=WSJ: Two-Thirds Of H-P Management Posts Favoring H-P >HPQ
By Gary McWilliams Of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
HOUSTON (DOW JONES)--Two of every three middle management appointments recently made by Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) are favoring its executives over managers from the acquired Compaq Computer Corp., according to an analysis of the latest appointments.
In a few of the new groups, the appointments are split fairly evenly between the two - such as Network Storage and its industry and corporate account portion of its big-computer unit. Elsewhere, the appointments are a patchwork of H-P and Compaq teams that mirror the individual companies' market-share rankings.
(This report and related background will be available at the Journal's Web site, WSJ.com.)
"Where Compaq is strong, they kept the team, and kept the products. Where Compaq is weak, they went to H-P," said Terry Shannon, who writes a computer industry newsletter called Shannon Knows HPC.
According to the appointment documents, H-P managers will rule the company's big-iron group, called Business Critical Systems, with six of eight division executives from H-P units. H-P managers also dominate the consumer PC business unit executive staff, where the Palo Alto, Calif. computer maker eclipsed Compaq after just a few years of head-to-head competition.
The management of combined companies' Intel-based server unit is entirely made up of Compaq executives, who also staff most of the new Notebook PC business unit. Compaq has the world's largest share of Intel-based servers and ranks third in notebook PCs, above H-P's eighth place worldwide ranking.
Tomorrow, the combined companies management teams and continuing product lines are to be presented to employees and customers in ceremonies broadcast from H-P's Palo Alto headquarters. The company is expected to gradually remove products where overlap exists, such as servers and PCs.
In Houston, Compaq's headquarters since its founding in 1982, building and access signs are draped in blue wrapping. Underneath, the red Compaq signs have been replaced with blue H-P name and logo that will be unveiled here tomorrow morning.
-By Gary McWilliams, The Wall Street Journal; 713-547-9206
(END) DOW JONES NEWS 05-06-02
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