Chavez, Franz Raphael

OD 1:30-2:30 MWF

The first story which was about the change in HP after the HP and Compaq
merger. The company having been merged with another is on the verge on
reconstructing its organization. Applying new methods in management to
ensure fast cohesion within new and longtime employees. People in the
company are new and thus new problems arise. Even though they thought
that the merge is less dangerous than actually having the merge to be
rejected. To help their company become at ease after the merge,
downsizing was their priority as new workers from the other company joins
in. The merge was proven successful after a brief time as the CEO Carly
Fiorina acted through for the employees. She earned praised for her style
of management by walking on which she kept in touch with most of the
employees face to face. She made changes from replacing profit
sharing with bonuses awarded if the company met financial expectations, a
reduction in operating units from 83 to 12, and consolidating back-office
functions. Also she is said to have "laid the groundwork for some of HPs
progress under her successors", and that she shook the culture at HP so
that it could compete in the Internet Age Given that she was admired by
most employees she didnt please everyone. Eventually she was kicked out
of the position and replaced by Mark Hurd which after 7 years with Hurd
have announced their biggest growth in profit.
IBMs shift to the internet age was also not easy. As most technological
companies struggle to meet ends with the fast paced technological

advances. Nonetheless there were innovative minds within the company

that set the tone for change. A computer programmer named David
Grossman and John Patrick a member of the strategy task force. At first it
was hard for them to pitch their ideas to the higher ups as they are merely
employees. With their persistence they were heard. The company was also
not in the position to shell out big money for their project. As time went by
they had a way and money to energized the company into sparking going
to the new age. Grossman and Patrick was able to provide departments
with more expertise and highly trained personnel. Over the years, they both
succeeded in creating a system that revolutionized the way IBM does
business. Samuel Palmisano another of the lifetime IBMer took over
leadership of the company and focused changes that emphasized
teamwork and collaboration. As his new management style brought was
readjustment in executive compensation. It involved a cut in the CEO
bonus that was redistributed within the top management team. Palmisano
also said in order to function as a team, the gap between the CEO and his
team must be reduced. As a result of such changes from the top that IBM
hopes to meet the challenges of the future.
Kodaks change from to adapt to the digital age. Their first task was
downsizing employees as the digital age will most likely be more on the
technological side thus not needing that much of human workforce. Aside
from that, raising a capital for new technological purchases was their
priority. Kodak also needed to make two physical changes to the
organization. First, there would be a reduction in the square footage of
Kodak facilities worldwide by consolidating current operations and divesting
unnecessary assets. Second, Kodak intended to reduce employment

worldwide with up to 15,000 jobs to be cut by 2007. Investors reaction was

mixed as many experts took it by surprise. Most investors werent that
supportive particularly to the news that their dividends would be severely
cut. They also replaced their CEO. Antonio Perez continued to downsize
and eliminate plants. It is now that tough choices have been made out but
the results are still unclear as the management under intense pressure
from investors faces a critical test of nerve
McDonalds dilemma came when a person by the name of Morgan
Spurlock started to make a research. It was all about how fast food in the
USA have changed peoples diet to the worst. The fast food industry and
McDonalds in particular declined to say that the documentary had any
impact on their business. However, interestingly enough, one day before
the release of the movie, McDonalds introduced a new Go Active menu.
Even though they claim to have not been affected by the documentarys
findings, they clearly felt the pressure to add healthy options on their menu
before the general public viewed the movie. By doing this, advocates
against McDonalds had less ammunition to use against the company. This
way, McDonalds could claim that their campaign to get healthy happened
before the movies release and therefore had no impact on the decision.
However, the timing between the release of their Go Active campaign and
the release of the movie is clearly related. McDonalds knew that the movie
would have adverse effects on their image so in order to lessen the blow.
they preemptively made the changes to their menu.