Much of the company's early work has been focused on two areas: minimising disruption to customers and working to avoid internal culture clashes. From the early days following the announcement of the merger, HP devoted substantial time in its planning efforts to avoiding the kinds of culture clashes that often accompany large mergers. The task of managing the clash between the Silicon Valley legend and the Houston-based PC giant fell primarily to Susan Bowick, HP's senior VP of human resources, who had early conversations with HP chief executive Carly Fiorina and Capellas to make sure the cultural issues were not overlooked. Bowick likens mergers to an iceberg. The tip is made up of the sorts of financial goals and organisational structures that always get top billing. But the things below the surface, such as how workers communicate and what words they use, are just as important. One of the decisions the company made early on -- and one Bowick said met with some opposition -- was to tell workers of plans to cut 15,000 jobs, or 10 percent of the combined workforce. Those opposed to telling workers argued that if only 10 percent were going to be cut, why make everyone worry for a prolonged period? However, Bowick insisted it was essential to be up front with workers. "One of the things you want to do is build trust, even if (you're delivering) bad news," Bowick said. However, any goodwill created by being open about the number of cuts could erode if HP ultimately finds it has to slash more jobs. That's a prospect that analysis firm Technology Business Research said is likely. "TBR expects this number may exceed 20,000 employees within a year if the economy does not significantly improve, and may be further complicated should HP experience market share losses due to customer discontent," the company said in a report last week. For now though, HP is sticking to its original target, with plans to cut 10,000 workers by 1 November. Through August, the company has cut 6,400 jobs. To help organise those that are staying, the company is putting its entire work force through a training dubbed "Fast Start," designed to explain the company's new organisational structure as well as allow workers to confront concerns about their new co-workers. HP is also trying to solidify its image as a single company. On the day the merger was completed in May, all workers had HP badges as well as access to a unified HP.com email system. Recently, the company had a two-week campaign at its Fremont and Cupertino locations to get rid of Compaq-logo products. Some $80,000 worth of gear was donated to a local charity, including 400 coffee mugs and more than 600 shirts. Jim Milton, who heads HP's North American sales efforts, said the move was designed to address the Silicon Valley adage, "It's not just a job, it's a wardrobe." "'Out with the old and in with the new' is very important," Milton said. Those efforts haven't stopped clashes from emerging, though. One conflict arose between HP's services organisation, headed by pre-merger HP workers, and its internal technology unit, headed by former Compaq executives. At premerger HP, the services unit had primary responsibility over internal technology purchases, which the IT group then implemented. In contrast, Compaq had a more traditional IT organisation, which was responsible for both buying decisions and implementation. Because both HP's services group and Compaq's IT group remained intact after the merger, there was a clash over who was ultimately responsible for what roles. An HP representative said the issue has now been resolved, with Bob Napier's IT department having ultimate authority over what projects the services group will handle. There are other, more subtle differences between Compaq and HP that the company is working through. Although HP executives are quick to tout the similarities of HP and Compaq workers within their own business group, both companies had different ways of doing business. "When you cross businesses, when you cross functions, clearly there are many different ways of getting business done," Clarke said. Language can be a key stumbling block. Randy Haagens, a worker in HP's storage division recalled an early conversation with some colleagues from pre-merger Compaq in which the word "location" had two different meanings. To the HP workers, "location" referred to an accounting code, while Compaq workers used the word in its more traditional, geographical sense, to indicate their physical location in a building, for example. In many ways, the new HP is relying heavily on technology to help bridge the differences. The company has created a massive internal computer network designed to be the first place for workers to find out about product plans, expense reimbursement policies and similar tidbits, or simply to put a face to an email or voice mail they've received from a coworker they haven't yet met. The company, which finds itself more geographically spread out than ever, also relies heavily on conference calls and gatherings over the Internet to connect staff in different locales. "We've really used the Web as a great tool in this integration," said Clarke, who laments that the Internet wasn't as evolved during Compaq's acquisition of Digital. Bowick puts it more bluntly: "We're eating our own dog food."
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