WSJ has an article on how CEO Mark Hurd went about putting together his plan to restructure HP:
Before Mr. Hurd could attempt to fix H-P, he had to figure out H-P. So, shortly after arriving at the Palo Alto, Calif., company, the 48-year-old former chief executive of computer maker NCR Corp. set about methodically to collect information. He spent time with senior executives, conducted extensive business reviews and even traveled with salespeople to meet H-P customers firsthand. He visited H-P offices and factories from Boise to Beijing. At each site, he spoke to employees and sought feedback. In all, he has collected more than 5,000 emails from H-P staffers. With his findings, Mr. Hurd built two computer models — one financial and the other an operating model — designed to help plot the company’s course.
“I have a pretty standard process,” Mr. Hurd said in a recent interview. Getting out into the field “is some of the best market research I can get.”
