HP and the Uncertain Science of Corporate Rebirth

There is little doubt in my mind that Meg Whitman is the right person to turn around HP. But -- and this is consistent with her campaign for California governor -- she still needs to understand the critical importance of owning the firm's image, and she has to unify her team. Weakness in either of these areas could destroy what she has accomplished and derail her future plans.

The technology market is a graveyard of companies that had potential and lost their way either to fail or be gobbled up and lose their identity. Netscape, Novell, DEC/Digital, Palm, Transmeta, ATI, ROLM, Northern Telecom, and FLIP are all names of companies that have left us as independents or completely over time. Most of these firms were high fliers once, but all of them hit hard times, resulting in the disappearance of their brand and identity.

(Note: Finishes with lessons from Apple and IBM.)