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Hewlett-Packard
Since the beginning, the two founders of Hewlett-Packard, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard,
developed a management style that had never occurred in large corporations before. This new
type of corporate culture was called the “HP way”. The “hiring and firing” mentality, which
meant to hire many workers for a single big order and to dismiss them immediately completion,
has always been renounced by Hewlett-Packard. They instead offer an almost perfect job
security. Even in 1974, when the U.S. economy was in a rut with many people unemployed, HP
avoided layoffs by implementing four-day work weeks which, to this day, is still a unique
measure in corporate America. The two founders trusted in the individual's own motivation to
work and treated their employees as family members. Employees are able to participate in the
company with stock options and were even paid additional premiums when business is booming
was successful. Today, that idea is known as profit sharing. The “HP way” is seen as model for
corporate culture in many countries. The roots of many subsequent companies are located in
Hewlett-Packard like with Steve Wozniak, who worked at HP and later co-founded Apple. This
has led to the establishment of a new corporate culture in Silicon Valley and since then, many
firms have tried to imitate the “HP way” and adopt measures such as stock options, innovative
work rules, teamwork, and profit sharing.
The “HP way” is a prime example of expressing power through a reward system. Employees are
rewarded for how much effort they put in. On Hewlett-Packard’s corporate objective page, there
is a quote by Dave Packard that states, “It is necessary that people work together in unison
towards common objectives and avoid working at cross purposes at all levels if the ultimate in
efficiency and achievement is to be obtained”. Just from the opening quote alone, I can tell that

2. Final Project !2
Hewlett-Packard is all about being able to work in teams. From the lecture, I know that work
teams are a collection of individuals who are interdependent in their tasks, share responsibility
for outcomes, and are seen as an insect social entity embedded in on or more large social
systems.
Hewlett-Packard has several corporate objectives listed and it starts with Customer loyalty, then
goes on to Profit, Growth, Market leadership, Commitment to employees, Leadership capability,
and Global citizenship. They earn customer respect and loyalty by consistently providing the
highest quality and value. Sufficient profit is achieved to finance growth, create value for
shareholders, and achieve corporate objectives. Recognizing and seizing opportunities that builds
upon our strengths and competencies is important part of their growth. They lead the marketplace
by developing and delivering useful and innovative products, services, and solutions. Hewlett-
Packard demonstrates their commitment to their employees by promoting and rewarding based
on performance and by creating a work environment that reflects their values. Developing
leaders at all levels who achieve business results, exemplify their values and lead them to grow
and win. Finally, Hewlett-Packard fulfill their responsibility by being an economic, intellectual,
and social asset to each country and community where they do business. These corporate objects
are another example of Post-Fordism at work as it is the development of flexible organizational
structures. Hewlett-Packard is a niche market. They produce technology based around computers
such as desktops, laptops, tablets, printers, and even accessories for these products. They know
who the audience is and predict what the next big thing will be. Products are available to the
general public but to those that have the technological knowhow, Hewlett-Packard has the ability
to customize their products to fit the consumer’s desired aspects. This leads into the concept of

3. Final Project !3
power from a three-dimensional view. Power has the ability to shape not only the employee but
also the consumer. Most laptops, under decent care, lasts 2-3 years but as more times passes,
performance steadily decreases unless manual upgrades are made. Hewlett-Packard releases a
brand new high performance laptop or even just an upgraded version of a current one.
Consumers may not necessarily need a new laptop but the way it is advertised updates it from a
want to a need. The lecture states the concept of the “Ketchup in the veins” employee who
basically adopts the company culture and becomes the employee that the employers want them to
be. This is even stated in their corporate objectives as Leadership capability. They want leaders
who not only shares their values but also promotes them. The same goes for consumers. When
people buy HP products, it is because they believe in the brand. It has a trustworthy reputation
and provides quality over quantity. If for some reason, Hewlett-Packard’s reputation had been
tarnished because of poor business practices, scandals, or even immoral actions, consumers will
not buy products from them because people believe that the products that they buy are a refection
of them. Hypothetically speaking, if Hewlett-Packard is a company that supported abortions,
consumers that are pro-life will not be buying their products because they do not share similar
values with the company nor will they support the endeavors of said company hence power
shaping the values of mindsets of both the employees and consumers.
On their shared values section, there are five main ideas that they are promoting, Trust and
respect for individuals, Achievement and contribution, Results through teamwork, Meaningful
innovation, and uncompromising integrity. The first idea, trust and respect, is Hewlett-Packard
advocating that idea of unison. Employees work together to create a culture of inclusion built on
trust, respect, and dignity. In Achievement and Contribution, they strive for excellence in all they

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do and states that each person’s contribution is critical to their success. By effectively
collaborating, they achieve results through teamwork as they are always looking for more
efficient ways to serve their customers. Hewlett-Packard is a corporation that revolves around
inventing, designing, promoting, and selling the latest in technology. They are the technology
company that invents the useful and the significant. They also promote good business practice by
offering uncompromising integrity as they proclaim to be open, honest, and direct in their
dealings. This kind of company culture is the result of Post-Fordism work teams as the shifting
nature of organizations had made work teams increasingly common and important. Individuals
are no longer just cogs in a machine but rather, they have become the machine themselves.
Working in teams empowers the individual by enabling them to play direct roles in the decision-
making process. The team consisted of people who are multi-skilled rather than deskilled and
synergies between teams gives birth to new innovations.
Eric Ng, a family friend, worked for Hewlett-Packard for 10 years. He started as a Design
Engineer and eventually became an Engineering Program Manager. He lead one of the Product
Core teams in the Enterprise Server Group. A core team usually consists of sever functions
managers and engineers to produce a product from the concept to the expected end of life.
Roughly 15+ representatives from different disciplines make up the team. They range from
multiple Engineering disciplines such as Electrical, Mechanical, Thermal, System software,
Management software, Manufacturing, Sustaining, etc. to Financial analysts and even go on to
Marketing, Supply Chain/Procurement, and Support/Customer Service. According to Eric, “You
will always work with different functional groups at multiple different geographical location

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regardless of your role”. As I stated previously, work teams nowadays consists of multi-skilled
individuals and Hewlett-Packard is no exception.
In Eric’s experience, everyone is always busy. You will be treated as a professional and people
will expect you to contribute. It is important to always be proactive and willing to learn new
things though most of it should be done on your own. There are always plenty of friendly
colleagues as well as people who are willing to mentor you. Though different jobs require
different a different skill set, one very important thing is to be assertive when appropriate. As for
the work culture of Hewlett-Packard, it is fairly simple; word hard to get noticed or you will be
laid off. A manager’s perception of you is very important for promotions or any upward
movement in the company. His experience at Hewlett-Packard showcases not only the
company’s values but also their corporate objectives. In the workplace, you are expected to both
act and work like a professional. You are already expected to work hard or else they would not
have hired you. What they do expect is excellence in all that you do and will be rewarded as
such.
VISA-Life
VISA-Life (subject to change) is the name of the organization I had in mind. I plan on having it
be a non-profit organization that will help pay for a company’s sponsorship for a student’s visa. I
am acquainted with several foreign exchange students who are looking for internships during the
summer and jobs after graduation in the United States. Though there are quite a few companies
that will sponsor visas, there are just as many that will not. The main issue is the finances
involved in sponsoring a visa. The employee must be paid the prevailing wage for a worker in
whatever position they are hired to do and receive the same benefits as other workers in that

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position. A business must have enough money in the bank to support the employee’s salary AND
support the business. A typical visa can be handled anywhere from $2500 to $5000. It should be
noted that my company will not help pay for the wages of the student as that its the employer’s
responsibility. Our primary purpose is to help the student find a company that will sponsor them
and we as an organization will take care of the paperwork/fees.
The most important foundation of any organization, non-profit or not, is leadership. There are
many different ways to describe a leader. A general definition is someone who is capable of
influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts towards goal setting and goal
achievement. The keys are influence, group, and goal. In terms of VISA-Life, influence stems
from my style of leadership which I consider to be transformational. As described in the lecture,
transformational leadership has two key ideas. One being that this style of leadership is quid-pro-
quo between the leader and his followers which means that a psychological exchange occurs in
that the leader clarifies the expectations and the follower delivers, receiving the appropriate
reward. The second is that unity exists for a moral purpose. The leader raises the aspirations of
his followers in such a way that they think and act beyond their own self-interests. This is usually
achieved through the leader’s charisma or ability to inspire, individualized consideration, and
intellectual stimulation. The group consist of people who are working with me and the end goal
of my company is to help these students. As a leader, I must actively reinforce what the values of
my company are. I am in it to help these students and I would like the people that I am working
with to feel the same way. I would like to think that the United States is never short on volunteer
service. When there is a cause, there are always people who are willing to help. Non-profit
organizations would not exist if everyone acts in their own self-interest. A good way to inspire

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workers would be to showcase our success stories. People tend to work harder when they know
they are making a difference. Grab testimonies from the students who are thankful for their
cooperation because being thanked is always a nice feeling.
The second concept that I want to incorporate into my organization is branding. For non-profit
organizations, branding is the backbone of all of our operations. It is important that people know
who we are and what we do. Branding is the total constellation of meanings, feelings,
perceptions, beliefs, and goodwill attributed to any market offering by displaying a particular
sign. A brand has a constructed set of meanings that a company attaches to a particular product.
For prominent example of branding in non-profit is the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign.
They use that symbolic pink ribbon and anytime that pink ribbon is shown/seen, people will
automatically associate it with Breast Cancer Awareness. In fact, sometimes it has come to a
point where just seeing the color pink can mean some form of association with the campaign.
This is the kind of branding that I want to establish for my organization. I would utilize the
company logo (whatever it may be) on anything we can; clothing, decals, stickers, balloon, etc.
We can create informational brochures that showcase our company’s objective and raise
awareness. We can also become a community outreach program and have the students volunteer
in various service projects as the organization’s representatives. The general public has to see
that their money is not only going to be used for a good purpose but also going to the right
person who deserves it. When you can put a trustworthy face with an organization, people are
more likely to support your cause. Another way to brand is to work with vendors and the
marketplace to put the company logo on their products. This kind of branding can only be
successful if the first portion is successful. Once the general public is aware of who we are and

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what we do, it becomes much easier to garner support. From there, it is all about maintaining that
good reputation and continuing to be ethical in all that we do.
The main source of income for non-profit organizations is donations. One way of securing
donations is by creating a network. Networking is described as an interaction with other people
to exchange information and contacts in order to further one’s career. The easiest way into
someone’s wallet is through their heart. Everybody loves a good cause. My company can start off
by holding small networking events with small business in local communities. Ask around local
business to offer food, supplies, party favors, equipment and in return, advertise their
contributions. Treat others how you want to be treated. When putting together an event as a non-
profit organization, sincerity is key. Let the the community know that none of it would have been
possible if it were not for those who had helped. Most people like being praised and people love
praising people who deserved to be praised. Bring in some of the prospective students who are
looking for those sponsorships and have them share their stories. Let’s face it. Most of these
students were raised in an impoverished or 3rd world country. I can say from personal experience
that sometimes it is a miracle to even get out of the country in the first place. People in in the
United States love a good sob story or stories about challenging overwhelming obstacles.
Emotional appeal is the name of the game and that is what these networking events are all about.
This also serves as a practice for those students as it allows them to experience a culture unlike
their own. It can lead to the students making worthwhile connections with business or donators
as they may know someone who knows a guy that can offer them a job. The reality of today’s
world is that it is not about what you know but rather who you know. The more connections they
make, the better the chance of landing a job. Networking allows for more opportunities to grow

9. Final Project !9
and change as you cannot always know how things will play out. The entire purpose is to be
open to all sorts of possibilities.
To conclude, VISA-Life is a non-profit organization whose primary purpose to help foreign
students look for employment with a company who is offering a position in their field of study
and aid the company by paying for the student’s visa. An organization without a leader cannot
run itself properly which is why a charismatic leader is necessary especially in a non-profit
organization. People who work in the non-profit sector are not working for the money but rather
the purpose. It is extremely important to establish some form of a brand as a non-profit
organization and carry out tasks to build a good reputation with the general public. When you are
asking for donations as the organization, people will be more willing to support your cause if
they can associate a good deed to it. Lastly, it is important to not only create a network but also
maintain it. Keep the relationship between the organization and its benefactors healthy. This is
not only beneficial to the organization but also to the students as they may be a potential
company that a student may want to work for or they know someone who can point you in the
right direction.

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REFERENCES
Groeger, M. (n.d.). The HP Way - an example of corporate culture for a whole industry.
Retrieved December 1, 2015, from http://www.silicon-valley-story.de/sv/hp_way.html
HP CORPORATE OBJECTIVES AND SHARED VALUES | HP® Official Site. (n.d.).
Retrieved November 30, 2015, from http://www8.hp.com/us/en/hp-information/about-hp/
corporate-objectives.html