Hp Fiorina Case - Fiorina and Her Leadership Elements

Collaboration

Fiorina once commented her most effort being put on getting people work together to achieve a common goal. She asked lots of tough questions, listen hard to subordinates’ answers and help them set clear goals. She admits being demanding to all including herself though, in the end she believes the joy of business is all about working towards a common goal.

Communication

Fiorina was a very powerful communicator. She recently spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and people who heard her said that it was a stellar performance. When it came to clear, persuasive communication, Fiorina was at the top of the heap.

Decisive

Second, she was and is very decisive. Once she decided that a merger with Compaq was the right move for HP, she stuck to her guns with great determination. There was considerable opposition from Hewlett as well as others in the equity market, but she maintained her position in spite of that resistance.

Changing Corporate Culture

Third, she recognized the importance of transforming HP's corporate culture. In that regard, her approach was similar to Lou Gerstner's at IBM. After becoming CEO, Gerstner saw that IBM's main problem was not its people or even its strategy, but its inward-looking culture. Fiorina, to her credit, quickly reached a similar conclusion at HP. HP had a backward looking culture; it was steeped in what it called the "HP

way." Fiorina saw that it wasn't putting enough feet to the fire -- and she assembled a strong team that could help bring about that transformation. She did rise to the calling of restructuring the company, which was something that needed to be done. She saw the acquisition of Compaq in the light of that overall goal -- she saw the merger as a way of forcing change at HP as a whole.

Decision Making

Fourth, as a leader you have to be good at strategic decision making. The one decision that she is most publicly identified with is the merger with Compaq, and that clearly