The HP Way

From a one-car-garage company to a multibillion-dollar industry, the rise of Hewlett-Packard is an extraordinary tale of vision, innovation, and hard work. Conceived in 1939, Hewlett-Packard earned success not only as a result of its engineering know-how and cutting-edge product ideas, but also because of the unique management style it developed—a way of doing things called “the HP way.”

Decades before today’s creative management trends, Hewlett-Packard invented such strategies as “walk-around management,” “flextime,” and “quality cycles.” Always sensitive to the needs of its customers and responsive to employee input, Hewlett-Packard earned massive steady growth that far outshone its competitors’ vacillating fortunes, even with radically different products from those responsible for its initial boom.

For entrepreneurs and managers alike, the wisdom found in these pages is invaluable. Transcending the ever-shifting marketplace and management trends, The HP Way offers the hard-won and battle-tested practical experience of a proven and respected leader.

Winner of Financial Times/Booz-Allen Global Book Award (United States).

“"An unswerving chronology of the life and most good times of Hewlett-Packard, from its notional beginnings . . . to its luminous present.""--New York Times Book Review"”

With Bill Hewlett, David Packard was cofounder of the Hewlett-Packard Company. In September 1993, he retired as chairman of the board and was named chairman emeritus. He served in that position until his death on March 26, 1996.

In the fall of 1930, David Packard left his hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, to enroll at Stanford University. There, he befriended another freshman, Bill Hewlett. After graduation from college, Hewlett and Packard decided to throw their lots in together. They tossed a coin to decide whose name should go first on the notice of incorporation, then cast about in search of products to sell. Today, the one-car garage in Palo Alto that housed their first workshop is a California historic landmark: the birthplace of Silicon Valley. And Hewlett-Packard has produced thousands of innovative products for millions of customers throughout the world. Their little company employs 98,400 people and boasts constantly increasing sales that reached $25 billion in 1994. While there are many successful companies, there is only one Hewlett-Packard. Because from the very beginning, Bill and Dave had a way of doing things that was contrary to the prevailing management strategies. In defining the objectives for their company, Packard and Hewlett wanted more than profits, revenue growth, and a constant stream of new, happy customers.

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