Larry Ribstein opines:
When last I wrote about HP I responded to Prof Bainbridge?s suggestion that it looked like the board-shakeup at HP taking away some Fiorina power was a sign of hope that boards were asserting themselves. I was skeptical about the board?s ability to manage its way out of a CEO?s mistakes and thought we need stronger medicine.
Eisinger in today's W$J supports that with a harsher story on HP, calling the Compaq takeover a failed deal whose value is about to be written off. Eisinger says the solution is to split off the printer business, which is worth the same as the whole company. While the board took the cosmetic ?baby step? of realigning Fiorina?s responsibility, it took ?two large strides backward? when it combined its printer business with its pc unit. Instead, it needs to sell the printer business.
Larry may be right about the need for "stronger medicine," but I'm still not persuaded by the idea that what we all need to do is to shift from corporations to partnerships. But more on that later.
