Hewlett-Packard in 2001

Hewlett-Packard hired a new chief executive officer in 1999 to lead them into the future. The company, despite a strong legacy of success, had been faltering since the late 1990s, with slow sales growth and declining profitability. Industry observers felt that HP was not responding appropriately to competitive threats in its server, printer and personal computer markets. Industry conditions were also worsening, suggesting hard times ahead. The CEO felt a dramatic move was required to improve HP's position in the market. An attempt to expand HP's IT services business through the acquisition of PriceWaterhouseCoopers was unsuccessful. The CEO was considering a merger between HP and Compaq. With the help of four role plays supplements, 9B04M085 - Hewlett-Packard: Sun Microsystems in 2001, 9B04M086 - Hewlett-Packard: Dell in 2001, 9B04M087 - Hewlett-Packard: IBM in 2001 and 9B04M088 - Hewlett-Packard: Lexmark in 2001, student groups take on the roles of competitors in various segments and plan their competitive strategy while Hewlett-Packard is dealing with the merger. The supplement 9B04M084 - Hewlett-Packard in 2004 concludes the Hewlett-Packard in 2001 case series.