FROM THE EDITOR

ithout even knowing And along the way, Betty took on it, HP employees have the responsibility for keeping the HP received a good deal organization chart up to date. She oftheir daily HP news meticulously has tracked every revi­ for the past 20 years sion, reassignment, realignment and from one person. reorganization. IfWalter Cronkite is considered Considering how inaccurate a the most trusted person in American printed org chart can be, the one on journalism, then the HP equivalent is Betty's office wall-marked up, Betty Gerard. crossed over, penciled-in and dotted For two decades, Betty has been with yellow Post-it squares-has been HP's most important news source. the only truly accurate org chart Ask Betty the correct name of an HP anywhere in HP for most of the past On the cover: Using HP division and she probably can tell you several years. analytical equipment, Dr. its complete history-when the divi­ Betty is a stickler for detail and one Holmes Morton diagnosed and now successfully treats sion began, every name it's had, a of the few people I know who gets Amish children who suffer chronological list of its general man­ downright passionate about conunas. from a hereditary disease. agers and probably a list of every We've been known to debate the mer­ The photo feature begins on page 4. Cover photo by product manufactured there. its of what she calls a "gratuitous Clark Mishler. If Betty doesn't know the answer comma" for days on end. from memory, it's sure to reside on a And now, after 20 years with HP, neatly typed 3-by-5-inch index card in Betty has retired. one of six old clunky metal me boxes You'll still see her stories in in her office. MEASURE when she can break away Long before there were sophisticated from her children, grandchildren, computer databases and Internet volunteer work and travel long search engines, there were two fast and enough to write. And I'm certain that reliable sources of information in HP: many HP people will keep in touch Betty's brain and Betty's metal boxes. with Betty for years to come. Loyal readers recognize Betty's Every person is replaceable, the name as a MEASURE associate editor saying goes, but HP won't be quite the and writer. Mention a timely story or a same place without her. For all you've prominent HP executive and chances meant to HP, Betty, thanks. are that Betty has written a story -Jay Coleman about that subject or person. What many people don't know is that Betty has been the invisible force behind Newsgrams-the in-house almost-daily HP news service-for the past 19 years. Their headlines appear in the panels in the back of each issue ofMEASURE.

2 MEASURE

www.HPARCHIVE.com THE INSIDE STORIES

FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 4 Keeping the faith 15 People In a world away from modem technology, HP With camera in hand, Monte Smith analytical equipment helps a group of "special explores the ocean's depths, cap­ children" stricken with a rare disease. turing its wonders with award­ winning photos. 9 It's by design Some products, such as the HP Pavilion personal 22 Web-wise computer, get it just right-the right timing, Dr. Cyberspace announces a great Page 12 right look, right feel, right features, even the new Intemetlintranet contest. right curves. It's no accident. 26 Letter from Lew Platt 12 Bracing for the year 2000 HP's chairman, president and When the calendar turns to the next century, some CEO discusses the good news computers will read 2000 as 1900. Computer and the not-so-good news of HP's programmers around the world are already 1997 first-quarter results. working on the problem. What is HP doing? 28 Your turn 18 Arrivederci, Franco MEASURE readers share their Senior Vice President Franco Mariotti retires views on matters of importance. after 36 years of helping grow HP's important European marketplace. 29 ExtraMEASURE News from around the HP world. Page 20 20 Selling with a sense ofhumor HP takes a leap forward with a new advertising campaign that tickles the funny bone.

24 A tale of two cultures How do two companies mesh when 800 people join 112,000? MEASURE

Editor: MEASURE is published in mid-January, March, May, July, September and November for employees and associates Jay Coleman, ABC* of Hewlett-Packard Company. It is produced by Corporate Communications, Employee Communications section, Mary Anne Easley, manager. Address correspondence to MEASURE, Hewlett-Packard Company, 3000 Hanover Street, Associate editors: 20BR, Palo Alto, California 94304-1185, U.S.A. The telephone number is (415) 857-4144; the fax number is (415) 857-7299; Betty Gerard, and the Internet address is [email protected]. Kathy Mirtallo, Mary Anne Easley ·Copyright 1997 by Hewlett-Packard Company. Material may be reprinted with permission. Art directo r: *Accredited Business Communicator by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). Annette Yatovitz Hewlett-Packard Company is a global manufacturer of computing, communications and measurement products and Graphic designer: services recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 112,800 employees worldwide and had revenue of Thomas J. Brown $38.4 billion in its 1996 fiscal year.

Photo research: UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open™ Carol Parcels X/Open is a trademark of X/Open Company Limited in the United States and other countries. Circulation/editorial assistant: Tena Lessor Page 12, reference, Art Resource, New York. ©1977 The Munch Museum/The Munch-Ellingsen Group/Artists Rights Society (ARS). New York. Intern: Grace Razo * MEASURE magazine is printed on recycled paper with vegetable-based ink.

March-April 1997 3

www.HPARCHIVE.com OLUTIONS • ee In

Story by Thomas Ulrich LANCASTER COUNTY, Pennsylvania Bewildered by a disease that strikes Photos by Clark Mishler -In late summer, ripened field corn the Amish 10 times more often than billows across Bunker Hill, and the the general population, Dr. Morton Fischer farmstead resembles an island accepted a research fellowship at the on a sea of gold. Kennedy-Krieger Institute in Baltimore, In aworld away from modern Blessed with the richest soil in Maryland. Working with Dr. Richard technology, HP analytical North America and a climate perfect Kelley, he diagnosed 17 Amish chil­ equipment helps a group of for farming, Caleb Fischer and 12 gen­ dren with glutaric aciduria. His erations of kin have left their mark studies showed that an additional "special children" stricken upon the land. 25 to 50 Amish born during the next with a rare disease. Four mules generate enough horse­ generation could inherit the defective power to turn the soil at Caleb's farm. genes that cause the disorder. Without electricity, butane lanterns Without treatment, nearly all light his farmhouse. The nearest tele­ would be disabled, and a quarter phone is a quarter-mile down the ofthem would die before age five. road. Because Caleb doesn't have an Inspired to help these children, Dr. automobile, a horse named Chester Morton traveled once a week from his fetches him back and forth to town. home near Philadelphia to Lancaster Caleb and his family are Old Order County to work among the Amish. Amish. They belong to a community "The Plain People (Old Order Amish) living at the edge of modern society call them God's special children," with spiritual values that reach back he says. to the Protestant Reformation. Because this disease devastates a Most of the 16,500 Amish living in child in a matter ofhours and because Lancaster County are descended from it is impractical for Amish families to the 200 Swiss-German farmers who travel many miles to a university med­ emigrated here during the 1700s. ical center for care, Dr. Morton knew Because Amish forbid marriage out­ he needed to build a clinic nearby to side the Old Order, centuries of inter­ help these children. marriage have afflicted them with "By the summer of 1989," Dr. hereditary diseases that threaten their Morton says, "it was clear that the heritage and strike their young in grant I hoped to get from the National disproportionately high numbers. Institutes of Health was not going to Before Holmes Morton, a pedia­ work out." So he applied for a second trician from West Virginia, worked mortgage on his home to raise money above among Amish families from Lancaster to build and outfit a local clinic. Coats and hats hanging in a County, researchers documented Grateful for Dr. Morton's diagnos­ farmhouse cloakroom reflect eight cases worldwide of a disease ing and treating their granddaughter's the simplicity and conformity An that is so important in all called glutaric aciduria. inherited illness during his weekly visits to aspects of Amish life. metabolic disorder, glutaric aciduria Lancaster County, Caleb Fischer and often strikes children between the ages of six months and five years. The disorder is triggered by childhood ill­ top right nesses such as chicken pox or fever. Amish farmers use nineteenth­ Children stricken with the disease can century methods to harvest field corn on one of the many suffer permanent brain injury that family-owned farms in Lancaster leads to a lifetime ofparalysis or an County. The land was deeded early death. by William Penn.

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www.HPARCHIVE.com his wife, Rachel, gave him three acres of land as the site for the clinic. Shortly before sunset on a blustery afternoon in November 1990, 12 Amish carpenters and farmers raised the Clinic for Special Children. With sledgehammers, Douglas fir timbers and oak pegs, they framed the post­ and-beam building in less than a day. "The only piece of expensive equipment I needed," Dr. Morton says, "was a mass spectrometer made by Hewlett-Packard Company." Alerted to the plight ofthe Amish children by a front-page story in the WaU Street Journal, Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard donated an HP 5890 gas chromatograph, an above above HP 5970 mass spectrometer and an Retired thoroughbred trotting Dr. Holmes Morton-awarded HP 9000 workstation for analyzing horses, like this one, are some­ the Albert Schweitzer prize for times purchased to pull humanitarian medicine from urine samples of children at the clinic. carriages owned by most Johns Hopkins University in "When Dr. Morton came to our Amish families, who use 1993 for his work among the home to explain that our daughter them for transportation. Amish-examines a sample about to be tested for glutaric Rebecca had glutaric aciduria, Joshua acid in an HP mass spectrometer. and I thought he had made a mistake,"

March-April 1997 5

www.HPARCHIVE.com Keeping the faith

says Elizabeth Fischer, daughter-in­ law of Caleb and Rachel. "But it didn't take long until she had a fever and Holmes admitted her to the hospital." "If it weren't for Dr. Morton," Elizabeth says, "Rebecca would have ended up like many ofJoseph and Sallie Lapp's children. Five out of seven of their children died or are paralyzed because of this disease. "Joshua and I thank the Lord, but it is through Doctor Morton that my children stayed healthy." "Holmes Morton has forced his way into the hearts of the Amish people," says C. Everett Koop, former U.S. sur­ geon general, "and based upon that trust has accomplished a remarkable service for them." Dr. Morton recalls visiting an Amish fan1ily before he established his clinic. "We will be glad ifyou can learn to help these children," said the grandfather of a boy who had just died, "but such children will always be with us. They are important to all of us. They teach a fan1ily how to accept the help of others." "As outsiders viewing Amish culture, we think their traditions are top archaic or old-fashioned," Dr. Morton In this densely populated region says. "We n1ight think they don't have of Pennsylvania, an Amish much to teach us, but we need to look farmer's mule-drawn farm cart at how successful they are at keeping must share the road with cars.

fanillies together and serving the needs above of those within the culture-the dis­ Gardening and canning are part advantaged through illness, injury, of an Amish woman's activities. disability or age. These people have a Cucumbers, peppers, peaches much better way of dealing with these and pickled vegetables called "chow-chow" are just a sample problems than other cultures have. of the homegrown produce "Special children hope to suffer stored in Amish cellars. right less and lead fulfilled lives through Pennsylvania law requires that above right the help of others," Dr. Morton says. Amish carriages have reflectors, brake lights, side mirrors and "Within their families and communi- Hundreds of Amish roadside stands-a source of income for headlights to make them safer families-sell produce, baked and more visible on public roads. goods and handicrafts.

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www.HPARCHIVE.com

Keeping the faith

ties they are not merely the objects of compassion and love, but often their very source." M

(Tlwmas Ulrich writes for HP's Inte­ grated Systems Division in Sunnyvale, California. The names ofthe Amish in this story have been changed to protect their privacy.-Editor)

Who are the Amish? top Noted for their hard work and Racing back to their one-room plain ways, the Amish shun schoolhouse after recess, Amish many modem conveniences. children are taught only those While men find work within skills that are deemed useful and practical for their later the community as farmers, car­ lives, such as arithmetic, read­ penters, cabinet makers and ing, penmanship and spelling. blacksmiths, women run the middle household, tend the kitchen gar­ den and help with the harvest. Amish quilts sold at the clinic's benefit auction are considered Recently, the role of the woman among the best in both design within the Amish community has and stitching. Quilts are unsigned changed. A growing population to avoid crediting makers, which would make them seem proud and shortage offarmland within in the eyes of others. Lancaster County have pressed many women to work outside bottom the home. Cottage industries Lines of carriages are parked outside Leola farmers' market such as bakeries, clothing stores during the annual auction and handicraft shops that women attended by more than 7,000 now run embrace Amish values. Amish, Mennonites and "English" (a term used for anyone not They are owned and operated Amish or Mennonite). by the family. In keeping with their belief in adult baptism, Amish parents permit sons and daughters in their late teens to experience a surge offreedom called rum­ springa or "running around." After several years among the "English," or "outsiders," a young adult chooses to accept or reject the Amish faith. Seven out of 10 young men and women return home to carry on the tradition.

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www.HPARCHIVE.com NNOVATION

In the future, PC colors may match your home decor, says Peter Lee, who manages the HP Pavilion industrial-design activities for HP's Home Products Division.

Some products, such as the HP Pavilion, get it just right-the right timing, right look, right feel, right It's by design features, even the right By Jean Burke Hoppe Compelling industrial design can curves. It's no accident. defInitely give HP's home products­ Will the personal computer of the and all products-a competitive future be encased in solid cherry to advantage, says Webb McKinney, HPD add warmth to the decor, a space for general manager. "Weare at the very it carved into family room entertain­ beginning of 'domesticating' the com­ ment centers and home theaters? Will puter," says Webb. "There's no telling putty and gray PCs give way to trendy how far it will go, but it's fascinating designer colors like sage, pumpkin because the bar keeps being raised. If or cranberry? Will the PC's clunky, you've been in the stores, you know space-eating presence evolve into we are neck-and-neck with our com­ something sleeker, something wire­ petition. Some companies are getting less, something positively pleasant much bolder in their styling." to behold? Acer America's Aspire PC, which Yes to all, says HP's Home Prod­ won awards last year for its avant­ ucts Division's (HPD) Peter Lee, who garde design, went beyond putty and manages industrial design (ID) activi­ black and produced emerald and deep ties for the award-winning HP Pavilion purple computers. The Toshiba Infmia personal computer. went for the stereo equipment look,

March-April 1997 9

www.HPARCHIVE.com It's by design

incorporating lmobs, buttons and wanted consumers, especially fIrst­ Week magazine named the HP Pavilion even a remote control into its design. time computer buyers, to see it, 7285 its top performer in its annual HP provides a model for what's understand it and want to use it. computer buying guide. happening in the industry, says Jeff Everything about it has a sense of The home market is hot and high­ Smith, president of Lunar Design, who obviousness. You lmow why it's there. profIle right now, but good industrial works with HPD on the Pavilion. "It's It's not contrived. Yet it's also artful. design is producing many other thought­ interesting to watch as these high-tech That's the design ful and effective products go mainstream, as they're image we went products from HP 'consumerized.' for and very divisions around "Companies like HP have to look much, I think, the world. That at design from a cultural standpoint. what evolved." "It's interesting to watch as translates into What's going on out there with the The Pavilion these high-tech products happy customers. consumers? And how's our diversity got high marks go mainstream, as they're Greeley Hard­ and our heritage as a company working from users and copy Division's for us or against us in these markets? reviewers for the 'consumerized. '" Jim Dow and I think HP is perceived as an intellectual, "out-of-box expe- Mo Khovaylo's introspective, analytical, engineering­ rience." The connectors are color­ SureStore Optical 600fx Jukebox won driven, reliable company. You don't coded so there's no question of where a 1996 Industrial Design Excellence want to forfeit any ofthat -which cables plug in. The speakers slide into Award (IDEA), sponsored by Business you might ifHP suddenly went 'hip.' the sides of the monitor and connect Week, and also the 1997 Hannover There's a balance that makes much to it, too. HP's Personal Page software Industrie Forum Design Competition more sense for HP between hipness interface for Windows 95 cheerfully award, another ofthe profession's and reliability. gets you started, whether you're a most prestigious honors. The 600fx "The challenge for HP is in pacing beginner or a bona fIde nerd. Business stores the equivalent of 1.5 million this cultural evolution." "That's the fence we sit on," says Peter Lee. "We want the Pavilion (and the Pavilion 2, which is due out this summer) to be elegant and convey ease of use and versatility. Yet it can't look frivolous, be perceived as not serious enough." Fashion before substance never will be HP's style. But the Pavilion, with its smooth, soft and sophisticated look, is the furthest into "hipness" HP has ventured. That made its success and market acceptance particularly rewarding. Even mainstreanl maga­ zines like Esquire took note. It went positively quivery over the Pavilion, saying it "offer(s) buttons and orifices so biomorphic that you feel you ought to say something soft and seductive before you touch them." Peter says the Pavilion, which has won awards for both design and ease Raoul Dinter, who won 1996 Hannover design awards for the HP 8453 Spectrometer and of use, is truly a home product. "We the HP Series 1100 Liquid Chromatograph, confers with colleague Ulrike Jegle.

10 MEASURE

www.HPARCHIVE.com 300-page books on optical cartridges. A mechanical arm travels in the cen­ • ter of three vertical stacks and moves them to optical drives, where data is accessed. A viewing window lets oper­ ators see the machine work. • Industrial designers work on many aspects of a product. Jim says, "We try to simplify the use of the product for the customer. Most HP products contain excellent, butvery complicated, technology. It's our job to develop controls, displays, graphical user interfaces and hardware that will make the technology accessible and easy to understand for the user. Successful ID has to create 'pull' for a product, by way of a strong visual statement that distinguishes it from the competition. "The best designs marry all aspects ofindustrial design into a single whole. These are the designs that win awards -and delight customers." The Waldbronn Division's Raoul HP Greeley (Colorado) Hardcopy Division's Jim Dow (left) and Mo Khovaylo designed the HP 7978 tape drive that's part of a permanent collection at a German design museum. Dinter, industrial design manager, agrees. He sees industrial designers at the Art Center College ofDesign that he and Gil Lemke designed for as the customer's advocate. "Some in Pasadena, California, focusing on General Motors. people think we are artists, the magi­ multimedia and Internet design. Dave says his perception of ID has cians of color and radii. Aesthetics are Jim, who holds 14 mechanical and changed in his seven years with HP. an important part of ID, but the hard­ design patents, worked in Singapore "It used to be me imposing my per­ ware user interface is more important for Frank Cloutier, former G.M. of the ceived solutions on problems. Now, I -especially for industrial products. Mobile Computing Division, when he do much more re$earch, visiting cus­ "I've visited more than 100 labs in designed the Portable Deskjet, which tomers and studying their environment." the past 10 years and the argument, won an IDEA Gold Award, the highest And that's the bottom line. Know­ 'This is what our customers say,' is a honor. "Frank provided the perfect ing "how to dress" is one thing, but very good one." atmosphere for design work, and that's the most elegant, well-designed Raoul most recently won a 1996 the key to success," Jim says. "He was product is worthless if it doesn't fit • Best-of-Group Hannover design award really supportive of the function, and the customer. M for the HP 8453 Spectrometer, and that has to flow from the top. Other­ the HP Series 1100 Liquid Chromato­ wise, working in the R&D lab can be (Jean Burke Hoppe is a Lincoln, graph he designed was named one of like working on Planet Vulcan with a Nebraska-basedjreelance writer.­ the top 10 products of the year. bunch of Mr. Spocks." Editor) Jim Girard, who has designed and Dave Skinner, senior industrial won awards for the LaserJet 2P, 3P, designer with the Integrated Systems 4P and HP's first DeskJet Portable Division, most recently won a 1996 printer, is on a two-year fellowship Hannover award for the Automo­ tive Diagnostic Scan Tool-Tech 2

March-April 1997 11

www.HPARCHIVE.com •

Bracing for the year 2000 By Betty Gerard You wouldn't think two little zeros could cause so much trouble. But the changeover from the year 1999 to 2000 poses a monumental conver­ sion challenge to computer programmers around the world. Anything that has a When the calendar turns date is potentially affected by the flip over of the calendar to 2000. to the next century, some In earlier years, programmers shortened date entries from four numbers to computers will read 2000 as just two to save then-scarce and expensive memory. Thus, 1997 became 97 to computers-however, some will read 2000 as 1900 if something isn't done to 1900. Computer programmers reeducate them. around the world are already Among the scary scenarios of what might happen is that computers around working on the problem. the world will corrupt or mishandle data, orjust stop completely. The Gartner Group consulting flrm has been quoted widely as estimating What is HP doing? that keeping computers running right will require changing a staggering num­ ber of lines of code with a cost of $300 billion to $600 billion worldwide. A multidivisional, multifunctional effort is under way throughout HP to ensure that its operations will run smoothly when the millennium arrives and ensure that customers can do the same.

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www.HPARCHIVE.com As Chief Information Officer Bob Walker says ruefully, Changes are difficult and time-consuming to test. "And "No sources offunding will appear magically to pay for when you think things are OK, you have to reinstall all this effort. We have to spend hard-to-get money taken from systems simultaneously," Garry points out. new initiatives just to keep running our business as usual." There are some bright spots and opportunities with Last August he issued a strong call for action through­ Y2K, however. out the company. At Corporate IT, Heather Tripp heads a The PeopleBase program is replacing all human • Year 2000 Coordination and Assistance Center that will resources (HR) software with a completely new system. assess the full extent of HP's exposure and serve as an PeopleBase is using PeopleSoft, a software package from information clearinghouse. an outside vendor that was introduced in 1987 and is 2000­ Admittedly, it's a challenge to dig into old source code compliant. Since 1991, all but one of the major HR legacy to fmd all date references. Decisions must be made on systems have been decommissioned, with Payroll and whether to replace a program Benefits the last critical transi­ altogether, to retrofit it­ tion yet to come (see box on installing full four-digit capa­ page 14). bility or coding work-arounds "It was time to roll over all for two-digit dates-or to junk it. HR software, which was old The bulk ofHP's Y2K (short­ and fragmented," says Becky hand for Year 2000) work will Everett, PeopleBase program involve homegrown applications, manager. "We needed to unify with those that are mission­ and update the functionality in critical the first in line. our legacy systems. In the pro­ One example is the HEART cess, it solved the YK2 issue system that manages world­ for us." wide orders. HEART alone inter­ On the financial side, the faces with 100 other systems consolidation of fmancial and distributes Order Process services over the past seven Communicator files (the years has smoothed out many "blood" between applications) potential problems, says Jerry to more than 600 locations. Vendor billing and support Schaefer of Worldwide Financial Services IT in Colorado agreements run off HEART. Springs, Colorado. Since 1987, the plan has been that any Also sweeping and complex is the procurement system new development or system purchases must address the (PROMIS) used by factories for materials planning. Year 2000 issue. Other systems have been retrofitted routinely. PROMIS is centrally supported by Product Generation "But we still have work ahead of us," Jerry says. Information Systems (PGIS). Plans are being developed and carried out separately by "Dates are critical for us," says Garry Gray, PGIS direc­ financial teams in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific tor. "We try to give a supplier an idea of our future needs. since their general accounting systems have some geo­ Ifa computer misreads the date 2000, bad information graphic differences. could result in a shortage ofparts and stop production." For Worldwide Customer Support Operations, 2000 It's essential to locate places where dates are used and already is here. Its Business and Technology Solutions modify the sort logic so the system won't read 2000 as group, which provides software tools for support adminis­ 1900 and put a message at the bottom of a queue or rele­ tration and HP's response centers, has had to adapt many gate it to an error file. systems to cope with customer-support contracts that To compound the problem, factories have many local, extend beyond 2000. Martin Theophilus in Bristol, Eng­ unique interfaces to the PROMIS system, each of which land, is completing the assessment of 50-plus applications. must be made compliant with new date formats. MM/3000, HP's businesses have found hundreds of software appli­ used in 60 HP manufacturing sites worldwide, has a patch cations that currently run their own operations-some completed for Y2K compliance for versions A.09.11 and C.OO-which only half are using.

March-April 1997 13

www.HPARCHIVE.com bought from outside vendors and some from HP organiza­ Like the HP 9000, HP 3000 PA-RISC-based servers are tions that no longer exist. 2000-ready, and MPE/iX will have a 2000-ready release Medical Products Group systems alone have 20 million (6.0) by the end of the year. Most NetServers are 2000­ lines of code and more than 240 applications, Charlie ready, except for a few that will need a clock reset on Schiappa ofMPG IT has found in his assessment. Each must 1/1/2000. HP Vectra PCs store the year on four digits; mod­ be looked at for necessary date changes, fixed and tested. els introduced since the end of 1995 handle the rollover "It's hard to tell from the outside looking in," Charlie automatically, while others can be reset easily to 2000. • says. "You have to get out your microscope." Mainframe customers face the biggest challenge. For the Computer Organization, protecting customers is Due to the complexity and cost oftrying to fix aging appli­ a special concern. Dick Watts, vice president and general cations, they may choose to replace them with 2000­ manager ofthe Computer Systems Organization (CSO), compliant client/server systems. The Professional Services has asked each division to commit Organization offers transition, to a goal of shipping hardware and architecture and IT management software products that are Year services designed to ease the 2000-ready by the end of FY97 at Willi get paid in conversion process. the latest. January 2000? At ESY, Janet Gee has gathered Where needed, patches or a portfolio ofpartners that can updates will be ready to allow any Don't worry. A team of Corporate complement HP's products and ser­ customer with an HP product still Payroll systems programmers headed vices to help customers solve their supported to attain 2000-readiness. by Nancy Alens is completing 2000 Y2K problems. Since independent Billie Abrams, Open Systems conversion. software vendors are responsible Software Division marketing The 30-year-old Employee Master for their own YK2 readiness, HP manager, is coordinating the 2000 File (EMF) will be replaced. As part of keeps them informed on changes marketing effort across CSO. the PeopleBase program, all employee­ it has made that might affect At the Enterprise Systems Divi­ resource data will be on the same their applications. sion (ESy), John Verrochi and system. Payroll and Benefits is the Capturing and correcting those Janet Gee are spearheading the ini­ final piece to go into place, and will elusive two-digit dates has the tiative. John reassures customers be ready in time. attention of IT people worldwide. that PA-RISC-based servers are Software from PeopleSoft is being It's a daunting but critical task, already 2000-ready, and the HP-UX used as the base, with modules added with a calendar-dictated deadline 10.30 operating system shipping to accommodate HP-specific needs that will not slip. M this quarter has completed year­ such as the stock purchase plan. 2000 functionality. Updates will be Payroll intersects with other linked provided free to customers with U.S. systems, and interfaces are being support for HP.UX 10.01 and reworked with the Payroll Service later releases. Center, Corporate Benefits and its TABS electronic system, the U.S. Employee Service Center, TAXCAP and Shareholder Records, each of which is examining its own system. All the strenuous behind-the-scenes changes should be invisible to the employees counting on being paid as usual in January 2000. "We have to be able to pay people accurately and on time," Nancy says.

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www.HPARCHIVE.com PEOPLE

Deep quest for perfection By Tena Lessor

Monte Smith is happiest when he's pursuing his passion for underwater photography. With camera in hand, Monte Smith explores the ocean's depths, capturing its wonders with award­ winning photos.

Monte Smith has only one regret about his arms-length encounter with a white-tip reef shark: His photos were blurred. "I was diving at night in Borneo, East Malaysia, in December 1994, when my dive light beamed on a white-tip reef shark about 40 feet below me," he says. "The shark went into attack mode-arching its back, extending its fins and swimming with a jerking motion. I seriously consid­ ered feeding it my camera housing, but when it got within three feet of me, I tripped the camera shutter release and fired both strobes. The shark broke its attack and headed back into the depths. Unfortunately, the pictures didn't turn out too well." As you might guess, Monte wasn't going for a leisurely swim at the neighborhood swimming pool. When he's not managing marketing commu­ nications in the Test and Measurement Organization in Santa Clara, California, Monte's scouring the ocean's depths, capturing its spectacular images on film. And as you also might guess, he's become quite familiar with the underwater world. "I spend more time underwater in a year than most people From a 1-inch nudibranch in the Red Sea (pictured) to killer sharks off Borneo, Monte has seen it all in the watery world beneath the surface.

March-April 1997 15

www.HPARCHIVE.com Deep quest

do in their whole lives," says the accom­ plished underwater photographer. It all started out as two separate hobbies: photography and diving. Seven years ago, Monte combined the two and discovered a new passion­ underwater photography. Who would have thought this inner­ city kid from San Francisco would swap the city's hurried streets for earth's calm waters? Despite his urban surroundings, Monte recalls being drawn to aquatic environments as a youngster. "I used to go down to the railroad tracks that went through the industrial area ofthe city," he reflects. "There was a drainage canal next to the tracks. I would catch frogs and fish, bring them home and put them in my fish bowl to watch." Monte spends more time underwater in a year than most people do in their whole lives. That fish bowl has become waters around the world. Monte travels to bottom," Monte says. Luckily, no one a nationwide underwater photography such places as Malaysia, Micronesia, was hurt, and they were rescued the competition sponsored by camera­ Thailand, Honduras, the Red Sea, and next morning. maker Nikon. After winning a regional the Cayman and Solomon Islands. On In addition to surviving shipwrecks, competition held in Monterey, Califor­ weekends, he can be found diving off Monte faces a heavier challenge: the nia, Monte went on to become the the Monterey, California, coast. equipment. Monte carries a hefty host competition's grand-prize winner. Creating successful photographs of Hugyfot and Ikelite camera hous­ "To an underwater photographer, underwater is no easy undertaking, ings, Canon F-l and Nikonos III and V winning this competition is equiva­ especially when your life is hanging cameras, and eight light strobe lights. lent to a race-car driver winning the from a limb-literally. Monte and 11 "You wouldn't want to go on a hike Grand Prix," he says. "This means I other divers found themselves bob­ with all this stuff on," Monte jokes. have arrived at a point in my photog­ bing above a2000-foot drop in the "Thankfully, I don't dive with all of it raphy that has been a personal goal." Cayman Islands five years ago, when on at the same time. And the gear is Monte's winning photo can be seen their boat hit a reef after a mooring weightless once I get in the water." in the 1997 Nikonos Shootout calen­ broke in the middle ofthe night. "We As a long-time active member and dar, as well as in the April issue of bounced around the reef all night with current president of the Underwater Skin Diver magazine. three feet of water in what was left of Photographic Society of Northern For Monte, underwater photog­ our boat, which was kept from drift­ California, Monte participates in raphy is a never-ending quest for ing away only by a large coral head monthly competitions. Over the last perfection. And that quest keeps that was sticking up through the few years, he increasingly has won Monte diving. But what else keeps those competitions. him immersed? "I never know In October 1996, Monte won the what wonderful treasure ofnature prestigious "1996 Nikonos Shootout," I'll [md on my next dive." M

Monte won the 1996 Nikonos Shootout underwater competition with this photo.

16 MEASURE

www.HPARCHIVE.com

NTERNATIONAL

Senior Vice President Franco Mariotti retires after 36 years of helping grow

HP's important European At his retirement dinner in Geneva, Franco Mariotti hears a tribute from Bill Hewlett read marketplace. by Germany's Menno Harms. (From left) Joan Platt, Franco, Menno, Lew Platt, Ade Mariotti. Arrivederci, Franco By Betty Gerard When a hit-and-run accident hospitalized Franco Mariotti for nine months in 1961, it changed the course of his career. Franco retired on December 31, 1996, as senior vice president for Strategic Initiatives in Europe. From 1977 to 1994 he served as managing director of EuropelMiddle Eas1JAfrica and earlier headed HP Italy for six years. But in 1961 he was a young engineer planning to focus on technology, not management. As Italy's top engineering student that year, he'd won a scholar­ ship to study for a master's degree in electrical engineering at a premier U.S. university. He chose the University of California at Berkeley, which led to an interview with Bill Hewlett in nearby Palo Alto. The company had just dipped a toe into Europe, starting a sales operation in Geneva, Switzerland, with one employee and wanted to hire two more. "Hewlett tried to talk me into moving to Europe and working in marketing," Franco recalls. "But I wanted to get my degree, spend some time in HP Labs in Palo Alto, and then leave the company and return to Italy to work in R&D for some other company. Italians don't like to live abroad." He did accept a short-term research assignment in HP Labs. Then, on a busi­ ness trip to Pasadena, California, fate, in the form of a reckless driver, slammed into his plans. During his long hospitalization, Franco had frequent visits from sympathetic HP people. "I acquired a deep affection for HP because they really helped me out," he remembers. This time he accepted an offer from the company to work in Geneva. The small Hewlett-Packard SA (HPSA) office in downtown Geneva in 1961 had 14 employees, with three engineers "who did everything," he recalls, including visiting customers throughout Europe with a demo bus. Franco never returned to do research at HP Labs but used his technical background to train the new HP sales forces being put in place throughout Europe. HP already had a presence in Germany and was now setting up sales forces in France, Belgium, Holland and the u.K.

18 MEASURE

www_HPAHCHIVE_coml ~------In 1964, Franco was given his flrst assignment as a On Franco's watch, the geographic boundaries also general manager, at age 28. He was sent to Italy "with a expanded, as responsibility for a host ofMiddle Eastern $50,000 check for our capital and a green light to hire and African countries, including South Africa, shifted to everybody from the accounts manager to the janitor." what became known as Europe/Middle East/Africa, and When Franco arrived in Italy, HP's sales volume in that new sales subsidiaries were formed throughout Eastern country was $1.2 million per year-and total European Europe, Greece, Turkey and Portugal. New manufacturing sales were some $12 million dollars, about one-flfth ofthe operations and HP Labs Bristol were started in Europe. company's total sales. During Franco's 18 years as managing director, Europe While running HP Italy from a headquarters in Milan, he achieved a 21 percent Compound Annual Growth Rate picked up two other hats. He was area manager for Italy, (CAGR). As CEO Lew Platt told him, "Each one ofthe Switzerland and Germany, 24,000 European employees and when the company of the company owes you introduced its fIrst computer an especially great debt for in 1966, he added responsi­ your persistence in con­ bility as European Market­ vincing the company to ing Manager of Computers. invest substantially in oper­ Marketing and sales man­ ations in Boblingen, South agement for computers was Queensferry, Pinewood, run from a center in Milan. Bristol, Lyon, Grenoble, He next relocated to Amsterdam, Bergamo, Geneva as Europe's general Barcelona and Dublin marketing manager for cal­ during the '80s and '90s." culators. The 9100 desktop With retirement approach­ calculator-later renamed ing, Franco turned over the "desktop computer" in duties of managing director Europe-had been intro­ to Vice President Franz duced in 1968 and met with Nawratil in 1995 and took great success in Europe, Bill Hewlett and Franco Mariotti in Geneva in 1969. on a broad strategic charter while the 2116A minicom­ for new initiatives. This has puter found many applications in new flelds for HP. meant helping the company derme some new multibillion­ The HP 35 pocket calculator that canle out in 1972 was dollar business opportunities. He has been particularly a marketing challenge. The flrst retailer in the world will­ active in the area of telecommunications. ing to handle it was a little shop near the Sorbonne in Franco often has visited European Union headquarters Paris, which sold it at a discount to students-something in Brussels to represent HP in its programs, and served as newforHP. the point man for the company's involvement in the rapidly After driving the early development of HP's sales strat­ emerging information society in Europe. He increased egy in computers and calculators, Franco was promoted HP's high-level outside contacts by founding a roundtable to general marketing manager for Europe in 1976. The for heads of the American multinationals in Europe and following year he succeeded Dick Alberding as managing serving as its fIrst chairman. He remains an official advisor director for Europe. to the EU Commission in a vmiety offlelds "to help Europe In 1977, Europe had net revenue of about $400 million, build a more competitive environment," he says. one-third of HP's worldwide total of $1.3 billion. By 1994, "Franco Mariotti was a remarkable engineer in fulfilling net revenue for Europe/Middle East/Africa had multiplied his job representing Hewlett-Packard in Europe," said Bill by a factor ofmore than 20 to $8.4 billion as HP's world­ Hewlett. "Dave and I always appreciated his dedication, wide sales reached $25 billion. Marketing innovations such loyalty and hard work. as dealer channels and partner programs that started in "I want to extend a profound 'thank you' to Franco for Europe were later adopted across the company. the tremendous contributions he has made in Europe." M

March-April 1997 19

www.HPARCHIVE.com DVERTISING Selling with n By Grace Razo BOISE, Idaho-Spurred by a recent HP television commercial, a Boise real estate agent called the local HP HP takes a leap forward site asking where he could get one of with a new humorous the new lawn mowers HP has for sale. advertising campaign that Process the purchase order and deliver the merchandise? Not this tickles the funny bone. time. 'Cause for sure, HP isn't selling lawn mowers. But it is selling the new HP Laser­ Jet 5Si "mopier"-rhymes with copier -which prints multiple originals, Todd Fischer, (right) described in techno collates and staples. "It does every­ talk the unique aspects of the mopier. thing," says the commercial's bow­ tied narrator, "but mow the lawn." Shot on location at the HP facility in Boise, the commercial's five stars­ actual HP Boise engineers-speedily set out to do just that. Make the mopier mow. Before you know it, the mopier races around a grassy knoll outside the HP site-chewing up green blades with the hunger ofa household mower. ( ot a computer-simulated event. The mopier prop actually does mow!) A mother gets an eyeful of her son's tidy The ad is one offour TV spots­ room, created with an HP DeskJet 690. two for the HP LaserJet 5Si mopier and two for the HP DeskJet 690 series The use ofhumor to get this home printers-created by ad agency message across, however, is quite a Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, whose departure from HP's past conserva­ claim to fame is the hot U.S. "Got tive marketing. Milk?" campaign. With HP's slogan, "Humor is a great way to add a "Built by engineers. Used by normal new, human dimension to the HP people." the national ad campaign is brand," Susan says. "Traditionally, HP possibly the most unconventional one is well known for quality, reliability in HP's history. and compatibility. But at a time when Susan Cole, advertising manager in competition is increasing, we felt it the Hardcopy Commercial Marketing was important to put a human face Center, says the ads not only promote behind these characteristics. It's a HP products, but its 50-year heritage way to reinforce what people already of engineering excellence. know, but take it a step further. These ads convey our brand differentiator in a fun, playful way. People notice them."

20 MEASURE

www.HPARCHIVE.com addition to the research done with our key targets, we conducted extensive research with both HP engineers and engineers in other companies to eval­ uate whether the approach would work. Responses were very positive. In fact, the majority of engineers we talked with were proud they had dif­ ferent skills than a 'normal' person, and felt we were elevating their status, not demeaning them." In one popular TV ad, an interviewer is shown with HP engineers (from left) John McVey, Todd Fischer, a development engi­ Joe Wallace, Rob Christiansen, Natalie Willson and Andy Regimbal, who built the mopier. neer in HP's LaserJet Printer Division, was chosen from 65 aspiring HP actors to star in what's called the "Transla­ tion" commercial. He candidly adds, "My wife says I look 'dorky' in the commercial. IfI am honest with myself, I am dorky at times. I love engineering. I wonder how everything works. When I get into a good techni­ cal discussion, someone on the side­ lines can easily see the passion I bring to engineering." In the 30-second spot, Todd explains The crying doesn't stop until granddad grabs a family portrait and prints a picture of the features ofthe mopier in techno­ mommy, which he wears as a mask, successfully quieting the baby. wizardry verbiage-an engineer's daily diction-while a narrator trans­ "Playful" is a good way to describe hole of his bedroom door. When his lates his words for "normal" people. the two commercials for the HP mother looks in-Wow!-she's It was Todd's natural talent that DeskJet 690, which guarantee laughs. amazed to see the spotless room. succeeded in landing his screen They show "normal" people at home But amid the levity and laughter, debut, says Jeff Goodby, ad agency using their DeskJet-which offers some people have voiced concerns partner who directed the commer­ photo-quality output-in creative and about the campaign, especially its cials. "He was able to talk in technical unexpected ways. "Built by engineers. Used by normal lingo at the drop of a hat. This is why In "Babysitter," a grandfather people." slogan. The concern is: we cast him in the spot. He only had soothes a crying baby by making a Engineers are exceptionally talented, to be himself." M life-sized "mommy mask" with his bright individuals. But instead ofpor­ printer. And in "Room," a boy avoids traying them as such, do these ads (MEASURE intern Grace Razo is cleaning his room by using his printer promote the typical stereotype ofthe majoring in communication at to create a photo-quality image of a "engineering nerd"? Santa Clara (California) University. tidy room, which he rigs over the key- "We were very sensitive about no -Editor) offending engineers," Susan says. "In

March-April1997 21

www.HPARCHIVE.com WEB-WISE

dow would you describe a P successful Web page? It looks great? It gives you the information you want? It loads quickly? It's inter­ active? It's fun? It's informative? You have a chance to defme suc­ - cess for me in your very own terms (and win fabulous prizes at the same time) with the contest we're announc­ ing in this month's column. See the box on the opposite page or visit my on-line clinic at http://hpweb.corp.hp. com/Publish/cddoctordmain.htm for all the details. One ofthe grandest success stories here at HP is the external Web site http://www.hp.com.lfyou haven't visited it recently, you'll find that it's a big success, in more ways than one. First, it's huge. There are 44,000 "pages" of information organized into nearly 100 broad content areas. There are pages for HP's ultrasound-imaging systems and our Pavilion PCs. You can read the latest annual report and fmd the perfect printer for your home. Those 44,000 pages of mostly product infornlation make HP one of the largest commercial sites on the Web today. shelves out the door each day. Even Another measure of its monster more staggering is the 15 to 30 per­ success is the number of customers cent growth in traffic each month. Sherry Turkle, MIT professor and (and employees) who swarm to the Spend some time on the site read­ computer sociologist, talked about site each day. The site averages more ing about one of the world's toughest the psychological impact of the on­ than 2 million hits daily. Now, "hits" bicycle races for women, sponsored line experience. don't match up neatly with numbers by HP and run in the mountains Customers also can see HP's ofvisitors or numbers ofvisits, of Idaho. It's the HP International answers to viewing and printing images but they do provide one way to Women's Challenge Cycling Race, and from the Internet at http://www. gauge success. you can pedal along at http://www. image.hp.com. Be sure to visit the Another way of measuring success hp.comlgo/iwc. Texture Farm and browse Bullock is to look at the "traffic" a site gener­ Another interesting stop on the and Jones' on-line catalog of menswear ates. HP's external Web site delivers Web site is at E Business magazine, an to see how this imaging technology an average of more than 18 gigabytes editorially cool site within the overall may affect how companies conduct of data to customers each and every HP site. The URL is http://www.hp. business in the months ahead. day. That's the equivalent of ship­ comlEbusiness. There's always a "If only HP knew what HP knows." ping a library with 36,000 books on its new, fascinating article to read. In Wouldn't you like to find just the right February, for example, cybershrink

22 MEASURE

www.HPARCHIVE.com person in this huge company to talk to about the digital compression of audio and video signals? Or anyone Take the Dr. CChallenge! of a number of primarily technical hat is the Dr. C Challenge? topics? With the new Connex service A contest with fantastic prizes open to HP employees worldwide. from HP Labs in Palo Alto, you can This is a cool way to fmd out how the Internet and HP's intranet are bene­ search the profiles of hundreds of HP fiting the most important people-you! people who've registered their skills and experiences. You can add your ~hatare the contest rules? own profile to the growing internal \VfI In 100 words or less, tell me how the Internet or HP's intranet have database on this site at http://lib.hpl. helped you do your job better. I want your best example of using the hp.comlConnex. Web-externally or internally-to do your job more efficiently. Is it Do you work in a quality function saving you and the company time, money or other valuable resources? in HP? Then you ought to know about Has the Web enhanced your productivity, stimulated your creativity? the on-line Center for Quality of Man­ Maybe it's doing all these things, and more. Tell me how. agement at www.cqm.org. The center And don't nominate your own Web site-it's unbecoming. Besides, got its start in the 1980s when a group ifit's really good, we'll hear about it from your customers. of seven Massachusetts-based com­ panies decided to band together to d ow do you enter? fmd ways to push the concepts of D All entries must be submitted electronically through cyberspace Total Quality Management through (that's where I spend most of my time), using the entry form at :I their organizations. Read about hpweb.corp.hp.comlPubl·sh/ccldoctorclma n tn. Simply fill in the this outside association's seminars, blanks, write your best Internet or intranet example and send! courses and library. Finally, what's the world coming ~hen is the deadline? to? A green HP printer? With alligator \VfI All entries must be received by April 30, 1997. A panel of esteemed eyes and a gaping jaw where your out­ Web judges-industry leaders and even some people named "Web"­ put appears? Whatever happened to will review the entries and decide on the winners. All winners will be the traditional bulky beige box with announced in the July!August issue ofMEASURE. They also will be the HP logo? Vancouver Division's posted at my on-line clinic at http://hpweb.corp.hp.comlPublishlccl industrial-design team has a new doctorclmain.htm. home page managed by Dan Dwyer where you can see computer render­ ~hat's in it for you? ings ofprinter and PC designs that \VfI Great prizes will be awarded in two categories: might make their way to market in Internet example and intranet example. the future. You can see this internal­ Prizes are as follows: only site today athttp://hpweb.vcd. • Two First Prizes: HP OmniGo 100 Organizer Plus hp.comlrd/id/id_homepage.htm. • Two Second Prizes: HP DeskJet printer Don't forget to visit my clinic, open 24 hours a day on HP's intranet, at • Two Third Prizes: One-year subscription to your http://hpweb.corp.hp.com/Publishl choice of Wired magazine or Internet magazine ccldoctorclmain.htm. Send your • Lots ofMerit Prizes: Dr. C T-shirts comments and questions to me at (check out the artwork on page 22) [email protected] anytime. And Catch the contest fever! Good luck-I'll be check out the Dr. C Challenge today. searching for your entry in cyberspace.

March-April1997 23

www.HPARCHIVE.com Convex employees gave their personal touch to this patio wall at the company's headquarters by hand-painting and signing the bricks. Atale of two cultures By Jim Haberkorn RICHARDSO , Texas-When HP bought supercomputer manufacturer Convex Computer Corporation in December 1995, Convex employees jokingly won­ How do two companies dered, "Where do they keep all the timecards?" Convex was a company of only 800 employees, but had a totally electronic mesh when 800 people timecard system. HP has more than 112,000 employees and uses hardcopy join 112,000? timecards. Naturally, Convex employees wondered just how big that ware­ house had to be. And where was it located? Let's see. HP has been around since 1939 and there are two timecards per month per employee. Hmmm... You can see how it might cause someone to pause and think. When one company buys another, it's more than just an acquisition of buildings or technologies or systems. People are involved. Cultures, as well as assets, must merge. Change is inevitable. The whole supercomputer industry had shifted dramat­ ically. The big fear at Convex prior to the acquisition was that they might not survive. They needed to be bought by a larger company. But the second biggest fear was that they might be bought by some huge company whose culture was incompatible with theirs. Many Convex employees previously worked at Texas Instruments or EDS or IBM where white shirts, ties and rigid discipline were the norm. The Convex culture was quite different. athan Zelle left HP's Portable Computer Division in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1987 to work for Convex. The somber business climate at Corvallis in those days contrasted sharply with his early Convex experience.

24 MEASURE

www.HPARCHIVE.com "When I fIrst came to Play hard. Their com­ Convex, I was sitting in a pany picnics are the stuff large room being irtro­ A good technical fit of legends. One year they duced to other employees. In less than a year after Hewlett-Packard acquired brought in 30 dump trucks I looked around and the Convex Computer, the renamed Convex Division full ofsand and had a beach walls were completely cov­ rolled out two powerful new PA-8000-based high-end party in the parking lot. ered with brightly colored computing systems-the Exemplar S-Class (up to They built a slide and fIlled handprints and body prints. 16 CPUs) and X-Class (up to 64 CPUs)-that dramat­ wading pools full ofpurple There were even footprints ically extend the high-performance and high-capacity Jell-O. Senior company on the ceiling. parameters of technical servers. executives slid into the "Someone noticed my Among those ordering the systems are the National Jell-O while employees surprise and told me that a Center for Supercomputing Applications and Lockheed­ judged their form on a scale fInger-painting activity at a Martin, system integrator for the Federal Bureau of of one to 10. They filled recent employee party had Investigation's AFIS fmgerprinting project. Exemplar the sloped receiving dock gotten a little out of hand. I customers have access to experts in tuning high­ driveway with bubbles and knew right then that things performance solutions at Convex' Advanced Tech­ people "bubble-danced" the were going to be different." nology Center. night away. But a couple of other The Convex Division is collaborating with the In 1989, when they moved things stood out, too. All the Ohio Supercomputer Center to develop advanced into their new building engineers on his design team tools for Message-Passing Interface (MPI) applica­ adjacent to the University knew by heart the dimen­ tions, and has a $30 million multi-year project with ofTexas campus, employ­ sions of a Boeing 747 cargo the California Institute of Technology to develop ees hand-painted and door. Goodbye calculators, technology in support of Grand Challenge applications. signed the bricks for the hello supercomputers. He patio retaining wall. They also noticed the long hours left their handprints in the everyone was putting in. It was Convex founder Bob Palick now-dry cement of the patio sidewalks. They also planted who coined the company motto, "Work hard, play hard." a tree on the grounds for every employee who had died In the Dallas metro area, where Richardson-based Convex over the years. is headquartered, everyone knew about HP. HP was the "Convex really appreciates its employees," says com­ toughest interview in the region. Convex was the second­ pany wellness manager Carol Brandle. "Since 1989, there's toughest. In a technical world turned upside-down by the been a non-sales appreciation event called 'Starfest' that move away from supercomputers, Convex survived longer allows peers to nominate their fellow employees for recog­ than almost everyone else in the business. Even longer nition. The award ceremony takes place during a chartered than longtime industry icon Cray Computer Corporation. paddle-wheel boat cruise and includes about 10 percent of Sales rep Bob Shafron worked for HP for 14 years the work force." before coming to Convex in 1994. "Convex was highly Finance staff member James McBride appreciates life's recommended in the computing business," Bob says. ironies. He left HP in 1992 to join Convex. Now, he's an "They had a really unique product design. They also are HP employee again. He likes Convex's small-company feel­ the ultimate open-door company. It's a company that com­ ing but was glad to see HP step in. "I like the idea that it's municates almost hourly via e-mail. Everyone has access a big company. It provides security, market presence and to anybody and everybody." credibility. HP also brings with it a healthy discipline. It's Work hard. "It's a very entrepreneurial company," says a very results-oriented company that reacts pretty quickly hardware design engineer Mike Andrewartha. "We did a lot when things don't go well. Culturally, the companies of crazy things. Anything to sell a system. There was a lot are similar." M of customer interaction. We'd sometimes redesign a system in the fIeld ifwe found that what the customer (Jim Haberkorn is a marketing-channel communica­ ordered was not really what they wanted. It was extremely tions manager at HP's Enterprise Storage Solutions common to work till 2 a.m." Division in Boise, Idaho.-Editor)

March-April 1997 25

www.HPARCHIVE.com LETTER FROM LEW PLATT

HP's chairman, president he mid-February announce­ the Japanese yen in the LaserJet printer ment of our first-quarter market and a higher proportion of and CEO discusses the fmancial results for fiscal revenue coming from sales ofLaserJet good news and not-so­ year 1997 (FY97) was an and inkjet supplies, which have a good news of HP's 1997 occasion for simultaneous lower cost of sales than printers. celebrationT and concern. HP employees also did a good job first-quarter results. So I believe it's very important in of holding the line on operating this letter to clarify why we have good expenses, which rose only 10 per­ reason to be delighted with our pro­ cent. We hired a comparatively small gress in some areas, yet dedicated to number of employees (800) during the improving our performance in others. quarter and continued to emphasize First, the good news. expense controls in areas such as Net earnings for the first quarter non-essential travel and meetings. were a record $912 million, or So the expense outcome was decent, 87 cents per share, which was well but not good enough if our revenue above analysts' expectations. It's growth is going to stay in the 11 per­ been a long time since we shocked cent range. the financial community with such Asset management, especially positive results. inventory, was a real strength. A year We achieved those net earnings in ago, inventory growth (54 percent) a quarter when our revenue growth was twice as fast as revenue growth was only 11 percent. (27 percent). We were not happy I'm quite pleased with our profit­ with that. In Ql of FY97, inventory ability. Our operating profit was declined 8 percent while revenue 12.4 percent and net profit was grew 11 percent. That shows great 8.9 percent-the highest net-profit improvement, especially in PCs, inkjet margin in more than eight years. printers and our systems business. Operating profit, you may know, is Better inventory performance and our profit before taxes, expenses and strong earnings were key factors in a "other income" are taken out; net superb quarter for cash generation. profit is the amount after those items We generated more than $1.4 billion. are factored in. That's evidence that we're running the The profit outcome was helped business more tightly. considerably by slower growth in the Now the not-so-good news. cost of sales, which increased by just The 9 percent growth in orders one-half percentage point compared and 11 percent growth in revenue with a year ago. That's a really great were not as high as we had hoped, outcome. Some ofthe factors that but we believe there are some reasons contributed to this were reduced pres­ for this: The stronger U.S. dollar com­ sure to lower prices in the PC market, pared with other currencies reduced the strength ofthe .S. dollar against our order growth by about 2 percent-

26 MEASURE

www.HPARCHIVE.com • Expense management. As we did in the first quarter, we have to manage expenses carefully. Like dieting, you can't relax and ignore the discipline that helped you achieve good results. • Product introductions. We must continue to introduce new products­ and on time. We have some important new-product introductions scheduled in the next few months, and we need to execute them superbly. • Orders. We need to capture new orders aggressively. We're taking steps to provide more support for our sales organization, including help from HP's top executives. We face another tough comparison in Q2 compared with last year when orders increased 24 percent and revenue grew 33 percent. Lew Platt celebrates 30 years of HP service with fellow honorees (from left) Carol Nakamoto, The conditions that lead to lower Mary Smith, Jeannie Diaz and Bobbie Gomez in Palo Alto, California, in December 1996. growth-including pricing pressures, stiff competition and sluggish markets age points and our exit from the disk­ Revenue growth, not unexpect­ -are still with us today, and we expect mechanism business last July meant edly, fell as order growth fell. We these conditions to persist throughout that we were comparing to a quarter expect revenue growth will roughly the year. last year when we were taking orders track order growth the rest of The keys to our success remain: in that business. Without these and a the year. generating new orders, carefully few other factors, our order growth When you're in a period of hyper managing our expense growth and would have been somewhere around growth, as we have been, more of aggressively managing our assets­ 13 percent. your time and resources are focused particularly inventory. The good news in orders was the on managing the growth. During a I encourage all employees to take strong growth for PC servers, home period ofslower growth, it's especially the lessons of Ql to heart and apply PCs and service and support. We also important to make sure that we're them as we move through the year. experienced inlproved order growth managing the business well in a num­ for semiconductor test and compo­ ber of areas. nents compared with the fourth quar­ What are these areas? ter of '96. However, order growth • Customer satisfaction. While remains an area of concern. taking really good care of customers is always important, it's especially important in a time oflower growth because you can't afford to lose good customers.

March-April1997 27

www.HPARCHIVE.com YOUR TURN

Lightning strikes twice A second opinion MEASURE's quality-control proce­ Shame on HP! Page 31 of the January­ dures flopped for the second issue February MEASURE shows seven in a row in January-February as beaming actors and actresses, the Edwin Hurd's Parting Shot photo proud recipients of new HP medical was printed backward. Loyal readers equipment. The thought of functional will remember that Lon Overacker's HP lifesaving products being lent to photo ofHalfDome was flopped in Edwin Hurd's striking photo. complement the cardboard facade the November-December 1996 edition. and dripping ketchup that are the ER The MEASURE staffbelieves that Mentoring explodes set almost makes me sick. The ailing it has adopted new procedures that After reading the K-12 stories in poor, not Hollywood, need loans of will prevent the mistakefrom hap­ the January-February MEASURE, I this sort. pening again. thought people might like to see an Product placement of HP LaserJet Our apologies to Edwin.-Editor update to the HP E-Mail Mentor Pro­ printers is fme. In the case of HP gram, which MEASURE wrote about medical equipment, however, it strays Hard-hitting and true in its September-October 1995 edition. toward mis-allocation. Let dashing Thanks for the article about Khaya The program expanded 470 percent icons flash their perfect teeth next to Dlukulu in the January-February in 1996 to include more than 3,000 some equally insubstantial prototype MEASURE. It's timely, factual, hard­ participants. More than 1,500 students unit or factory-floor reject. hitting and true. and 150 teachers are involved in tele­ DAVEZOSS Here's hoping we can use this sort mentOling relationships with HP Santa Rosa, California of information for the bettering of HP. employees. That spans 246 schools STEVE CAMPBELL from 40 U.S. states. Correction Bristol, England We plan to expand the program Bill Huling, director ofcorporate beyond HP by creating a free franchise relations for Cornell University, was More on volunteering package that other organizations can misidentified as Paul Brenner in a use to duplicate the program. Check photo caption in the January-February I ran across your recent "From the the World Wide Web site for the latest Editor" column and was very inter­ 1997 MEASURE. We sincerely regret information: http://mentor.external. the error. ested in your statement that HP hp.com. allows employees in the United States DAVID NEILS to spend four hours a month volun­ Fort Collins, Colorado teering at local schools. Where can I fmd out about this program? ERupdate Please send mail Thanks for an always entertaining Do you have comments about magazine. In addition to the medical equipment described in the January-February something in MEASURE? Ifwe KAREN EISCHEN publish your letter, you'll receive Santa Rosa, California ExtraMEASURE section, we also loaned the TV show ER an HP Care­ a Dr. Cyberspace MEASURE Vue system, which runs on four flat­ T-shirt (one size fits most), simi­ The personnel policy explaining time lar to the artwork on page 22. offfor volunteering is at this unbe­ screen displays. These flat screens can be seen Send your comments to lievably long Web site: http://hpcc56. Editor Jay Coleman. The fax corp.hp.com:4104ldw/persld/ww/wr prominently each week on the desk in the nurses' station area. number and addresses are on klf/wlist.txt/text.txt. page 3. Please limit your letter Please note that the policy, in part, MARK DUCHARME Andover, Massachusetts to 150 words, sign your name says, "All benefits, programs and work and give your location. We options may not be available to aU reserve the right to edit letters. individuals at anyone time. "-Editor

28 MEASURE

www.HPARCHIVE.com EXTRAMEASURE News from around the HP world By Tena Lessor

Top-notch in quality The 1996 President's Qual­ its net profit Who's going to ity Award (PQA) recipients in FY96 by 14.9 percent. the movies? are a first-rate bunch, • United Kingdom Cus­ The results are in for the shining in quality meth- tomer Service and "Go to the flick on MEASURE" ods, customer and Support Organization contest. Below are the 10 lucky employee satisfac­ (UK CSSO) for names pulled in the drawing held on January 15. tion, and fmancial meeting or Each has won free admission for two to a movie in performance. exceeding his or her home town. (This drawing, announced in Announced in fmancial targets the November-December 1996 MEASURE, was January, the five during the last related to the release of The Associate, a movie winning entities are: three years, averag­ featuring HP and several HP products.) • Computer Periph­ ing a growth rate erals Bristol (CPB) of 15.5 percent and The 10 winners are: for revenue growth increasing net profit • Mark Armstrong, Ontario, Canada averaging 54 percent by 13.5 percent. • Gwendolyn Ash, Paramus, New Jersey over the last three • United Kingdom • Janet Henry, Vancouver, Washington years, with profit Computer Systems growth at nearly Organization (UK • Debbie Hernandez, Cupertino, California twice the rate CSO) for a 21 percent • Ashok Kumar, Cupertino, California ofrevenue. growth rate, the high­ • Laura Niccolini, Rome, Italy • Test and Meas­ est of all larger CSO • Theresa Norris, Fort Collins, Colorado urement Japan Field entities in Europe in Operation (TMO JFO), FY96, as well as the • Colin Sledge, Irving, Texas a PQA recipient in lowest cost-per-order­ • Norma Rose, San Diego, California 1994, for averaging an dollar rate of 12 cents • Robert Wing, San Jose, Californa annual growth rate of in CSO Europe. MEASURE thanks the 251 employees who sent in 28.5 percent, doubling General managers entry forms. its orders and con­ accepted the award See you at the movies. sistently being on behalf of their over target entity at the since 1993. Management • Optical Council Commu­ Meeting nication held in Ouoteworthy Division March. ~ [Lew Platt] runs a great printer company. They hate (OCD), CEO Lew Platt ..it over there when I say that. They've got pictures of also a PQA recipient in will visit the winning entities me on the wall they throw darts at... They hear me talking 1993, for more than dou­ during 1997 to congratulate and they run around inside of HP waving and going bling its revenue, averaging employees personally. 'AAAAHHHHH!!' But I'm good for them. They wouldn't a 30 percent growth rate work as hard if I wasn't making all that noise. ~ since 1993, and increasing Scott McNealy, CEO, Sun Microsystems, San Jose Mercury News

March-April1997 29

www.HPARCHIVE.com EXTRAMEASURE

BOTTOM Telecom Platform divi­ LINE sions, the Singapore I Network Operation and Hewlett-Packard OpenView/ Telecom reported a 15 percent activities. increase in net earnings, 11 percent growth in • The Internet Tech­ nology Group has revenue and a 9 percent formed a new Internet increase in orders for Imaging Operation the first quarter of its under G.M. Srinivas 1997 fiscal year, ended Sukumar. January 31. FY97 Ql compared • The Inlget Supplies B.D. has elevated a for­ with the year-ago quarter mer operation to division / (in parentheses): status: the Inlget Media Net earnings were a / Division under Sangeet record $912 million or 87 Chowfla as G.M. A new cents per share on some Matthew Polis, who suffers from leukemia, got his wish to meet Specialty Printing Sys­ magician David Copperfield last November in Las Vegas. 1.05 billion shares of tems Operation has been common stock and formed under G.M. A magical wish comes true common-stock equiva­ Doug Watson. ATLANTA, Georgia- Matthew, a magic buff, lents outstanding ($790 • In the Personal Happiness comes in many idolizes magician David million or 75 cents per Information Products ways. For 10-year-old Copperfield. When it came share); net revenue, $10.3 Group, the Workstation Matthew Polis, it came in the time to decide on three billion ($9.3 billion); Systems Division has form of a wish come true. wishes, Matthew only had orders, $11.0 billion been consolidated at the Matthew, son of Barry one-to meet his idol. ($10.1 billion). Fort Collins, Colorado, Polis, a technical consultant Matthew and his parents site. Chris Christopher at HP's Atlanta (Georgia) were flown to Las Vegas in CO is the new G.M. Business Center, suffers November 1996 for one of CHANGES • Other changes in from leukemia. David Copperfield's per- I • In the Computer Sys­ Computer Organization After he was diagnosed formances and then met tems Organization, the (CO) groups: the Soft­ in October 1995, he and his with the magician back- Enterprise Systems Busi­ ware Services and Tech­ family connected with Chil- stage. "It was a wish come ness Unit (ESBU) has nology Division is now dren's Wish Foundation, a true for Matt," Barry says. changed the name ofthe the Software Services nonprofit organization with It was also a memorable General Systems Division Division...Todd Reece a mission to bring cata- moment for Barry. "After (GSY) to the Enterprise to G.M., Open Systems strophically ill children's watching Matt go through Systems Division. A new Software Division... dreams to life by granting many struggles, there's no Electronic Commerce John Wheeler to G.M., them a wish. feeling like seeing him just Operation comprises Systems Technology as happy as can be." some former GSY activi­ Division...Jim Sherriff ties....A new Telecom to G.M., Professional Products Unit under Services Organization... G.M. Christian Van Jaime Nieto to G.M., Ghelder comprises the Latin American Distribu­ Telecom Network and tion Organization.

30 MEASURE

www.HPARCHIVE.com ORDER Wireless Infrastructure FULFILLMENT Division under G.M. I Dave Allen. Dick Love, vice president In the Information and general manager of the Order Fulfillment Storage Group, Jerry Shea to G.M., Colorado Group (OFG) within CSO Memory Systems Division. and longtime interna­ tional manager, retired • In the Test and in March. Measurement Organiza­ The former OFG has tion, the former Lake been reorganized. Its Stevens Instrument Division is now the Lake re-engineering and man­ ufacturing functions are Stevens Division. now split between the Technical Computing EUROPEAN B.U. (TCBU) and ESBU. ICHANGES An HP donation is helping former San Jose (California) Sharks In TCBU, Tom Viola In Europe, Franco hockey player Jaroslav Otevrel (left), who now is paralyzed. has been nan1ed work­ Mariotti retired as senior station manufacturing vice president-European Making a difference manager with responsi­ Strategic Initiatives (see ESPOO, Finland-Gifts can The purpose of the sys­ bility for workstation page 18 in this issue). make a big difference. And tem is to help Jaroslav live production in New Hans van der Velde that is true in the case of as independently as possible. Hampshire, Colorado, to G.M., Nordic and former Czech ice-hockey Devices built into and Puerto Rico, Germany Benelux, Froede Haugli player Jaroslav Otevrel. around the system also and Japan. to country G.M. Norway, Jaroslav was seriously make it possible for him and Lars-Olof Zetter­ injured while playing hockey to run digital TV and video OTHER lund to country G.M. on a Finnish team in Febru­ and connect to the Internet. CHANGES Sweden. I Andy Belcher to ary 1996, resulting in paral­ He can even send and • In the Measurement ysis from the neck down. receive e-mail. Systems Organization: G.M. ofthe Telecommu­ Routine tasks of switch­ Jaroslav had played for The Components nications Systems Division ing the lights on and off, the San Jose (California) Group's former Commu­ in Scotland. and changing the position Sharks, a professional U.S. nications Components of his bed are possible now hockey team. He was play­ Division (CMCD) has GETTING for Jaroslav because of an ing for Porin Assat ("Pori's been reorganized. Its ITOGETHER HP Finland donation of a Aces"), one ofthe top ice­ semiconductor portion HP has signed an agree­ high-end HP Vectra PC hockey tean1S in Finland has been combined with ment to buy Rockland equipped with special, from the southwestern the Optical Communica­ Technologies, Inc. in New­ customized hardware town of Pori, when he tions Division into a new port, Delaware, a maker and software. was injured. Communication Semi­ of high-performance conductor Solutions liquid-chromatography Division. G.M. is Bill columns and packings. Sullivan...Other CMCD It becomes part of the product lines are now Chemical Analysis Group. part of a newly forn1ed

March-April 1997 31

www.HPARCHIVE.com PARTING SHOT

Modest, yet picturesque HALSTATT, Austria-It was a rather adventurous trip to Austria for Glen Aukstikalnis, a procure­ ment engineer in the Inkjet Supplies Business Unit in Corvallis, Oregon. Glen and a cycling buddy arrived in the small moun­ tainous country, draped with vineyards and ancient castles, in September 1994 with no hotel reservations, no itinerary and no plan. The only objective of this two-week sojourn was to ride, ride, ride--400 miles in all. "We rode a complete loop beginning in Salzburg to Innsbruck and back to Salzburg," Glen says. Early one morning, Glen mountain bike, a saddlebag passage, a view ofthis mod­ water," Glen explains. "I set out on a 20-mile trek to and Canon T70 camera. est town emerged. leaned over a wooden rail­ Halstatt-an historic salt­ After riding through 20 "Off in the distance 1 ing and snapped my last mining city thatjuts out into miles of grassy hillsides, could see a small boat. Next exposure." Result: this a lake at the base of a cliff­ Glen entered a tunnel. As to it was a man who seemed beautiful scene. with his Diamondback he popped out of the dark to be standing on top of the

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