Much more personal than standard corporate histories, David Packard provides insights into managing and motivating people and inspiration for would-be entrepreneurs
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.
Author: David Packard
In 1939, Packard and Hewlett established Hewlett-Packard (HP) in Packard's garage with an initial capital investment of $538 (equivalent to US$11,785 in 2023). Packard mentions that the name Hewlett-Packard was determined by the flip of a coin: HP, rather than PH. Their first product was an audio frequency oscillator, 8 of which were sold to Walt Disney Studios for testing sound equipment used to produce Fantasia. The company grew into the world's largest producer of electronic testing and measurement devices. It also became a major producer of calculators, computers, and laser and ink jet printers. 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.
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