During the HP conference call today regarding the company decision to replace the CEO with Meg Whitman, the company went into details about its plans over the next few months, and how it sees things going moving forward.
Whitman said during the call that HP and the board will decide on the spin off of the personal systems group before the end of the calendar year. Whitman also said that she supports the decision made in August to discontinue WebOS hardware and spin off PSG, and she believes that decisions previously made were "right." Whitman also said that the decision on PSG is "not like fine wine, will not get better with age" and it must be made as fast as possible.
The company said that under the previous CEO, HP struggled with communications. The company failed to make "clear and concise" communications which deterred them from their results. Their decision to hire Meg was based on "leadership, team play, communication and ability to answer questions."
When asked about Whitman being a hasty choice for CEO at HP, and why the company made the decision without a large search, they said that they used data from last year, as well as internal candidates (at least four) that run major businesses and so were in the running. They went on to say that they had "always" wanted a CEO from inside the company because they "can't find anybody better" outside.
During the questions and answers section, a caller asked if the board was functioning well with investor confidence as low as it currently is. A HP staff member responded that the board has 8 new members this year, and that these people did not make the decision that was made on the previous CEO last year. He kept reiterating that this board did not select Leo.
He went on to say that he is "proud of the board" and thinks that the "shareholders are well served by the board." He also said that "operations needed to improve" and this is why the decision was made to put in a new CEO.
Meg Whitman, when asked about employee retention, replied that they will do "anything to get the company strong again" and that "HP may not keep everyone" but they are willing to do what they need to in order to restore the company to its former glory.
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