All organizations have
internal politics. However, most organizations keep their political battles
private and it is rare that the public will know the details about political
intrigue within the major corporations. However, Hewlett-Packard (HP) is rare in
that its political battles were waged publicly. HP will make for an ideal case
study both because of the intense political behavior occurring at the top and
because many articles have been written about these political battles.
HP has been through five
CEOs since 2005, and each change of CEO has been controversial. The drama
started in 2005 when then CEO Carly Fiorina was under attack from several
members of HP’s Board of Directors. Some board members even took the dispute
public by leaking information to the press. Fiorina fought back by
investigating the leaks, but ultimately lost the battle and was ousted as CEO.
Her replacement, Patricia Dunn, continued to investigate leaks by the board
through the use of private investigators. Even more controversy emerged when it
was discovered that the investigators used the method of “pretexting” in order
to obtain phone records of board members.
For this assignment,
make sure to first carefully review the background materials regarding the
causes of political behavior, types of political behavior, and the ethics of
political behavior. Examples of the causes of political behavior include
competition for resources, ambiguous organizational goals, lack of trust, and
performance factors. Examples of types of political behavior include blaming
others, selectively distributing information, managing impressions, and forming
coalitions. Regarding ethics, consider the three main factors:
·
Does the political action violate individual rights?
·
Does it improve the welfare of those involved?
·
Does it increase distributive justice?
Review the background
materials and do some research on the political dramas at HP. There is a lot
written about HP’s many dramas over the years; here are some articles to get
you started:
Veverka, M. (2011). The
soap opera at HP continues. Barron’s, 91(39), 25.
Granelli, J. S. (2006,
Sep 20). Lockyer probe of HP spying reaches to ’05; sources say the inquiry
goes back to the ouster of CEO Carly Fiorina, a possible victim. Los Angeles
Times[ProQuest]
Kessler, M. (2006, Sep
08). Controversial HP probe started under Fiorina; stock falls as board
continues public feud. USA Today[ProQuest]
Pearlstein, S. (2011,
Sep 25). How HP, silicon valley’s darling, became a soap opera. The Washington
Post
Once you have finished
reviewing the background materials and have completed your research on HP’s
internal politics, write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the following issues:
1.
What individual and organizational factors of HP and its senior
leaders led to the intense political behavior? Refer to the background readings
in your answer, and in particular, pages 370–372 of the Nair textbook in your
answer.
2.
What types of political behaviors did HP’s board members and
CEOs exhibit? Be specific and use the types of political behaviors discussed by
Nair (2010) and Aswathappa (2010).
3.
Were the leaks to the press by members of the board ethical? Was
the investigation by Patricia Dunn into the links ethical? Consider the factors
of utility, individual rights, and distributive justice discussed by Nair
(2010) and Aswathappa (2010) in your answer.
Assignment Expectations
·
Follow the assignment instructions closely and follow all steps
listed in the instructions.
·
Stay focused on the precise assignment questions; don’t go off
on tangents or devote a lot of space to summarizing general background
materials.
·
Make sure to cite readings from the background materials page.
Rely primarily on the required background readings as your sources of
information.
