HP shuffles more executives
Hewlett-Packard outlines plans to shift the responsibilities of several executives and hires a new human-resources chief.
In a memo to employees, the company said it has tapped former Citigroup executive Marcela Perez de Alonso to head human resources, replacing Susan Bowick, who is retiring at the end of this month. Perez de Alonso, a Chilean native who held both HR and operational roles at Citigroup, will report to HP CEO Carly Fiorina.
"Adept at steering organizations through significant change, Marcela has honed her broad strategic and operational expertise through complex transitions such as the Citibank-Travelers integration," Fiorina said in the memo.
HP also detailed its plan to combine its enterprise systems and services units into one "technology solutions" unit, an effort the company confirmed to analysts on Tuesday. Peter Blackmore will head a combined sales force, which HP is dubbing its "customer solutions group."
The decision to combine the units came out of a task force that has been looking into how the company can better sell its array of products and services, as well as form feedback from customers who are members of an advisory council, HP said. The company said the effort to realign the sales force will be fully in place by the second half of its fiscal year.
The reorganization will be overseen by a program management office, to be headed by Arun Chandra, an 18-year HP veteran. Chandra, who has held a variety of posts at the company, has most recently been serving as a vice president of strategy under Chief Marketing Officer Mike Winkler.
HP said that Duane Zitzner, who heads the company's personal systems unit, will now also oversee efforts to sell products through resellers. In addition, Zitzner will be responsible for HP's efforts aimed at the small and midsize business market. He will share these responsibilities with Blackmore.
Vyomesh Joshi, the head of HP's printing and imaging unit, will continue to manage consumer efforts, including a push into electronics gear, such as digital music players and flat-panel televisions.
The reshuffling is part of a series of moves made in the wake of several executive departures. Last week, HP named printing unit executive Gilles Bouchard as head of both operations and information technology, replacing Chief Information Officer Bob Napier, who died in October, as well as Jeff Clarke, who resigned two weeks ago.
HP also said that Marius Haas, who had headed up the company's worldwide e-business strategy, will take over strategy and corporate development, replacing Mary McDowell, a former Compaq Computer server executive who left HP at the end of October and took an executive role at Nokia last month.
Analysts have been calling for the company to more clearly articulate its strategy for selling to large businesses. At Tuesday's analysts' meeting, Fiorina said it is Dell, not HP, that is stuck, and pledged to grow corporate profits at a rate of 20 percent a year for the near future.
"This is not a company stuck," Fiorina told analysts. "This is a company that leads in virtually every category in which we compete."