Description of HP
“Hewlett Packard (HP) was founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard” (HP, 2013a). It is American conglomerate hardware and software establishment. It is headquartered in California (HP, 2013a). HP has experienced corporate culture transformation over the decades. Presently, HP is a leader in the technology industry. The innovativeness and culture at HP have propelled it to success. The firm offers its clients “products, technologies, software, solutions, and services” (HP, 2013a).
HP clients comprise consumers, small businesses, medium-scale business firms, and large corporations. It also offers products to governments, institutions, and organizations. The company presently drives the global information technology (IT) revolution through the high-quality products fabricated from their labs located in diverse parts of the world. The company prides itself in having a global workforce that has shown their passion and interest in growing HP through its pioneering products.
HP Culture
“The H – P Way” is the organizational culture of the technology company (House & Price, 2009). The organizational culture is deeply embedded in the company across the globe. The HP Way is spread to workers internationally. The organizational culture drives different aspects of the company from the research labs, product development, distribution centers, sales, and customer service among others. The HP Way gives workers five well-established values. The values comprise trust and respect for clients, emphasis on success, and contribution. The values also comprise conducting flexible business, integrity, and attainment of shared objectives (House & Price, 2009). Teamwork, compliance, and inventiveness facilitate the attainment of shared objectives.
How HP Shows its Culture
HP shows its organizational culture in diverse ways. The shared objectives guide HP to fulfill its corporate culture. The company anticipates workers to act in a particular manner within the framework of The HP Way. It is notable that both workers and management of HP normally happy to follow the motto “Don’t Be Evil” (House & Price, 2009). The founders created the culture decades ago.
They put a value on workers to contribute to the innovativeness of the firm as well as promoting a pleasant business culture. Workers and management always identify with the HP Way. The HP Way philosophy is anchored on the shared objectives (HP, 2013b). The HP Way is the source of motivation for everyone working for the firm. The philosophy stimulates entrepreneurship among the workers.
The culture is identifiable from the way it encourages workers to challenge themselves and enhance their creativity. Within the HP Way philosophy, the firm shares its proceeds and reward workers based on performance (Zell, 2007). The culture is also discernible from the way HP inculcated communication and collaboration values among workers. The HP Way enables the management to trust workers and cultivate a collaborative organizational culture. Indeed, trust is one of the core aspects of The HP Way (House & Price, 2009). The culture also emerges from the company’s assertion that they do not just trust the influence of technology. They also trust the power of individuals when technology fulfills their needs.
What Caused Change of Culture
There are diverse reasons that caused HP to develop The HP Way. Originally, HP employed the “hire and fire” strategy to acquire and release its workforce (Zell, 2007). This strategy enabled HP to acquire a workforce whenever it had large orders and released them after fulfilling the clients’ requirements. The company needed to renounce this approach in order to focus on retaining the best and motivated talent (Zell, 2007). Therefore, this formed the initial stage for altering their organizational culture to adopt The HP Way.
HP expansion and market leadership also influenced the board to redefine the culture by writing down fresh objectives that included proceeds, clients, specialization areas, expansion, workforce, management, and citizenship. The objectives were to be attained through teamwork, trust, and flexibility (Zell, 2007). The culture has promoted the approach of management by objectives, informal communication, and innovativeness. Escalated competition and the retirement of HP founders also prompted culture change
Type of Leader for HP
A transformational leader would be best suited to lead HP. The company needs someone who will continue to provide leadership based on strong shared values. The leader suited for HP should also promote teamwork, a friendly and informal work environment (Zell, 2007). This can ensure that the present approach of informal communication and trust continue to drive growth. The leader should also enable workers to escalate their creativity at the individual, group, and organizational levels. The leader should inspire and motivate workers to adhere to the aspects of HP that makes it the market leader. The leader should strive to ensure an individualized approach to handling workers in order to connect with everyone, understand their needs, and provide mentorship.
Culture Change
A decline in the demand and supply for HP products may require specific cultural changes. The decline may result from competitiveness and other marketplace related challenges (Zell, 2007). The specific culture changes would include enhancing the organizational brand through promotional approaches. The situation may also require customer service culture change. This would ensure that workers take their time to satisfactorily explain diverse products and service-related information to their clients.
References
House, C. H., & Price, R. L. (2009). The HP Phenomenon: Innovation and Business Transformation. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.
HP. (2013a). About Us. Web.
HP. (2013b). Corporate objectives. Web.
Zell, D. (2007). Changing by design: Organizational innovation at Hewlett-Packard. Ithaca: ILR Press.