto garage, HP has grown into a massive electronics machine, racking up more than $45 billion in revenue for the 2001 year.

As far as the company itself goes, Hewlett- Packard is definitely a success story and it’s a respectable company from most every standpoint. William Hewlett and Dave Packard deserve credit for running an ethical organization that pays attention to its surroundings and strives to treat others fairly. However, this book, “The HP Way”, is somewhat lacking in its coverage of the company and as a source of business inspiration. Dave Packard wrote the book by himself, with a little help from two friends who provided some editing assistance. Packard might be outstanding as a businessman, but he is not a professional writer. And his choice of two amateur editors doesn’t help matters. He really should have hired a professional to help him compose this book.

Packard gets a little sidetracked at times, too. The book starts out as a timeline, recounting important events and achievements from the past. Then, it strays from that course and starts talking about business planning and the ingredients for success. There’s nothing wrong with this approach to writing a book, but Packard doesn’t write in a smooth, continuous way. Instead, he reminisces about his times with Hewlett- Packard as though he is trying to cram as many tidbits of facts into one short book as he possibly can. Instead of providing the reader with stories about business struggles, personality conflicts, and resolutions, the book jumps around and includes snippets from events in the past. Because of this, there is no suspense at all in this book. It’s basically just a summary of facts.

Hewlett- Packard is a very large U.S. corporation, with a strong presence in both domestic and foreign markets. This book is just over 200 pages in length. In my opinion, this is far too little space to adequately cover an industry behemoth like Hewlett- Packard. The large- size print makes the book a quick read, but it also contributes to its inadequate coverage of the company.

Dave Packard, and his partner William Hewlett, are legendary in the high tech business world. They built a huge corporate empire, starting with a simple electronic device assembled in a garage. The HP Way attempts to present the story of Hewlett- Packard and its rise to the top, but it fails to keep the interest of the reader, due to its unfocused style and lack of continuity. A corporation like Hewlett- Packard deserves better!




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