Streamlining HP
September 22, 2007 | Levent OZLER
Why am I meeting with you guys?" It was the spring of 2005, just three weeks into Mark Hurd's tenure as CEO of Hewlett Packard, and product design was not at the top of his list of priorities.
Hurd was consumed with the monumental task of restructuring a company with more than 150,000 employees in 170 countries and making operational efficiency a cornerstone of the tech giant's competitive strategy.
The ponytailed Sam Lucente, who'd become HP's first-ever vice president of design two years earlier, was in the hot seat.
He flashed a slide that showed dozens of HP logos, each created by a different team within the company.
The next slide was of a single logo, crafted by his corporate design crew, that could be used everywhere.
Lucente predicted that when 500 million of the new "jewel" logos were shipped, the company would have saved roughly $50 million in development and manufacturing costs.
"Now," replied the boss, "you've got my attention."
Lucente argued that design could achieve equally impressive results with HP's software, product controls, packaging, enterprise systems, even parts of its supply chain.
He promised senior management what he now describes as "tens of millions" in additional savings.
Hurd gave his backing to Lucente's plan to ramp up the companywide design practice.
more: fastcompany.com/magazine/119/streamlining-hp.html (49)
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