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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jerome who wrote (93950)	12/5/2001 9:29:03 AM
From: Elwood P. Dowd	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Jack Welch on Walter Hewlett by: skeptically 12/05/01 09:17 am Msg: 262765 of 262767 newsalert.com =na-search-&StoryTitle=compaq excerpt from article on west coast tech industry: >>Change and cuts aren't pleasant, but they're often necessary, said Welch. And a CEO determined to make changes must have the company -- and its board of directors -- behind him or her. It's something that has had Welch scratching his head as he reads about HP's current woes and the soap opera-like atmosphere since HP board member Walter Hewlett, after voting for the proposed HP-Compaq merger, had a change of heart and decided not to support the deal backed by HP CEO Carly Fiorina. "It's troublesome," said Welch of Hewlett's sudden reversal. "I'm surprised, because that culture has been so strong. They had a board member who was a Hewlett who, I understand, originally endorsed the deal. A board member only does it once," said Welch of voting. Having someone go outside the board to announce a new position isn't something Welch ever experienced. Yes, he had at least one occasion when a board member changed their mind. But not outside the confines of the boardroom. "You just gotta have all the debate on a board, in my view, in the boardroom," said Welch. "Once you get on a boat, we always counted on our team to say everything they had to say there and then. And if the majority decided to go, that's where the boat sailed." Welch has never met Fiorina and was hesitant to comment on her situation. But he did say that he considered himself fortunate -- even in the first days of becoming CEO of GE -- because he had a third of the company supporting him, as well as the entire board. "A good third of the employees wanted change to occur. They saw the need to be more competitive," said Welch. "But I had the advantage of being an insider. It's a tougher game coming from the outside. You don't have a built-in constituency. So I had a third of the employees for me, and by the time I retired, I had just about everybody." <<