The opposition to the HP-Compaq merger by the Hewlett family very likely
spells the end of Carly Fiorina's reign at Hewlett-Packard. The HP board of
directors should know, if they didn't already after the Pricewaterhouse Cooper
merger debacle, that Fiorina is not the person to lead this once great company.
The sooner they drop the axe on her the better for the company, its
shareholders, employees, and customers.
Fiorina has done only one thing very well in her 2+ years, and that is to
alienating herself from the HP's employees she has not yet laid off. A universal
dislike of her exists today at HP that no smooth public relations campaign can
mask. Those voices of discontent became amplified to a deafening level when
Walter Hewlett announced his decision to oppose the Compaq merger.
If Walter was just another big shareholder, that would be one thing. But he
is a member of the board. And when the Packard family has to hire lawyers to
help make up its mind on the merger, then you know that that family too is
struggling with the immense decision of committing mutiny. Mutiny means chaos
and uncertainty. That is never good for business. But sooner or later a new CEO
will be appointed and the rebuilding process can commence. That is a far better
scenario than keeping up the support for a CEO who is universally disliked by
the company's staff and Wall Street and who not shown any signs of being able to
stem, let alone turn around the company's financial decline.
I would not be surprised if Fiorina is asked to leave in the very near
future, weeks rather than months, as the pressure from Wall Street on the board
of directors has been turned up dramatically in the aftermath of the Hewlett
announcement.