LITERATURE

The HP Phenomenon tells the story of how Hewlett-Packard innovated and transformed itself six times while most of its competitors were unable to make even one significant transformation. It describes those transformations, how they started, how they prevailed, and how the challenges along the way were overcome—reinforcing David Packard's observation that "change and conflict are the only real constants." The book also details the philosophies, practices, and organizational principles that enabled this unprecedented sequence of innovations and transformations. In so doing, the authors capture the elusive "spirit of innovation" required to fuel growth and transformation in all companies: innovation that is customer-centered, contribution-driven, and growth-focused.

The corporate ethos described in this book—with its emphasis on bottom-up innovation and sufficient flexibility to see results brought to the marketplace and brought alive inside the company—is radically different from current management "best practice." Thus, while primarily a history of Hewlett-Packard, The HP Phenomenon also holds profound lessons for engineers, managers, and organizational leaders hoping to transform their own organizations.

Charles (Chuck) House is Executive Director for Media X, and Senior Research Scholar in the Human Sciences and Technologies Advanced Research Institute at Stanford University. Previously, he led the Research Collaboratory and served as director of Societal Impact of Technology for Intel Corporation, after executive management positions at Dialogic, Spectron Microsystems, Veritas, Informix, and Hewlett-Packard.

Raymond L. Price is the Professor and Severens Chair for Human Behavior in Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has had a long career in industry working in Management and Organization Development and Human Resources. He has also held various management positions with Hewlett-Packard, including Manager of Engineering Education.