Backfire: Carly Fiorina′s High–Stakes Battle for the Soul of Hewlett–Packard

2002年にヒューレットパッカード社創設者の息子、Walter Packerdが新CEO　Carly Fiorina率いるHPを訴えたのは記憶に新しいことです。この本はその裁判の経緯およびなぜその裁判に至ったかを書いています。HP社創設の話から、コンピュータビジネスへの参入（創設者のヒューレット氏とパッカード氏はコンピュータビジネスへの参入をあまり喜んでいなかった！）などHP社の歴史、そしていまや強い女として有名なCarlyの経歴などです。登場人物や背景について読み進むにあたり裁判は起こるべくして起こったとうなずいてしまいました。後半は株主総会での票集めとその後の裁判について書かれています。Carlyのような話の天才である強い人とWalterのようなあまり表に出た経験のない人の対比が滲み出ています。この本は企業倫理や戦略転換という観点で経営に興味がある人が読むのもいいですが法律を勉強する!人が読んでもいいのではないでしょうか。こういう発言をすると後で大変なことになるとか、こういう態度をとると裁判で負けるとか参考になる点もあるのでは。著者はビジネスウィーク誌の記者だった人で記者時代にCarlyに取材をしたことはありますがこの本を書くにあたって2002年3月以降CarlyはじめHPの重役たちには取材拒否されたようで、最近のコメントは取れていないのが残念です。対してWalterは取材に応じていて生の声が所々にあります。それゆえに、全体的にWalterよりでかいているような感じを受けました。

"Backfire", Peter Burrows' remarkable chronicle of Hewlett-Packard's controversial acquisition of Compaq, marks an important milestone in the rich technology heritage of Silicon Valley. "Backfire" is far more ambitious than the pabulum typical of business writings. In order to build a cogent thesis, Burrows takes on a broad range of topics, including pertinent biographical background of the key players, the legend and lore of Hewlett Packard - the company and the founders - and the arcane mechanics of proxy votes and corporate government. But while the subject matter risks could easily yield a pompous and boring analytical tome, the author injects exactly the right amount of intrigue, drama, treachery, and humor while capturing characters that are wholly believable in their flaws, foibles, and ultimate victory or defeat. The economy of Burrows' prose, sharpened by years of reporting for "Business Week", yields a tale that is a true page-turner with much more energy, excitement, and personality than the standard business fare.Any frequent "Business Week" reader knows that Burrows is no fan of Carly Fiorina. Consequently, the author was not granted official access to either Fiorina or HP officials (HP denies any connection, citing only "scheduling conflicts"). Notwithstanding, his portrayal of HP's embattled CEO is vivid and wholly believable. Fiorina, the marketer and master-of-spin with no prior CEO experience, is injected into the venerable but stumbling culture of Hewlett-Packard. A veteran of the politics and bureaucracy of AT&T and Lucent, she is an unusual match for the techno-nerd culture of HP, where products trump hype and integrity and loyalty are revered. But while Burrows' criticism of Fiorina is biting and unrestrained, due credit is given to her tenacity, oratory skills, and relentless dedication to completing the acquisition at all costs. Walter Hewlett, who rises from a cocoon academic obscurity to fight-the-good-fight is treated much more charitably, but he only barely qualifies as the hero of the tale. While recognized for his honor and integrity in refusing to allow the proxy fight to deteriorate into personal attacks on Fiorina, his actions and judgment as a board member in the weeks and months prior to the planned merger's announcement are rightfully questioned. If there is a villain in the story, it is HP's board of directors. It is the board that passively watched while HP failed to capitalize on the rise of the Internet in the mid-late nineties, allowing HP to degenerate to a position of significance only in its printers. It was the board that initiated a bizarre, if not amateurish, CEO search leaving Fiorina as virtually the only real candidate for this high-profile job.Much is made of the demise of the celebrated "HP Way". But Burrows wisely resists the temptation to attribute all of the responsibility for this decline on Fiorina. While it is successfully argued that she failed to grasp the true significance of this unique culture, further alienating frustrated employees, by the time Fiorina arrived on the scene it was already in steep decline. What was once an honored tradition of mutual respect and pride in innovation had been replaced by a sense of entitlement and an excuse for sloth. It is unfortunate, Burrows notes, than in the age of Enron and WorldCom, with corporate America in desperate need of the principals and values that embodied the "HP Way", that there is little chance of resuscitation under Fiorina's reign.In summary, "Backfire" is a masterful portrayal of the rise-and-fall of an American icon, and a revealing exposé for the behind-the-scenes machinations of history's largest technology merger and ugliest proxy fight. It is a must read for anyone interested in the history of Silicon Valley, executive leadership, corporate governance, or corporate culture. In the subsequent dissections of the HP/Compaq post-merger failures (or, less likely, successes) that are sure to come over the next several years, Peter Burrows' "Backfire" will serve as a frequently quoted and pivotal reference point.

Very interesting book for those interested in corporate governance, organizational politics, and the problems of female leaders dealing with old boy networks, and female managerial careers.

This book is a great look behind the scenes of one of the great battles of Silicon valley. Like Scully/Jobs, this book shows the dangers of the "Wall Street" corporate crowd (Fiorina) against the creative engineering crown (Hewlett). Like Scully/Jobs, Wall Street wins and begins a destruction of a great company. Unlike Apple however, HP does not learn for their mistake.Burrows' prose is among the very best of tech writers and it is tight and erudite. His descriptions of Fiorina are right on the nose. Burrows resists the urge found in most tech writers, to draw sweeping conclusions from their own reporting. Burrow provides enough data to allow the reader to draw their own conclusions. This being said, this book is a scathing indictment of the "business crowd" in Silicon Valley and there is no better evidence of the difference between a non-productive business ethos of "cut jobs and expenses" and the highly creative tech ethos of "great products that change societies."This book could easily have been an attack book on Fiorina but it goes far away from this. There is no discernible bias in the book although there is a barely perceptible nostalgia of the long time Silicon valley insider seeing the changes in the Valley being wrought by the financial guys. (Are you listening Apple? Ignore Icahn!)This story is being repeated today. This should be a must read for the Microsoft executive search board. It should have been a must read for the HP Board but sadly they missed it and are repeating the same mistake they made with Fiorina.As HP continues its slide into the same world that DEC and Compaq now inhabit, this book is a map of the push that started them down the slider. Short of finding another Jobs, (and that is NOT Whitman), HP is toast. This book is about how they got into the toaster.Highly recommended.

Very interesting and captivating book. It gives firstly a good summary of the rise of HP and the story / legacy of its founders, and then dives into the period of the company in which Fiorina took the helm.Has a lot of backstage info on the whole ordeal, boardroom battles, clash of personalities, and most importantly, Fiorina herself and the way she operates. Which is to say a lot of power trips, ego building and self-promotion at the expense of everyone else.It's a good I told you so story because a lot of the things that people fought her on and lost, were things that the losers turned out to be right about, and she wrong, hence she was ultimately ousted from the company. All in all a very insightful book and a truer portrayal or one that feels truer than a lot of the marketing and image boosting books that are out there on her.