Carly fiorina biography religion and spirituality

September 6, 1954 • Austin, Texas

President and CEO, Hewlett-Packard

As administrator and chief executive officer (CEO) of Hewlett-Packard (HP), a profession company worth $72 billion, Carly Fiorina is the most burly woman in American business. Distinct give credit to the test businesswoman for leading the study titan into the twenty-first hundred. In 2002 Fiorina cemented foil reputation as a risk taker when she engineered a arguable merger between HP and Compaq Computers. After expanding her monarchy, Fiorina was sitting at depiction helm of the second with greatest satisfaction computer company in the faux. By the mid-2000s, however, accepted HP's shaky numbers, critics wondered if Fiorina's reign would last. Regardless, her role in life as a trailblazer would be there. When she joined Hewlett-Packard make money on 1999, Fiorina became the sole woman to head a lax, publicly held company in nobleness United States.

Steers towards business

Businesswoman Carly Fiorina was born Cara Carleton Sneed on September 6, 1954, paddock Austin, Texas. Her unique label was the result of kinsfolk tradition. All the male associates of the Sneed family who were named Carleton died decide serving in the Civil Enmity (1861–1865). To honor them, lag child in each subsequent procreation was named either Carleton (if a boy) or Cara Carleton (if a girl). Fiorina's divine, Joseph Sneed, was a advocate and at one time served as deputy attorney general adorn President Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994). He also served for make more complicated than thirty years as monumental appeals court judge in San Francisco, California. Fiorina's mother, Madelon, was an abstract painter. Drop 2003, during a ceremony craze her father's longstanding career, Fiorina credited her parents for emotive her to excel. "In epoch of hardship and uncertainty," she observed, as quoted on high-mindedness OCE Public Information Department Web site, "people call for a strong internal compass hint at find their way." Fiorina viz thanked her father for "always being my true north."

Although Fiorina was raised largely in the San Francisco Bark area, her father's job caused the family to move from a to z a bit. She attended draw back least five high schools brag over the world, including Ghana (in Africa) and London, England. Fiorina eventually returned to Calif. to attend Stanford University, positioned in Palo Alto. Strangely competent, Hewlett-Packard's corporate headquarters are befall in Palo Alto, and representation future CEO worked in HP's shipping department during a summertime break from college. After graduating with a degree in age history and philosophy, Fiorina settled to follow in her father's footsteps. She entered law nursery school at the University of Calif. at Los Angeles in 1976. After one semester, however, she dropped out, deciding that top-hole career in law was slogan for her.

Not sure what to quarrel, Fiorina tried her hand disdain a number of jobs. She even taught English in Sausage, Italy. It was while indispensable as a receptionist at neat New York brokerage firm cruise her interest in business was sparked. Fiorina decided to rush around back to school to into the possession of a master's degree in office administration (MBA), and in 1980 she graduated from the Establishing of Maryland. Fresh out indifference graduate school, Fiorina landed unadorned job at the telecommunications goliath AT&T as a sales purveyor. She was quickly promoted keep the position of commercial receive executive, and was responsible hire selling long distance telephone spasm to federal agencies in nobleness U.S. government.

Lights totalling Lucent, then snagged by HP

Fiorina's aggressive sales under wraps did not go unnoticed vulgar her employers, who decided defer she was definitely management news. As a result, in 1988 she was sent to interpretation prestigious Sloan School of Authority at the Massachusetts Institute have a high regard for Technology to earn a lord of science degree in labour. While at Sloan, Fiorina trip over the head of AT&T's Way Systems Group, a manufacturing rupture of the company that was viewed as sluggish and dated. Against the advice of colleagues, she decided to transfer break down Network Systems, even though endure was a low profile protected area and the move seemed quasi- certain to stall her employment. However, quite the opposite illustration. In 1995 Fiorina was fit as the first woman government agent at Network Systems when she was put in charge an assortment of North American sales. She became instrumental in carving out spanking markets for AT&T in primacy Far East, well before incorrect became commonplace for U.S. businesses to expand on a inexhaustible scale.

In 1995 AT&T decided to spin off come into contact with three separate companies and Fiorina was at the center take up the whirlwind. One company would focus on long distance, span NCR Corporation would be glory computer company and Lucent Technologies would concentrate on telecommunications view networking equipment, essential for self-control the Internet. Network Systems was folded into Lucent, and Fiorina was put in charge fall foul of revamping the new company. She coordinated Lucent's $3 billion elementary public offering (IPO), which pump up the offering of stock accurately the open market to position public for the first meaning. She was also responsible on the side of creating Lucent's flashy marketing showing, including its red swirl emblem. Lucent quickly became a superior in the networking industry, endure Fiorina was given most magnetize the credit. In 1998 she became president of Lucent's Farreaching Service Provider Business, and fail to notice year's end Lucent had chalked up $19 billion in job. That same year Fiorina was placed at the top identical Fortune magazine's catalogue of the most powerful squad in business.

Other corporations soon took notice of authority knowledgeable young professional, including Hewlett-Packard, the grandfather of all figurer companies. In July of 1999, HP announced that it difficult hired Fiorina to be spoil president and chief executive gendarme (CEO). The move was noteworthy for several reasons. One, HP was a family-owned business, stand for for the first time give authorization to was hiring a president let alone outside its own ranks. In a short while, the corporation became the lid large U.S. company to implant a woman in charge. Tertiary, Fiorina was breaking into Si Valley, a region south be more or less San Francisco where there pump up a concentration of high-tech industries, and until Fiorina came govern, the industry had been sternly male-dominated. Although Fiorina was despairing to leave AT&T after near twenty years, she explained nurse Electronic News, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity hold up me. Hewlett-Packard is a tamp down of great accomplishment and regular greater potential.... I will do one`s best to strike the right liquidizer between reinforcing HP's values abstruse working to reinvent its business."

A house divided

Since its formation in 1939 by Bill Hewlett (1913–2001) soar Dave Packard (1912–1996), Hewlett-Packard difficult grown into one of glory preeminent leaders in the calculator industry, noted primarily for cornering the printer market. But wishywashy the late 1990s it was starting to lose ground, particularly to personal computer (PC) goliath IBM. The company looked concern Fiorina to help it reenergize. As Sam Ginn, a 1 of HP's board of management told Electronic News, "The board unanimously agreed dump she is quite simply righteousness ideal candidate to leverage HP's core strengths in the promptly changing information-systems industry and disturb lead this great company spasm into the new millennium."

Fiorina lost no time improvement house. She streamlined operations fail to notice combining several different divisions blocking fewer, more manageable units. She also shook up the HP sales staff, telling them get in touch with shape up or leave rectitude company. This was a scratchy mandate, but at the equivalent time Fiorina was also painstaking for her exceptional leadership aptitude and for maintaining a trustworthy employee following. By 2001, still, analysts were wondering if HP's ambitious new CEO had antiquated too aggressive. True, Fiorina difficult struck some very lucrative deals with Ford Motor Company nearby Delta Airlines to purchase particularly from HP, but the corporation's PC sales were still slow and there had been inept major inroads into the cosmos of e-business, as promised. HP remained optimistic. As board participator George Keyworth explained to USA Today, "In rectitude early summer of 1999, just as we were interviewing Carly, surprise discussed it would take well-organized minimum of three years engender a feeling of turn things around and with would be lots of vary and downs. We are unconditionally behind her."

The timber was divided, however, when Fiorina made a daring announcement set in motion September of 2001. In copperplate further effort to overtake IBM, she proposed to buy Compaq Computers, another faltering leader sky the PC industry. The outlook merger could cost up suggest $25 billion, but Fiorina conjectural that the combined assets wear out the two companies would undertake an information technology dynamo. Affiliates of both the Hewlett extra Packard families balked at justness idea, and initially refused simulate go along with the parcel out. They eventually relented, and flaw May 3, 2002, Fiorina with flying colours engineered the $19 billion union.

Carly claims shake-up with Compaq

A year-and-a-half after the merger, Fiorina was claiming victory. She told Fortune magazine that "the strategy has been vindicated." She also announced that HP "leads in every product category, evermore geography, and every customer bank in which we participate." Rendering company did look different, become more intense it launched a new sensitive campaign with the tag willpower "Everything is possible." It was also branching into new buyer electronics markets, like Tablet PCs and MP3 players, hoping take a look at give new industry leader Cwm Computers a run for their money.

But according say you will business analysts the numbers spoken a different story. In Oct of 2003, writer Stephanie Metalworker observed on the CNN Tangle site that the "new HP looks a lot like representation old HP," and revealed desert 80 percent of the company's $4.4 billion profit still came from printer sales. In putting together, the morale of HP seemed to be suffering. By Jan of 2004 seven of HP's top managers had left leadership company. Some retired, some migrated to the competition, and orangutan least one quit suddenly ray without notice. Fiorina remained unfazed, telling Fortune go wool-gathering "only 1.7 percent of management at the vice president run down and above have left HP since the merger. That's ingenious pretty small percentage."

Statistics aside, there is no alarm that Fiorina has ranked type a visionary. While at AT&T she helped usher in magnanimity era of global business; fight Hewlett-Packard she has been mistakenness the forefront of new complex ventures. Fiorina has also helped HP become a leader propitious giving. She launched HP's Subject for Teaching program, which scolding year awards $10 million interpose technology grants to U.S. schools from kindergarten through college uniform. She has also established programs in other countries, including Bharat, to "help bridge the digital divide between technology empowered unthinkable technology-excluded communities," as quoted be thankful for PR Newswire. Since a result, in November go in for 2003 Hewlett-Packard was honored timorous the international nonprofit humanitarian ancestral Concern Worldwide for "its confinement to spearheading educational initiatives continue the world."

Books

"Carly Fiorina Biography." Business Ruler Profiles for Students. Vol. 2. Farmington Hills, MI: Turbulence Group, 2002.

Periodicals

"Concern Worldwide US Presents 'Seeds of Hope'Award to HP's Carly Fiorina." PR Newswire (November 5, 2003).

"Fiorina Named HP President and CEO." Electronic News (July 26, 1999): p. 14.

Lashinsky, Adam. "Power 25: Clumsy. 19 Carly Fiorina, Hewlett Packard." Fortune (August 11, 2003): p. 78.

Lashinsky, Adam. "Wall Street to Carly: Prove It! HP Talks Dissect a Turnaround, but Investors Don't Buy It—Yet." Fortune (January 12, 2004): p. 36.

Scardino, Marjorie. "Carly Fiorina: Inventing a New Hewlett-Packard." Time (April 26, 2004): p. 72.

Swartz, Jon. "Another Thumbs Down for H-P Deal." USA Today (November 8, 2001).

Net sites

"Carly Most Beefy Woman—Again." (September 29, 2003). (accessed on May 21, 2004).

"Court of Appeals Honors Judge Joseph T. Sneed." OCE Public Information Class (December 9, 2003). ?OpenDocument (accessed on May 21, 2004).

La Monica, Paul Attention. "Fiorina Strikes Back." (November 21, 2002). (accessed set up May 21, 2004).

Adventurer, Stephanie. "Can HP Find Loom over Way?" (October 2003). (accessed on May 21, 2004).